Canada
Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States is the world's longest bi-national land border, its capital is Ottawa, its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra, its population is urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, many near the southern border. Canada's climate varies across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons. Various indigenous peoples have inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Beginning in the 16th century and French expeditions explored, settled, along the Atlantic coast.
As a consequence of various armed conflicts, France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces; this began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster of 1931 and culminated in the Canada Act of 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy in the Westminster tradition, with Elizabeth II as its queen and a prime minister who serves as the chair of the federal cabinet and head of government; the country is a realm within the Commonwealth of Nations, a member of the Francophonie and bilingual at the federal level. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, education.
It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. A developed country, Canada has the sixteenth-highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the twelfth-highest ranking in the Human Development Index, its advanced economy is the tenth-largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks. Canada is part of several major international and intergovernmental institutions or groupings including the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the G7, the Group of Ten, the G20, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the etymological origins of Canada, the name is now accepted as coming from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement".
In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona. Cartier used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village but to the entire area subject to Donnacona. From the 16th to the early 18th century "Canada" referred to the part of New France that lay along the Saint Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named the Canadas. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the legal name for the new country at the London Conference, the word Dominion was conferred as the country's title. By the 1950s, the term Dominion of Canada was no longer used by the United Kingdom, which considered Canada a "Realm of the Commonwealth"; the government of Louis St. Laurent ended the practice of using'Dominion' in the Statutes of Canada in 1951. In 1982, the passage of the Canada Act, bringing the Constitution of Canada under Canadian control, referred only to Canada, that year the name of the national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
The term Dominion was used to distinguish the federal government from the provinces, though after the Second World War the term federal had replaced dominion. Indigenous peoples in present-day Canada include the First Nations, Métis, the last being a mixed-blood people who originated in the mid-17th century when First Nations and Inuit people married European settlers; the term "Aboriginal" as a collective noun is a specific term of art used in some legal documents, including the Constitution Act 1982. The first inhabitants of North America are hypothesized to have migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least 14,000 years ago; the Paleo-Indian archeological sites at Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the oldest sites of human habitation in Canada. The characteristics of Canadian indigenous societies included permanent settlements, complex societal hierarchies, trading networks; some of these cultures had collapsed by the time European explorers arrived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries and have only been discovered through archeological investigations.
The indigenous population at the time of the first European settlements is estimated to have been between 200,000
Cape Breton fiddling
Cape Breton fiddling is a regional violin style which falls within the Celtic music idiom. Cape Breton Island's fiddle music was brought to North America by Scottish immigrants during the Highland Clearances; these Scottish immigrants were from Gaelic-speaking regions in the Scottish Highlands and the Outer Hebrides. Although fiddling has changed since this time in Scotland, it is held that the tradition of Scottish fiddle music has been better preserved in Cape Breton. Dance styles associated with the music are Cape Breton step dancing, Cape Breton square dancing, highland dancing. In 2005, as a tribute to the area's traditional music, the construction of a tourism center and the world's largest fiddle and bow was completed on the waterfront in Sydney, Canada. Cape Breton playing is accented, characterized by driven up-bowing; the tunes of other music origins sound quite different. The strong downbeat pulse is driven by the fiddler's heel into the floor; the pattern tends to be heel-and-toe on the heel on strathspeys.
Cape Breton fiddle music is influenced by the intonations of the Scots-Gaelic language Puirt a Beul and strathspeys. The ornaments are adapted from those used on the Great Highland bagpipe; the ornamentation brings out the strong feeling of Cape Breton fiddle. A century ago the violin and pump organ were the common instruments; the types of tunes associated with Cape Breton fiddling are jigs, marches, strathspeys and slow airs. Many of the tunes associated with Cape Breton fiddle music are commonly performed on other instruments bagpipes and guitar, it is not unheard of for the music to be performed on tin whistle, mandolin or banjo. Modern Cape Breton players draw on a large body of music, from the Scottish and Irish traditions, from modern compositions. Several older books of tune collections have been popular sources: Fraser, Simon Fraser Collection MacDonald, Keith Norman, The Skye Collection MacQuarrie, Gordan F; the Cape Breton Collection O'Neill, Francis, O'Neill's Music Of Ireland Robertson, James Stewart, The Athole Collection Skinner, James Scott, The Scottish Violinist Skinner, James Scott, The Harp and ClaymoreA number of recent publications document a substantial amount of the modern Cape Breton repertoire: Beaton, The Beaton Collection Cameron, John Donald, The Heather Hill Collection Cameron, John Donald, The Trip To Windsor Collection Cranford, The Cape Breton Fiddlers Collection Cranford, Winston Fitzgerald: A Collection of Fiddle Tunes Dunlay and David Greenberg, The Dungreen Collection - Traditional Celtic Violin Music of Cape Breton Holland, Jerry Holland's Collection of Fiddle Tunes Holland, Jerry Holland: The Second Collection MacEachern, Dan Hugh, MacEachern's Collection Ruckert, John Campbell: A Cape Breton Legacy Stubbert, Brenda Stubbert's Collection of Fiddle Tunes Stubbert, Brenda Stubbert: The Second Collection Scottish composers popular in Cape Breton include: Niel Gow, Nathaniel Gow, William Marshall, James Scott Skinner.
