1755 (band)


1755 is an Acadian band formed by Kenneth Saulnier, Pierre Robichaud, Roland Gauvin, Donald Boudreau and Ronald Dupuis. The band was named after the Great Deportation of 1755, during which Acadians were deported from Acadia, and was active from 1975 to 1984. After they broke up, every member of the band went on to work on solo albums, or joined new bands such as Les Méchants Maquereaux.
1755 combined folk, country and rock, with traditional folk song lyrics, or original compositions from the band members or from Acadian poet Gérald Leblanc. The most of the songs are performed in the French dialect of south eastern New-Brunswick, known as "chiac", but some compositions are in English as well. The group is considered an icon of modern Acadian culture, and is credited for launching the modern Acadian musical scene at the international level and for influencing several Acadian artists and bands that came after them, such as Fayo or Dominique Dupuis.
Although officially broken up since 1984, 1755 often reunites to perform shows and summer tours, especially during Acadian-related festivities such as National Acadian Day. A particularly notable show was at the Moncton Coliseum, during the first Acadian World Congress in 1994, which was filmed and turned into a live album Les retrouvailles de la famille and a video release on VHS and DVD.
Herménégilde Chiasson wrote that 1755 was "much more than a band" but rather "the chant of a generation" and that their songs and lyrics remain the "testimony of a period of tension and affirmation".

Discography