Ralph Zachary Richard was born in 1950 in Lafayette, which is in Southern Louisiana, Cajun country. At the age of eight, he began studying piano and at fourteen, he played the guitar, strongly influenced by songwriters like Bob Dylan or Bluesmen like Muddy Waters. The Anglo-Saxon culture was part of his external environment even though his own grandparents, born of Cajun families only spoke French.

An integral part of Louisiana's population, the Cajuns (an English deformation of the word "cadiens") were the descendants of the French Acadians (Acadia was a region of Canada now Nova Scotia) who were deported to the US territory around 1755 when they refused to pledge allegiance to Great Britain who governed part of North America at that time. This painful history created a personal identity for the Cajuns over centuries that singled them out so much that in the middle of the 20th Century, the US Government forbade the use of the French language. In the 1970's, spurred by the CODOFIL (Conseil pour le Développement du Français en Louisiane) Cajun culture took on new life in Louisiana. The language of Molière became an official language in the state and was taught in the schools.

It was in this setting that Zachary Richard would find his artistic inspiration. A graduate of history from Tulane University in New Orleans in '72, he in fact turned towards music during this period of folk revival and return to ones roots, inspired by youth movements all over the world. Zachary, while heavily influenced by the ideals of the Beat Generation-he had met Allen Ginsberg, one of its leaders, in 1968-left for New York and took up a singing career that his parents did not look favourably upon.

A Cajun Conscience

 Determined to give the repertoire of his native region a boost, Zachary bought a diatonic accordion, a symbol of Cajun music and learned to play it while integrating French into his songs. He recorded his first record with Elektra Records but it was never released. Even if he played in a few clubs, he didn't meet with much success and he decided to return to Louisiana. It was in '73 during the Festival of Vierzon (in the Loire Valley) that he began his career in France in front of an audience who supported folk music. The following summer, he performed throughout the country with a personal repertoire and covers of Cajun songs. He went to Quebec, the land of his ancestors for the first time in 1975. Acadia gave him a political and cultural awareness that would lead him to a certain form of Francophone militancy.

The album "le Bayou des mystères" which came out on Kebec records in '76 was Zachary Richard's first production with the Bayou Drifter Band (where we find Michel Doucet, later with Beausoleil). The second opus which was dated the following year was titled "Mardi gras" and was on Polydor this time with the main track, a cover of a traditional Cajun song, "Travailler c'est trop dur". This song would also be sung by Julien Clerc in '78 and would contribute to making it even more successful.

The album "Migration" came out in '78 and became a gold record in Quebec where Zachary was living. Blues and Anglo-Saxon rock was added to traditional Cajun and Zydeco music. This was the indisputable trademark of the man from Louisiana that sometimes had difficulty succeeding. But Zachary was inspired: he followed with "Allons danser" in '79, "Live à Montréal" in '80, "Vent d'été" in '81 before "Zack attack" in '84 which was the first album after his settling in Louisiana again, in Lafayette. Because even if he sang in French, Zachary is very attached to his American homeland. This album didn't have the success anticipated. As the artist admits later on, the diverse influences expressed here didn't give a homogenous and harmonious result. This no doubt led him to take artistic paths, which were a bit different.

Change of Course

In '86 "Looking Back" came out on February 24th at the same time he played at the Olympia in Paris and at the spring music festival "Festival du Printemps" in Bourges (Central France) in April. "Zach's Bon Ton" is the opus dated 1988 which precedes "Mardi Gras Mambo" which includes songs in English like "Everytime" to really bluesy tones, just to conquer the English speaking public.

Zachary then signed a new contract with the international record company A&M and released "Women in the Room" in '90. The instrumentation was much more lacking than on previous records, this no doubt accentuated the rock spirit that the artist wanted to inject in his songs.

The single from the album was titled "My Nanette". Still in the same vein, the album "Snake Bite Love" came out two years later. The record was produced by Bill Wray who previously worked with hard rock bands. The music critics compared his songs to those of Bruce Springsteen. The sound was resolutely more Anglo-Saxon.

It only took a trip to Canada in '95 for Zachary to take up with the French language again. He composed and wrote lyrics in the language of Molière. He then recorded an album "Cap enragé" which came out the next year. Some would say that this was the most accomplished album of his career. It was certified platinum in Canada in December 1997 (300,000 copies sold) and Zachary received the Felix award for being "the most present Francophone artist on the music scene in Quebec" awarded by the ADISQ (l'Association Québecoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la video).

He took advantage of this "return to the source" to go on tour in France, stopping at the "Festival du Printemps" in Bourges in April and the summer music festival "Francofolies de La Rochelle" in July. He also went back to Quebec where he performed at the summer festival "Festival d'été de Quebec" and the Francofolies de Montréal. Like every year since '81 he gave a concert at the Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans.

His activities are not confined to recording records and giving concerts. He also writes poetry, militates of course for the Cajun cause in general and more particularly for the survival of the French language in Louisiana. He also supports ecology organisations and associations.

In 1999, Zachary Richard released a new album entitled "Cœur fidèle", a moody, reflective and, at times, downright dark opus on which he paid tribute to his native Louisiana. The following year the compilation "Travailler c'est trop dur / Anthologie 1976-1999" hit record stores.

It would be another five years before the Cajun singer-songwriter got down to writing material for his next album. He later confessed that he had not been aware of time flying by as he got involved in a host of other projects such as documentary-making. Preparations for Zachary’s new album were completely disrupted, however, when Hurricane Katrina hit town on 29 August 2005. Zachary turned his home in Maris Bouleur (200 kilometres outside New Orleans) into a refuge after the disaster and threw himself into organising fund-raising activities for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In November of that year, he joined forces with his friend, the French singer-songwriter Francis Cabrel, and organised a major fund-raising concert at the Palais des Congrès, in Paris, where the pair were joined on stage by a number of French stars.

2007: "Lumière dans le noir"

2005 was also the year Zachary’s father died, an event which affected the singer deeply as the pair had been very close over the years. Zachary would dedicate his next album, "Lumière dans le noir", released in 2007, to his father. This new album featured a host of prestigious guest stars including Francis Cabrel who joined Zachary in the studio for a duet ("La promesse cassée") on which the pair were accompanied by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. Other guest stars included singers Isabelle Boulay and Ani DiFranco and the guitarists Sanseverino, Sonny Landreth and Freddy Koella (a longtime collaborator of Bob Dylan’s). The new album found Zachary tackling a number of topical hard-hitting themes such as the Rwandan genocide ("Ô Jésus"), the fight to save Beluga whales in Saint-Laurent ("La ballade de DL 8-153") and the bombing of Beirut ("Le Souvenir"). However, despite these serious themes, "Lumière dans le noir" was far from being a dark, despairing album.

In March 2007, Zachary Richard embarked upon an extensive tour of Quebec, then went on to appear at a number of leading music festivals.

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Talented singer and multi-instrumentalist, Zachary has been pulled between two worlds, two languages since the beginning of his career. He is without a doubt the only one in this day and age who can claim such cultural richness.

June 2007

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