Que le yable les emporte !!!

Our love for the music of our corner of the world is innate; it’s in the blood, as they say. The sources of the traditional songs and tunes of Quebec are the courageous pioneers who came from Europe to make this land their home. As well as traditions and beliefs, they brought with them songs and tunes that, once transplanted here, began slowly and steadily to evolve. Nowadays, this music is heard mainly on holidays and is generally festive and playful in nature. Its variety and beauty, however, remind us that it belongs in our homes, our concert halls, our lives, and that in another era it is was used to illuminate specific moments in history, to recall certain memories, to celebrate special events.

A growing love for the traditional music of Quebec has, little by little and discovery by discovery, given birth to this project. The lyrics of these songs, their stories and images, were the starting point for this marvelous adventure, the key source of our inspiration and motivation, and powerful stimulants when it came time for us to bring this music to life. The melodies that support these texts are gorgeous, too. Some sound modern, others medieval; some are brief, others languorous; but none are banal.

In undertaking this musical voyage we wanted to work with the traditional songs and music of Quebec in the way we approach traditions from other sources. To remodel them we avoided taking the easy route of repeating well-used musical clichés. Instead, as usual, we improvised, manipulating modes and modifying rhythms, making this music come to life in our way on the instruments we usually play with, here and there, some little additions.

Guy Ross