Singer/songwriter Jeanne Cherhal entered the world in Nantes, France, during 1978 and spent her childhood on the French countryside alongside her sister and middle-class parents. A short-lived interest in ballet gave way to piano as her main creative outlet, and by fourteen she was already playing local gigs with rock bands shaped by the sounds of Björk, Tori Amos, and Sonic Youth. University studies eventually earned her an M.A. in philosophy, yet she devoted considerable energy to developing her music during those years. Still largely unrecognized, she received an invitation to support chanson star Georges Moustaki on tour, where her lively schoolgirl persona caught the public’s attention—an image she maintained through the first phase of her career. Momentum built in 2000 when she received the Truffe d’Argent de Perigueux award as newcomer of the year, and the following two years cemented her standing as a compelling live act. Her first release arrived in 2002 as a concert recording captured the year before. The 2004 album Douze Fois par An marked her initial work with a full rhythm section, steering her sound closer to the pop mainstream and opening doors to collaborations with Europop star M and Jacques Higelin, both of whom joined her on extensive road trips. The demanding tour schedule yielded a second live album, Jeanne Cherhal a la Cigale, which appeared in March 2005. Following a short theatrical detour in Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues, she issued her third studio album, L’Eau, in 2006 under the production of French singer Albin de la Simone.
