bio

Band Bio

Jolie Fille is a Cajun punk rock band from Charlottesville, Virginia. Initially modeled after the 70s new wave group Blondie, they soon learned that no chanteuse was willing to stand in the shadow of five such fine looking gentlemen (click on each members name to see why). That experience has triggered a series of overlapping identity crises from which the band may never recover.

Without a pretty girl at the front, fiddler and former Hackensaw Boy David Goldstein offered to sing at the band’s first performance, but the only words to come out were “Jolie Fille, viens et chantes avec moi.” The band immediately became a commercial and critical sensation. Although many pretty girls flocked to the band’s gigs for an audition, they always brought with them their handsome boyfriends, whose primal jealousies smothered the starry-eyed ambitions of their lovers.

While having so many good-looking people at shows generated big profits for Jolie Fille, it also aggravated dormant tensions within the five-man troupe. The rhythm section, consisting of former Landlords Tristan Puckett and Eddie Jetlag, recoiled at the band’s fixation on the superficial good looks of its audience. Veteran punk-metal rockers, they revived the rebellious values of their hardcore days by playing the same thing on every song. (Click here and here for more on The Landlords). Unbeknownst to them, the group’s skill players, led by David Goldstein and accordionist Matty Metcalfe, were wearing earplugs. And the band played on. Utility man Paul Freedman has repeatedly tried to bridge the gap between melody and rhythm by recruiting David (“Shiner”) Sickman from the Hackensaw Boys to play guitar with the group for a number of gigs. Alas, by continuing to play both washboard and harmonica, Paul further alienated his erstwhile supporters in both the rhythm and skill sections.

At present, the stalemate within the band persists, although the steadily growing number of physically attractive people at shows suggests that soon they will find the perfect jolie fille to lead them to the promised land.