Jean-Baptiste Cardineau (he/him) is a Franco-American musician and songwriter based in Boston, Massachusetts. His one man show highlights his abilities as a bluegrass singer/songwriter, mandolin player and guitarist. Jean-Baptiste brings a unique Nouveau-Traditionel approach to mandolin and guitar playing. He charms crowds with his sense of humor, folksy aphorisms, and most of all his masterful and seasoned playing. With a musical and lyrical vision, his voracious desire to find the JB sound is the driving force behind his musical operandi. 

 

JB was raised in the French Alps and moved to the Wild West as a teenager. He learned traditional fingerstyle guitar from his father prior moving to the States in 2017, where he picked up his grandmother’s 200 year old Breton mandolin.

After spending several years as an integral member of the Montreal roots scene, following his studies in Political Science at Concordia University, he moved to Boston in 2022. He is currently enrolled at Berklee College of Music and is due to graduate in 2025 with a degree in Professional Music, American Roots and Songwriting. His unique and fearless mandolin playing has unleashed the heavy grass-picking artillery onto some of the biggest bluegrass stages in the world. Bolstered by his Franco-American roots and transatlantic repertoire, he strives to create authentic bonds across the franco-anglosphere. This timeless intersection of traditional and original music evokes a bygone era and calls attention to our dynamic past and present.

 

Extracurricularly, JB plays mandolin with Boston groups The Ruta Beggars, Max Wareham and the National Bluegrass Team, and collaborates frequently with many others.

 

Recordings:

Jean-Baptiste Cardineau Eponymous EP 2024

Sophie Wellington and Jean-Baptiste Cardineau - Without Further à Deux 2024

Ruta Beggars (Skyline Records Artist) forthcoming album 2024

Jono Townsend - Crooked Creek 2022

Susan Moretti Fairbrother - Memories 2021

Shredneck Brothers - Hochelaga Magütt Sessions 2021