Biography

A French singer/songwriter and accomplished musician, especially as it pertains to medieval instruments, Luc Arbogast was born in the seaport town of La Rochelle on November, 2, 1975. The son of a career military father and a nurse mother, Arbogast developed a fondness for early music at a very young age. Entirely self-taught, he cites as inspirations the Cantigas de Santa Maria (a collection of poems and songs concerning the Virgin Mary from the Middle Ages often attributed to Galician king Alfonso X of Castile), the songs of German poet Walther von der Vogelweide, the German mystic Hildegard of Bingen, and French composer Guillaume de Machaut. He honed his performance skills as a busker and at various medieval music festivals, eventually releasing a string of independent albums between 2003 and 2009. In 2011, he inked a deal with Universal and issued the album Canticum in Terra, which featured flutist Mélinda Bressan, violin and nyckelharpa (keyed fiddle) player Aliocha Regnard, percussionist Jean Louis Renou, and backing vocals from Sarah Picaud. In 2013, Arbogast appeared on the French version of the popular reality series The Voice, and though he was eliminated early, his evocative performances enchanted the French public, who helped push his 2013 Odysseus LP into the number one slot. He found success again in 2014 with the release of Oreflam, which included a stirring and inventive cover of the Game of Thrones theme. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi