Chalumeau found their sound by putting one foot in front of the other. Literally.
For Katherine Bergeron—the voice at the center of Chalumeau’s eclectic pop-rock duo with multi-instrumentalist Butch Rovan—songs don’t begin in the studio or behind a glowing laptop. They start on long walks through the neighborhoods and shorelines of Rhode Island. In the steady rhythm of her footsteps, melodies arrive unannounced. Words follow. Harmonies appear like shifting light. By the time she returns home, a song has already started breathing.
It’s a radically analog approach in a digital age. Over five months in 2024, eight of the ten tracks that make up BLUE, Chalumeau’s debut album, materialized during these solitary wanderings.
“The music just seemed to rise up out of the landscape”
-Katherine Bergeron
The practice gave her not only melodies but whole emotional vignettes—self-contained packages waiting for refinement.
That’s where Rovan enters. A longtime collaborator and equally adventurous musician, he serves as both critical ear and catalyst. While Katherine brings the spark, Butch fans the flame—testing ideas at the piano, improvising on guitar, encouraging threads to unravel into full compositions. Together, they transformed walk-born sketches into expansive, fully realized songs.
Rather than dropping an album cold, Chalumeau stretched the story out. Beginning in October 2024, they released eight singles in nine months—each track a standalone statement, each release an open conversation with their growing audience. By the time BLUE landed in full on August 7, 2025, anticipation had already reached a slow boil.
The live debut was just as intentional. Chalumeau unveiled BLUE at The Met in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, backed by some of the region’s top players.
In a culture that prioritizes speed, Chalumeau suggests the opposite: the most vital art might still come from slowing down, paying attention, and letting the world sing back to you.