Well known Cape Breton composers include: Donald Angus Beaton, Kinnon Beaton, Angus Chisholm, Paul Cranford, Jerry Holland, Dan R. MacDonald, John MacDougall, Dan Hughie MacEachern and Brenda Stubbert. Cape Breton fiddle music has received international recognition through the careers of Ashley MacIsaac, Natalie MacMaster and The Rankin Family. Other performers of the traditional Cape Breton style include Karen Beaton, Rodney MacDonald, Andrea Beaton, Winnie Chafe, Winston Fitzgerald, Kimberley Fraser, Carl MacKenzie, Howie MacDonald, Sandy MacIntyre, Buddy MacMaster, Mairi Rankin. Donald Angus Beaton Kinnon Beaton Angus Chisholm J. P. Cormier Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald Glenn Graham Jerry Holland Karen Beaton Bill Lamey Dan R. MacDonald Howie MacDonald Rodney MacDonald John Archie MacDonald Sandy MacIntyre Ashley MacIsaac Dave MacIsaac Buddy MacMaster Natalie MacMaster Brenda Stubbert Canadian fiddle The Barra MacNeils Slainte Mhath Violin musical styles—fiddle Music of Nova Scotia Music of Canada's Maritimes Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts Dan R. MacDonald Ashley MacIsaac MacGillivray, The Cape Breton Fiddler, College of Cape Breton Press.
ISBN 0-920336-12-4. Kimberley Fraser's Fiddle Blog Cape Breton Fiddler Kimberley Fraser discusses issues relevant to Cape Breton fiddle music
Folk music
Folk music includes traditional folk music and the genre that evolved from it during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted orally, music with unknown composers, or music performed by custom over a long period of time, it has been contrasted with classical styles. The term originated in the 19th century. Starting in the mid-20th century, a new form of popular folk music evolved from traditional folk music; this process and period is reached a zenith in the 1960s. This form of music is sometimes called contemporary folk music or folk revival music to distinguish it from earlier folk forms. Smaller, similar revivals have occurred elsewhere in the world at other times, but the term folk music has not been applied to the new music created during those revivals; this type of folk music includes fusion genres such as folk rock, folk metal, others. While contemporary folk music is a genre distinct from traditional folk music, in U.
S. English it shares the same name, it shares the same performers and venues as traditional folk music; the terms folk music, folk song, folk dance are comparatively recent expressions. They are extensions of the term folklore, coined in 1846 by the English antiquarian William Thoms to describe "the traditions and superstitions of the uncultured classes"; the term further derives from the German expression volk, in the sense of "the people as a whole" as applied to popular and national music by Johann Gottfried Herder and the German Romantics over half a century earlier. Though it is understood that folk music is music of the people, observers find a more precise definition to be elusive; some do not agree that the term folk music should be used. Folk music may tend to have certain characteristics but it cannot be differentiated in purely musical terms. One meaning given is that of "old songs, with no known composers", another is that of music, submitted to an evolutionary "process of oral transmission....
The fashioning and re-fashioning of the music by the community that give it its folk character". Such definitions depend upon " processes rather than abstract musical types...", upon "continuity and oral transmission...seen as characterizing one side of a cultural dichotomy, the other side of, found not only in the lower layers of feudal and some oriental societies but in'primitive' societies and in parts of'popular cultures'". One used definition is "Folk music is what the people sing". For Scholes, as well as for Cecil Sharp and Béla Bartók, there was a sense of the music of the country as distinct from that of the town. Folk music was "...seen as the authentic expression of a way of life now past or about to disappear" in "a community uninfluenced by art music" and by commercial and printed song. Lloyd rejected this in favour of a simple distinction of economic class yet for him true folk music was, in Charles Seeger's words, "associated with a lower class" in culturally and stratified societies.
