Baptiste W. Hamon

Hamon's music stands out through its close, guitar-led blend of folk and Americana rooted in Nashville's core, yet performed almost wholly in French. Far from a one-off curiosity, this bilingual approach has anchored a steady sequence of releases including L’insouciance (2017), Soleil, soleil bleu (2019), and Country (2024), plus ongoing work with contemporary alternative figures extending from Will Oldham to Tame Impala members.

Born in 1986 in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Cyr-l’Ecole, he first looked to Nick Drake and Elliott Smith before absorbing a wide span of American country and folk masters, with Townes Van Zandt, Bob Dylan, and John Prine supplying especially strong creative fuel. Francophiles have likened his recordings to the early catalogs of Leonard Cohen, Jacques Brel, and, in a rarer comparison, the French chansonnier Jacques Bertin.

Initial projects appeared under the fitting Texas in Paris name and mixed limited English with predominant French vocals.

After issuing his first EP under his own name—the 2015 Ballade de Allan Seeger, titled for the American war poet whose “I Have a Rendezvous with Death” received a musical setting from the young artist—he relocated to Nashville to work with producer Mark Nevers, widely recognized for prior sessions with Will Oldham, the songwriter who records as Bonnie “Prince” Billy. The 2017 debut L’insouciance contained a duet with Oldham (“Comme la vie est belle”) alongside Nashville singer/songwriter Caitlin Rose, daughter of prominent songwriter Liz Rose, on the English-language “It’s Been a While.” Its 2019 follow-up Soleil, soleil bleu again paired him with Oldham (“Mon capitaine”) while spotlighting some of his most-streamed pieces, among them the talking folk number “Je brûle” and the title track.

Emerging after the COVID-19 pandemic, later efforts moved away from his established pattern. The 2021 EP Barbaghamon reflected a more alt-pop direction through collaboration with drummer Julien Barbagallo, a longtime touring member of Tame Impala. The 2022 album Jusqu'à la lumière was tracked in England with producer John Parish, known for work with PJ Harvey. Country in 2024 sustained the interplay of Americana and chanson across engaging tracks such as “J’connais des gens” and “Mes envies de ne rien faire.”