The French Family

When 2017 Golden Guitar Winner (Instrumental of the Year) guitar wiz Stuie French was touring Australia with Merle Haggard in 1996 did he see a sign foretelling that in years to come he would fall in love with a Maori woman who sang like an angel and they would end up making beautiful music, and a family, together?

Camille and Stuie have three children and together with their 12 year old son “Sonny” will be performing as The French Family.  Sonny began singing at the tender age of two and not that long ago started playing the guitar. In 2013 Sonny released an album called “seven”, and he then went on to be a feature artist in the NSW Schools Spectacular and in 2018 had his own segment on the National Television Show “Little Big Shots

At the 2013 Tamworth Golden Guitar Awards, Camille and Stuie won their first Golden Guitar Award together for “Best Alternative Country Album of the Year”. In March 2014 they were awarded the Frank Ifield International Spur Award.

Camille and Stuie have also had two of their songs (Gone for all money and Pretty Katalina) featured on the hugely popular, new Channel 7 drama “A Place to Call Home”.  Camille also featured on New Zealand television this year with a full episode of her musical life on “Unsung Heroes of Maori Music”.

Stuie is a master of the country/jazz guitar-style (Les Paul invited him up to play in New York), and his smooth voice harks back to the days of Tommy Duncan singing with Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys – no pretense or exaggeration. Stuie always has a band that can create the perfect bed for Camille’s gentle, velvet voice.  She sounds like no other singer with a style that is effortless, a sound that is rich, deep and very easy on the ear.