In these terms folk music may be seen as part of a "schema comprising four musical types:'primitive' or'tribal'. Music in this genre is often called traditional music. Although the term is only descriptive, in some cases people use it as the name of a genre. For example, the Grammy Award used the terms "traditional music" and "traditional folk" for folk music, not contemporary folk music. Folk music may include most indigenous music. From a historical perspective, traditional folk music had these characteristics: It was transmitted through an oral tradition. Before the 20th century, ordinary people were illiterate; this was not mediated by books or recorded or transmitted media. Singers may extend their repertoire using broadsheets or song books, but these secondary enhancements are of the same character as the primary songs experienced in the flesh; the music was related to national culture. It was culturally particular. In the context of an immigrant group, folk music acquires an extra dimension for social cohesion.
It is conspicuous in immigrant societies, where Greek Australians, Somali Americans, Punjabi Canadians, others strive to emphasize their differences from the mainstream. They learn songs and dances that originate in the countries their grandparents came from, they commemorate personal events. On certain days of the year, such as Easter, May Day, Christmas, particular songs celebrate the yearly cycle. Weddings and funerals may be noted with songs and special costumes. Religious festivals have a folk music component. Choral music at these events brings children and non-professional singers to participate in a public arena, giving an emotional bonding, unrelated to the aesthetic qualities of the music; the songs have been performed, by custom, over a long period of time several generations. As a side-effect, the following characteristics are sometimes present: There is no copyright on the songs. Hundreds of folk songs from the 19th century have known authors but have continued in oral tradition to the point where they are considered traditional for purposes of music publishing.
This has become much less frequent since the 1940s. Today every folk song, recorded is credited with an arranger. Fusion of cultures: Because cultures interact and change over time
Irish stepdance
Irish stepdance is a style of performance dance with its roots in traditional Irish dance. It is characterized by a stiff upper body and quick and precise movements of the feet, it can be performed solo or in groups. Aside from public dance performances, there are stepdance competitions all over the world; these competitions are called Feiseanna. In Irish dance culture, a Feis is culture festival. Costumes are considered important for stage presence in performance Irish stepdance. In many cases, costumes are sold at high prices and can be custom made. Males and females can both perform Irish stepdance but for the most part in today's society, the dance remains predominantly female; this means that the costumes are dresses. Each dress is different, with varying colors and patterns, designed to attract the judge's eye in competitions and the audience's eye in performance. General appearance besides the costume is equally important. Dancers would curl their hair before each competition. Many dancers invest in curled wigs.
Poodle Socks are worn with the shoes. These are white socks. Riverdance, an Irish stepdancing interval act in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest that became a hugely successful theatrical production contributed to its popularity. Once Riverdance became a large production, it changed the way that Irish dance was performed and viewed. Now that entrepreneurs could capitalize on Irish culture, they were able to tweak it to the audience's liking; this meant adding theatrical flair to the performance, including arm movements as well as sexualizing the dance and the costumes. To many this was a betrayal of tradition, but to some it was a way of expanding Irish culture and became accepted. Following after Riverdance was Lord of the Dance and many other theatrical productions based on Irish stepdance. Michael Flatley, an Irish stepdancer, became a well known name within these shows. Two types of shoes are worn in Irish stepdance; the dances for soft shoe and hard shoe are different and go by different names.
Different music with varying beats are played based on the dance, though they all share basic moves and rhythms. Most competitive stepdances are solo dances, though many stepdancers perform and compete in traditional set and céilí dances. Competition is organized by several organizations, there are competitions from the local level to world championships; the dancing traditions of Ireland are to have grown in tandem with Irish traditional music. Its first roots may have been in Pre-Christian Ireland, but Irish dance was partially influenced by dance forms on the Continent the quadrille dances; some of the earliest recorded references to Irish dance are to the Rinnce Fada or "long dance", towards the end of the 17th century, performed on social occasions. Traveling dancing masters taught all over Ireland beginning around the 1750s and continuing as late as the early 1900s. By the late 19th century, at least three related styles of step dance had developed in Ireland; the style practised in Munster saw dancers on the balls of their feet, using intricate percussive techniques to create complex rhythm.
On the other hand, a tradition developed in Ulster saw dancers instead using their heel to create a persistent drumming effect, performing in pairs. The Connemara style described as sean-nós dance, combined heel and ball movements with swaying of the torso and vigorous movement of the arms; the foundation of the Gaelic League in 1893, an Irish nationalist body formed with the purpose of preserving traditional Irish language and culture, radically altered the cultural status of step dance. Frank Hall has described this as the moment in which "step-Dancing in Ireland became'Irish dancing'", as therefore the most significant single event in the development of the dance form. Although informal competitions had long been held between towns and students of different dance masters, the first organised feis was held in 1897 by the League; the League began to codify and promote the form of step dance, practiced in southern areas. This codification, practised from the early 1920s narrowed the range of traditional Irish dances acceptable in popular culture.
