Lou Blackwell’s A French Romance, debuting at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, is more than a celebration of French chanson — it draws on a rich artistic journey shaped between France and Adelaide. In this interview, Blackwell shares how a gradual shift from jazz standards to French repertoire reshaped her musical identity, guided by audience response, creative collaborators and an organic exploration of the French songbook. She reflects on her discovery of artists such as Barbara, Boris Vian and Georges Brassens, and reveals how A French Romance blends storytelling, lived experience and carefully curated songs into a transportive cabaret experience that invites audiences to feel as though they’ve stepped into Paris itself.
What first drew you to French chanson, and how did it become such a defining part of your artistic identity?
I came back from France, where I’d really been singing jazz. I only had a couple of French songs in the repertoire when I was in France. I came back, and I started doing some jazz gigs in Adelaide and put in a French song here and there, and people really liked it, and my Mum as well. They said, “do more French songs”. So, it just morphed organically into French songs.
Julian Ferraretto, who is a jazz violinist, had come back from London and he joined. I was playing with the Bruce Hancock Trio at that point, and it just slowly changed. And then Mark Ferguson came on board. It seemed to work. People seemed to like it. So, I just went with that energy.
And it was interesting because when I was living in France, I didn’t study or look at the French Songbook much, that was back here really.
What did your period performing and living in France teach you about performance, phrasing, storytelling?
Well, I was doing jazz gigs really. So, I was studying jazz, singing with two great American singers living in Paris, Sarah Lazarus and Michelle Hendrix. So, I was doing jazz, I was playing with jazz musicians. So, I got to develop my jazz singing over there. I would tell funny stories sometimes in between songs but that cabaret French sort of thing came more here.
Who were the who were the French artists that you find have influenced you the most?
Influenced, I don’t know. I love Barbara. It was a real discovery going into her work. I knew who she was and the dear family that were very close to me over there, they all knew her, of course. So, it’s just different songs.
It was great discovering Boris Vian, Juliette Gréco, Yves Montand, Georges Brassens. Léo Ferré. It was a journey of discovering different songs. I would research, I would listen to different songs. Also, my friends, the Campions over there, they would introduce me to different French artists.
Your Adelaide Cabaret Festival show is called A French Romance, and it promises us to go on a trip to Paris from Adelaide. What kind of emotional or musical journey do you want us to take?
First of all, it’s really great musicians, so it’s really strong musically. And, a sense of them being in Paris, thinking of those great cabaret bars and stages that the stars played on. I research into the lives of the performers. Edith Piaf, of course. If I go back to Paris, at times there’d be exhibitions on Georges Brassens or Edith Piaf.
It’s also me recounting my time. My French romance was with the place itself and how much I loved it and the culture and all of that.
So, it’s a more personal show.
Yes, it’s a personal sort of story. I bring my personal story into it.
How did you choose which songs from the Great French Songbook to include and what makes a song feel essential to the show?
We’ve gone into some lesser-known. We do some Les Frères Jacques, and Jean Constantin who has some really funny, kooky songs. We’ve got some of that in there. There’s some cha cha cha. There’s some stuff with a bit of a Latin feel in there.
I’ve been working with Mark Simeon Ferguson. He’s such a great musical director. We go into his office at the jazz school and work together. We’re following connections, a little connection between an artist with another song coming up or a connection on the subject of the story. So, finding those little links in the creative process that can be surprising or this sort of works with that. Or two songs sort of a bit similar, so we have to leave one out. We can’t do everything in a cabaret show but we’ve got a really good set list now.
And so, there’s some new ones. There are some older ones but there are quite a few new ones. It’s a mixture of ones that work and that keep it bright and keep the energy up. A beautiful new ballad by Barbara, a love song about Paris and the Dave Frishberg one with my little story.
Sur les quais de Paris is such a beautiful romantic song. Charles Trenet, Serge Gainsbourg, Piaf of course, we’ve got a couple of duets in there. I’m bringing the guys in to sing with me.
Like you did on the Gréco show.
Yes, on some duets.
We’ve got band members coming over from Melbourne because when we’ve gone over to play in the jazz lab in the last couple of years, we’ve used the drummer and bass player from Melbourne. Terry Anderson is going to be on the drums. He’s a great jazz drummer. He’s originally from here, but living in Melbourne now. Dan Whitten, who’s a fantastic bass player and singer and he just worked with Meow Meow on her show and he’s in the Bush Gothic band, which is a Melbourne band. I’ve known him since I was about 18 so he’s a dear old friend.
If someone’s been to one of your other French shows and they’re coming to see this one, what should they expect to be different?
There’s more backup singing. There are more duets. The band are getting a little bit more involved. There are some new songs. It’s scripted, and so there’s a storyline. Sometimes I’ll think on my feet, so this is a lot more sort of placed hopefully with some space to improvise a little bit in that.
When you perform songs associated with the big icons like Brassens, Trenet, Aznavour. How do you honour their legacy while still making the material feel like it’s a bit of yours do you keep the songs like authentically as they sang them, or do you add a bit of a flourish or is it about linking it to your story?
Mark is very instrumental in that. He will change things up a bit. He’s a great underscorer too. There are more vocal harmonies and some fields are changing a bit.
What do you think about the repertoire that you play continues to resonate in Adelaide so strongly?
I do have that really strong French connection so I really hope to bring a really good quality delivery of the French Songbook. I’m playing with really great musicians. France and Paris are really in my heart. There’s a really strong connection. I feel like I can sing that stuff because it’s a lived experience in a sense, even though I discovered the French book more here. When I go there, I will go and see some acts. But when I was there, I was very much living there. I was very much going to jazz gigs.
If someone’s discovering French chanson for the first time through this show, what do you hope they leave the theatre feeling, hearing or wanting to explore next?
It’s really beautiful music. They’re beautiful songs. They’re a bit jazzy. They’ve got that French three-four in them a lot. So, they can be musically inspired and, hopefully make you feel like they’ve had a little trip to France.
Yeah. It might make them plan their next trip.
Well, you never know!
Is there anything you would like to add?
I love France, and I have a really strong connection with the place, and so I want to invite you on that romance with me. The romance for the spirit of the place. It’s not just Paris, but the country itself. There are so many great countries but that was the country that came at a time in my life where it just helped me really develop as a person. And I was so inspired by the culture. I went to university; I did a cinema studies degree. I’ve read many, many books. I’m not a native French speaker, but I’ve got a pretty strong connection with the French language and culture.
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We thank Lou Blackwell for this interview and cannot wait to see A French Romance this Sunday!
KEY INFO FOR LOU BLACKWELL & THE FRENCH SET: A FRENCH ROMANCE
WHAT: Lou Blackwell & The French Set: A French Romance
WHEN: 7:30pm, 7 June 2026
WHERE: Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre, ADELAIDE
HOW: Purchase your tickets via this link
HOW MUCH: Ticket prices are as follows (exclusive of transaction fee)
Premium Admit $59.00
A Reserve Adults $54.00
The show is also part of a Premium Package on 7 June with Premium tickets to Dylan Adler and PO PO MO CO. All 3 shows for $167 excluding transaction fee. . Buy the Premium Package here
For more Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2026, check out the below:
Reuben Kaye promises a Delicious Revolution for Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2026
Step behind the red nose and into the world of PO PO MO CO at Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2026
For more Lou Blackwell, check out the below:
Louise Blackwell presents a show about the life and songs of Juliette Gréco ‘Love on the Left Bank’
Louise Blackwell takes you for A night in Paris at Adelaide Fringe
Love on the Left Bank is a show of French chanson like no other
