Pierre Painchaud moved from Canada to Biddeford in 1857 when he was five years old, and he was already a band leader by the age of eighteen. Painchaud's Band was organized in Biddeford in 1870 as La Fanfare Painchaud, and lasted with various names until the mid-1990s. It received many awards throughout New England and Canada under Painchaud's direction, and was one of the country's oldest continuing bands.
During the 1890s the band made a trip to Quebec for a festival where they won first prize by marching up three flights of stairs to the convention hall without a break in the music or cadence.
Painchaud's Band was the official band of the First Maine Regiment during the Spanish American War, and 24 band members volunteered for duty.
Music has always been an important reflection of Franco social life in Biddeford. Painchaud’s Band would frequently play such tunes as “O Canada” and “Vive la France” during the weekly performances of French-Canadian ballads, chants, and folk songs at local parks. It was said that unless Painchaud’s Band played at an event it was not official.
Pierre Painchaud himself mastered the violin, the cello, and the coronet, as well as singing and performing comedy routines as a “lightning change artist.” In the 1890s, Mr. Painchaud formed an additional musical ensemble known as La Famille Painchaud, comprised of his own family members. In 1899 he formed L’Union Musicale, which staged operas, comedy sketches, and other musical programs. Then in 1901 he organized the Biddeford Philharmonic Orchestra. He even invented a musical instrument consisting of four sets of glass bottles with wax fillings. His musical expertise extended to repairing and tuning musical instruments, composing and arranging music, teaching music, and directing the choir at St. Joseph’s Church.
In 1906 Painchaud announced his retirement from the band, saying that his “heart and soul were still with the group.” When he died in 1909, Pierre Painchaud had been a driving force in Biddeford's music scene for nearly 40 years. According to his obituary in The Biddeford Daily Journal, Pierre Painchaud was “a natural and brilliantly successful bandmaster [who] gave practically his whole life to music.”
