The Dameans

The Dameans were a group of Catholic musicians who rose to prominence in the folk music era of the 1970s.[2] They began as seminarians at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana, having formed circa 1967.[3]

The group was composed mainly of Darryl Ducote, Mike Balhoff, Dave Baker, Buddy Ceasar, and Gary Ault. Two other seminarians participated in The Dameans early-on: Bobby Morgan and Charles Monzelun. Bobby and Charles were part of the Notre Dame Seminary Trio, formed by Gary Ault. Darryl Ducote joined the group as their lead singer. Mike Balhoff joined as their bassist. Through a closure and combining of seminaries in Louisiana, Gary, Darryl, and Mike asked the others to join them and The Dameans were founded. After Bobby Morgan and Charles Monzelun left the seminary, the other five members chose to continue on. Gary Ault had previously worked with Carey Landry, a liturgical singer and songwriter as well. They billed themselves as "Gary and Carey".[4]

For several years, The Dameans traveled around the United States, doing concerts and workshops/presentations. When they began to travel, these men selected a name for the group and decided that they could have "five members" because that is "how many a car would hold." They had to have enough room for themselves and their luggage, along with their guitars, and even "room for a bass fiddle" [5]

All of the Dameans contributed to vocals to varying degrees, with Darryl, Buddy, and Gary singing lead on most songs. All of these men contributed to the songwriting. Darryl, Buddy, and Gary frequently wrote lyrics and music for their songs. Mike is more of a lyricist and worked often as a co-writer with Darryl. Dave also contributed a song to the third album. Though they only played their own instruments on their first album, they are mainly guitarists (Darryl, Buddy, and Gary) with Mike playing upright bass and Dave adding tambourine. On all albums after "Tell The World", studio musicians have been used.[6]

Following the 1971 "Walk To The Gloryland" album, Dave Baker left the group. According to Darryl in a recent interview, Dave bowed out of the group because the traveling was too difficult and his home was in Wisconsin. Darryl mentioned that until 1970, The Dameans spent every weekend on the road with their music ministry. After they were ordained priests, the travel reduced to once a month with the blessing of their bishops. Traveling took them to 48 states, including Hawaii and Alaska.,[7][8]

Around 1978, a young Gary Daigle joined the group with the release of "Remember Your Love." Gary Daigle played keyboards and guitar, as well as taking an active role in songwriting.[9]

By the early 1980s, along with such groups as the St. Louis Jesuits, The Dameans' music "dominate[d] the publications scene" in contemporary Catholic liturgical music.[10] As part of the "second phase" of post-Conciliar Catholic folk music, the Dameans' songs reflected attention to liturgical and Biblical texts, and several were represented in the original Glory and Praise hymnals, Volume 2 of 1979 and Volume 3, 1981.[11] Their most popular songs included Look Beyond[12] and All That We Have.

The Dameans performed together on stage at a conference in 2012. This performance included Gary Daigle on keyboards, acoustic guitar, and backing vocals. Darryl leads the group in a never-recorded novelty Christmas song that he wrote in the early 1970s for a friend of his who enjoyed country music.[1]

In 2018, The Dameans reunited for a concert to celebrate 50 years of making music together. Darryl, Gary, Mike, Buddy, and Gary appeared on stage with many of the musicians who appeared on their recordings through the years. They introduced David Baker as being in the audience. They also mentioned that Bobby Morgan was in the audience that night. They mentioned that Charles Monzelun's sister was in the audience representing him.[13]