Michel Martelly which had been abolished in the 1990s by Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Martelly was born in Port-au-Prince, the son of Gerard Martelly, a Shell Oil executive and Marie Madeleine De Martelly (1931-21 October 2016). On his mother's side, his grandfather Auguste de Pradines was a troubadour who wrote comic protest songs against the 1915-34 United States occupation of Haiti. After graduating from high school at the Institution Saint Louis de Gonzague, Martelly enlisted in the Haitian Military Academy, but (according to Martelly) was expelled after impregnating the daughter of a general. In 1984, he moved to the United States, and worked in
Sean Michel his renditions of several old spirituals with original songs. The album never had an official release date, but physical copies became available in late 2009 and digital downloads became available in 2010. Also during 2009, Michel toured solo through India and Nepal for over two months. In 2010, Michel was invited to Chile to play in coordination with relief efforts after the 2010 Chile earthquake. Michel brought a band to play several shows throughout that country. During this time, bassist Seth Atchley joined the band. In 2011, Sean Michel announced a fundraising effort for a new record. Drummer Bradley Batterton