Red Cardell is a Breton rock band that mixes Breton music with rock, folk, blues, world music and chanson réaliste.
The group was formed in 1992 by Jean-Pierre Riou (vocals, guitars), Jean-Michel Moal (accordion) and Ian Proërer (drums). With the departure of the latter in 2001, Manu Masko became the drummer. He left in 2015.
In 2011, the band added Mathieu Péquériau (harmonica, washboard) as a new member, some months before Jean-Michel Moal had to take a break from the group due to health problems. He returned in 2015.
From 2012 to 2015, the band was joined on stage by two additional musicians : Ronan Le Bars (bagpipes, whistles), (Dan Ar Braz / Héritage des Celtes) and Pierre Stéphan (fiddle), and had a joint show with Bagad Kemper. During that same time period, the five band members were involved in The Celtic Social Club, alongside Jimme O'Neill, leader of (The Silencers) and bassman Richard Puaud.
In December 2015, Jean-Pierre Riou and Jean-Michel Moal, the 1992 co-founders of the group, joined forces again after four years of separation. In this new collective, they are accompanied by the multi-instrumentalist Pierre Sangra, partner of the band since the album Naître, and drummer Hibu Corbel.
They are considered by music critics to be one of the best Breton bands of this time, in the footsteps of Alan Stivell and Dan Ar Braz, precursors of the Celtic wave of the seventies, having learned to combine rock and contemporary music with traditional music.