Jean-Baptiste Cardineau & the Local Heroes showcasing at World of Bluegrass ’26 – photo © Elizabeth Loring
You never get used to the joy of discovering a new favorite band, and when it happens amid the controlled chaos of IBMA’s World of Bluegrass, it’s even more fun. Bassist Noah Harrington handed me a card for mandolinist Jean-Baptiste Cardineau’s showcases last week and urged me to check him out.
I assumed JB was Canadian, but it turns out he is a citizen of France and the US, with no trace of a French accent—on hearing him speak or play, you might have guessed the Texas Hill Country where he spent some time before moving to Boston, his current home.
I found JB and his band, the Local Heroes, setting up in the Colorado Bluegrass Music Society’s showcase room. They were riding high on news of JB’s IBMA Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year award just hours before, and they clearly came to play. Their style is generally very traditional but with forays into the stratosphere.
The showcase room filled up quickly as soon as the band started cooking. Each member was a master of his instrument, and they were entertaining to watch. JB has a warm and woody tone and amazing facility on the mandolin, as he manages to meld both Bill Monroe and Frank Wakefield in style. Noah Harrington on bass (so that’s why he gave me that card!) has wonderful range on his instrument and sings an intensely clear high tenor part. Jack Holland provided strong vocals as well as solid rhythm and inventive leads on guitar, and Micah Phillip’s banjo was machine-gun accurate. He could get out there on the edge with the best of them, but that guy also knows his Earl Scruggs.
Whether lighting into an obscure Buzz Busby song or one of JB’s originals, the band combined serious chops with an irreverent sense of humor that tilted occasionally into wackiness. They made a shameless series of puns about the title of the gospel song, Press On, O Pilgrim, and then just nailed it with perfectly intertwined harmony. They finished up with a fun version of Orange Blossom Special that breathed new life into the old warhorse. You’ve heard it a million times, but have you ever heard it with a solo that quotes the Flatt & Scruggs novelty number, Mama Blues, Bonaparte’s Retreat, and Tennessee Waltz?
If you enjoy high lonesome singing and clean, fast picking, all delivered with wry smiles and smart remarks, Jean-Baptiste & the Local Heroes is a band to watch.
