“Over time, I developed a passion for Occitan culture”

Every day, a personality invites itself into the world of Élodie Suigo. Friday December 22, 2023: the lyricist, musician and singer, Francis Cabrel. He has just released a single, a 45 rpm titled “Un piece de Sicre”.

Francis Cabrel is this author, composer, performer, rare and precious, discreet but present. He appeared throughout his creations, songs, concerts as one of us. He is also associated with the defense of Occitania and its language, so precious to him and especially to his ears, because it was in Toulouse that it all began. He wanted to pay tribute to this pink city so dear to his heart, as well as to those who accompanied him in one way or another, such as Claude Sicre, founder of the Occitan group Les Fabulous Trobadors.

Francis Cabrel has just released a single with the help of his daughter Aurélie, a 45 rpm entitled A piece of Sicre .

franceinfo: “Un piece de Sicre” is a limited edition, as a nod to your beginnings. So Occitanie is your base?

Francis Cabrel : It imposed itself on me over time. At first, I thought it wasn’t that important. And then I met a lot of people who moved me by showing their passion, their interest in these roots, which I didn’t find that important. My grandparents arrived from Italy just before my father was born. I consider myself a bit passing through. Over time, I developed a passion for Occitan culture, for all those who defend it. These Fabulous Trobadors of Claude Sicre created a repertoire which is a bit equivalent to the Bluesmen of America, they laid the foundation on which everyone was inspired, based. I think they laid the foundations.

“A piece of Sicre” was released under the Baboo Music label with Aurélie Cabrel, your eldest daughter. It really is a huge anchor point with Astaffort. Was it important to experience that moment with her?

There, it was very important, apart from the fact that it is my daughter, to be represented by a local label. Distributed by Paris, it wouldn’t have made much sense. So I explained to my Parisian record company that there, I was being unfaithful for the logic of the project I was leading. Everything had to leave here, for me to show everyone that we can do everything from this small village. And There you go. The proof is that it was done, that my daughter did a great job, three quarters of the time, she was the one who implemented it. She put him in the flesh.

You were extremely involved in this project. It’s a huge departure from everything we’ve known before. As if you had let go, is that true?

I am obliged to say that it is also the time that has passed and the time that I have left to do in this profession which gives a kind of assessment to be established.

“In review of everything that happened to me, I found that I had not paid enough tribute to my region.”

Francis Cabrel

at franceinfo

I just talked about Occitanie, but also and above all, it was the city of Toulouse which was the trigger for everything that happened to me. The main characters are in Toulouse. Richard Seff, his brother Daniel, the Condorcet studios, where I recorded my first models, the first singing competition in which I was revealed and which I won with Little Marie. It was in Toulouse too, as well as the promise to record the first album. So everything started from Toulouse. Afterwards, I made my important albums like Blowgun And Saturday evening on earth, also in Toulouse. So it’s always punctuated by Toulouse, Toulouse, Toulouse.

This is a limited edition 45 rpm. Inevitably, it also reminds us of your beginnings. Vinyl, which is making a comeback when we thought it had completely and definitively disappeared, is a wink. In a way, it is a strong artisanal act. Was it important?

Yes. It’s Aurélie’s idea. I’m only releasing one song, what do we do with it? I thought it was just digital, that it was going to go online with a nice video to go with it, but she said, ” No, we’re going to do a vinyl single. What cover do you have to offer?“She came to the house, I had made some drawings and then it was she who drew on what I was doing and who had the idea of ​​this design for the song.

Aurélie also loves music. Does it touch you that she wants to follow in her father’s footsteps?

Yes, it actually affects me.

“I find that my eldest daughter, Aurélie, has a completely pure, completely authentic passion and that she is like me. She has a hard tooth, so it’s perfect.”

Francis Cabrel

at franceinfo

She likes some things and hates others and she says it. I think she has a very good vision of what is happening around us.

It reminds us of previous titles, but this one is even stronger. Does that mean that today’s outlook on life is mainly that of knowing where the essential is?

Yes, that’s the famous assessment I was talking about earlier. I find that today I have a sort of right to do so. I allow myself, because of my seniority in this show business that I have always practiced, even if I have always distanced myself from it, to say: this is who I like, what interests me, what I consider worthy, authentic, which, in my eyes, has value and above all advances the idea, the great idea of ​​French song.

Watch this interview on video: