Renée was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Some of her earliest interests were: learning French, fantasy novels, dinosaurs, and rock-n-roll. Seeing Clifton Chenier performing live when she was a little girl opened her mind to the idea that French language and rock were a fun and powerful combination. Though not from Louisiana, her early French education from her father Xavier de la Prade and exposure to zydeco music made a deep impression. Later on she would travel to Europe with a guitar on her back; meet a guitar-maker in Granada, and come back to California with a drive to learn not just rock-n-roll, but also musical instrument repair. 
 

It was at Amazing Grace Music in San Anselmo, CA where she learned guitar set-up and repair, and fell into the wonderful alternate world of folk music. The folk revival of the 1960's had left a thriving but semi-hidden community of California folkies who were happy to share tunes with the young nerdy punk-rocker in the back of the guitar shop. She gobbled up Irish, Cajun, Old-Time and Blues tunes while studying for her Bachelor of Music; first at College of Marin and then at Berklee College of Music. It was her new-found love of Irish music (and a fateful meeting with Shane MacGowan and the Popes) which got her on the path to learning diatonic accordion. As a rock-n-roller, she wasn't satisfied with the bass system that came with her instrument. It was time to learn another trade: accordion repair... and accordion modification.

Smythe's Accordion Center was the next logical step for the young woman who was bound to rock the accordion harder than it had ever been rocked before. There Kimric Smythe helped her to install a simple octave bass-system she had developed which could play boogie-woogie and walking bass lines in half a dozen keys. From then on, Renée would suffer the curse of always analyzing the bass line of any piece of music she heard. 
 

Having a solid base in music theory and a first-class instrument does not a musician make, she also needs to practice. Knowing that mastery of any trade requires at least 10,000 hours, needing to pay the rent, and with a burning desire to rock as hard as possible, she took to the streets as a street performer. Since that time she has performed at least 25,000 hours of street shows and has honed her intuitive sense as an entertainer to work with any crowd. Fateful events and years of touring with bands led her to the harbor in Hamburg, Germany where she currently lives. In her current phase of life she is focused on passing on the roots music which has inspired her to both adult and younger audiences. She is also getting ready to do a lot more touring in the coming years. There is always more folk music to discover, more bass lines to learn. 

During the off-season she edits and produces the Accordion Babes Album & Pin-Up Calendar. She also teaches music workshops and lessons. For more information and booking inquiries, please use the Contact form. 

AWARDS:

San Francisco's Main Squeeze

Honorary Director: Cotati Accordion Festival

Bachelor of Music: Berklee College of Music 

BANDS:

Ladies Rock Night

The Code 

Good Times Fun Band

(alumna) Rebel Lovers

(alumna) Culann's Hounds

(alumna) Whiskey & Women