French musician, author and journalist Marc Robine was born in Casablanca, Morocco, on October 14, 1950. He began his musical career by learning the banjo. By the age of 20, this inquisitive young man was traveling extensively, learning the Dulcimer, a medieval stringed instrument that gave a very distinctive sound to his repertoire. His first album was dedicated to the instrument, Ruelles (musiques pour Dulcimer), released in 1977 and containing tablatures for the instrument. A musically rich album recorded with bagpipes, fiddles, flutes, etc. It includes compositions as well as covers of traditional songs, including "Le Franc Archer", written in 1562. Marc Robine is also the man who brought Gaston Couté's poems of the early 20th century up to date, setting them to music in 1979 in the album Gaston Couté, author of "L'Amour Anarchiste " and "Les Mangeux d'Terre", among others. Two albums were released for the German market, Die Französische Musik (1980) and The Free Spirit (1983), again featuring the dulcimer. 1984 saw the release of Gauloise, where in addition to his own compositions, he covered Jacques Brel's "Le Plat Pays". Robine went on to write Le Grand Jacques, a reference book on the Belgian singer. Marc Robine is known for his biographical works (Cabrel, Julien Clerc, Brassens), his participation in the chanson journal Paroles & musique and the creation of Chorus-les Cahiers de la chanson. He signed his last musical productions with EPM, releasing L'errance (1990), an album of traditional songs, Du temps des chevaux au temps des cerises (1999), and an album of Gaston Couté songs with Gérard Pierron. His last album, featuring poems by Verlaine, Desnos, Hugo and others, was released posthumously in November 2003.
