annathepiper | (Reply)

From:

Hi there, and thank you for commenting! :) I'm glad you enjoyed the post.

Re: Quebec trad and what drew me in: La Bottine Souriante was my entry point, way back in 2001. I was attending a concert lineup at a winery near to me, which has an outdoor amphitheater that they use for summer concerts.

That night they had a four band lineup: the Battlefield Band, La Bottine Souriante, Great Big Sea, and Natalie MacMaster. Great Big Sea and La Bottine both blew me the hell away.

I eventually decided I wanted more bands like La Bottine represented in my music collection, and that led me to discover La Volée d'Castors, and my current reigning favorite champions, Le Vent du Nord. <3 I am also extremely fond of De Temps Antan, Genticorum, Galant tu perds ton temps, and Les Charbonniers de l'Enfer.

In addition to the music just being awesome I've had the distinct pleasure of meeting several of the musicians, and in a couple of cases, actually taking workshops with them. André Brunet is an amazing fiddle player and a great teacher as well. And back in 2017 I even attended Camp Violon Trad to take classes there.

We have a lively little community of people in the Pacific Northwest that love the music, and who gather for sessions. I haven't been able to attend since the pandemic started--I've got some COVID medical risk factors, so I'm not going anywhere without a mask on. And I can't play my primary instrument (flute/whistle) while masked!

So until this situation changes, I'm at least working on learning the fiddle. :) That's also serving very well in keeping up my interest!

If you have any recs for bands or solo performers, do share! :)