BIDDEFORD — “It’s going to be epic.” That’s all Vanessa Thereault had to say Monday, when asked what audience members can expect from her band’s performance at this year’s La Kermesse Franco-Americaine Festival at Biddeford Middle School.
The 25-year-old, who lives in Saco, fronts Vinnie & the Treble Makers, a four-member country band that formed in October.
The band includes musicians who have opened for popular acts such as Alabama and Willie Nelson. “These are some very seasoned players,” she said of her bandmates.
Vinnie & the Treble Makers’ original songs draw inspiration from contemporary country artists like Carrie Underwood, she said, but the band also performs cover songs, tackling artists from Loretta Lynn to Johnny Cash.
“We’ve even got Elvis in there,” said Thereault.
From as early as she can remember, the Biddeford native has lived to perform. She has been singing since she was 5 years old, she said, and music runs in her blood.
“My uncle and my aunt were both in a band together,” Thereault recalled. “I used to think that they were famous.” They weren’t, she added, with a laugh.
When she was just 13 years old, Thereault placed third in the teen version of the La Kermesse Idol competition. In 2011, she “won the whole thing,” she said, wowing the judges with her rendition of Martina McBride’s “A Broken Wing.”
But her memories of the competition came with a tinge of sadness Monday; in March, organizers of the annual, four-day festival ”“ which starts on June 25 this year ”“ announced the La Kermesse Idol competition would be retired for the 2015 season.
“It’s really sad,” said Thereault. “It’s been a part of La Kermesse for a very long time.”
Thereault, who also works at Sterling Rope in Biddeford, said in the past she has auditioned for American Idol, America’s Got Talent, The Voice and The X Factor, and she continues to take advantage of any opportunity “that will get (her) exposure.”
According to LaKermesseFestival.com, Vinnie & the Treble Makers will perform two 45-minute sets ”“ one at 8 p.m. and another at 9:30 p.m. ”“ at the festival’s main tent on Friday, June 26. Illusion, a Springvale-based rock band that covers songs from the ’70s through today, will also be performing.
Thereault said she is looking forward to the concert and hopes the band’s hard work will pay off.
“We’ve been practicing forever, it seems. We put a lot of hard work into it,” she said. “It’s just go, go, go. It’s going to be awesome.”
When asked what her favorite part of performing is, Thereault pointed to the freedom she feels on stage.
“You get to be a whole different person,” she said. “It’s totally different from being just a normal human being. You get to have fun, you get to dance. It’s a totally different atmosphere. It feels right.”
— Staff Writer Angelo J. Verzoni can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or averzoni@journaltribune.com.
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