In 1927, the Gaelic League set up An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha, a separate body dedicated to the organisation and standardisation of Irish dance. CLRG created certifications for dance teachers and began to hold examinations for adjudicators of feisanna. In the 19th century, the Irish diaspora had spread Irish dance all over the world to North America and Australia; however and feiseanna were not established until the early 1900s: in America these tended to be created within Irish-American urban communities, notably in Chicago. The first classes in stepdancing were held there by the Philadelphia-born John McNamara. According to the BBC's A Short History of Irish Dance, "The nature of the Irish dance tradition has changed and adapted over the centuries to accommodate and reflect changing populations and the fusion of new cultures; the history of Irish dancing is as a result a fascinating one. The popular Irish dance stage shows of the past ten years have reinvigorated this cultural art, today Irish dancing is healthy and enjoyed by people across the globe."Sometime in that decade or the one following, a dance teacher had his students compete with arms held firml
Music of Quebec
Because it is a modern cosmopolitan society, in the present day all types of music can be found in the Canadian province of Quebec. Particular to this area are its traditional Quebecois songs, a local variety of Celtic music, the traditional music of local First Nations and the Inuit. Quebec has many well-known jazz musicians and a culture of classical music. Urban areas and summer festivals feature music and rhythms from around the world. Under French rule, what is now Quebec was called le Canada and was the most developed colony of New France. After some generations of French settlers being born in Canada, the colonists began to identify with their home country and call themselves les Canadiens as distinct from les Français, those native to France. A similar socio-cultural phenomenon occurred in Acadia, other European colonies in America, Africa and Oceania; the Canadiens brought with them a rich tradition of songs and dances from northern France, namely the regions of Île-de-France, Normandy and Brittany.
Influence from these regions, the Irish immigration to Quebec of the 19th century may explain the Celtic connection that Quebec still shares with Brittany, Ireland and the Maritimes. As time went by, the French Canadians began to develop their own music, incorporated and transformed the styles of music played by the settlers from Great Britain, in particular the Scots, after the Conquest; the most remarkable phenomenon in the popular music of that century was the career of La Bolduc, who became popular singing satirical and sometimes racy songs based on the Quebec and Irish folk traditions, and, expert in the wordless vocalization known as turlutte. By the 1960s, radio and television had begun to help disseminate French folk songs after the 1967 foundation of the Centennial Collection of Canadian Folk Songs, including recordings of Quebec performers like Yves Albert and Jacques Labrecque, as well as Acadian Edith Butler; the most popular songwriters and singers of this period were Gilles Vigneault, Leonard Cohen, Félix Leclerc, who brought more influences to the music of France-based singing stars like Jacques Brel.
Leclerc, from La Tuque, Vigneault, from Natashquan in the north of Quebec, became heroes for a new generation of Quebec youth. It was Vigneault's "Mon pays", which became a rallying anthem for Quebec nationalism after a 1965 performance by Monique Leyrac, established a tradition of Quebec artists supporting Quebec's independence movement. Many artists endorsed it, notably Raymond Lévesque, Pauline Julien and Paul Piché. In the 1960s, the French Canadians of Quebec were beginning to self-identify as Québécois. See the Quiet Revolution. Another important nationalist performer during this period was Georges Dor, who enjoyed international success with his recording of his own composition, "La complainte de la Manic". Popular artists of the 70s included Harmonium, Plume Latraverse and Beau Dommage, as well as Michel Rivard. Country music, in both french and english, is prevalent in Quebec. An aspect of the overall Canadian country scene, it is the chief source of francophone country, inclusive of artists such as Renée Martel, Gildor Roy, Patrick Norman, Willie Lamothe, Georges Hamel.
Progressive rock and fusion jazz band Maneige was founded in Quebec in 1972 by Alain Bergeron and Jérôme Langlois. The band was one of most consistent bands. In 1974, Vigneault and Leclerc played on the Plains of Abraham with Robert Charlebois, who made heavy use of Quebec French in his rock and roll fusions. In 1976, multi-instrumentalist sisters Kate & Anna McGarrigle emerged on the international music scene with their blend of folk-rock and vocal harmonies added to self-penned songs in English and French, many of the latter co-written with Swiss-born poet Philippe Tatartcheff; the 1970s saw roots performers like La Bottine Souriante gain critical and commercial acclaim within Quebec. Jim Corcoran and Bertrand Gosselin released La tête en gigue, an influential album that helped bring Quebec roots to crossover audiences across Canada, the United States and Europe. In addition to his musical career, Corcoran hosts a weekly show on CBC Radio One, which airs Francophone music from Quebec for English audiences across Canada.
The early 1980s saw the formation of francophone synthpop/new wave groups such as Nudimension that became involved in the genesis of music video and MTV culture. More recent Quebec performers include Richard Desjardins, Daniel Boucher, Marie-Chantal Toupin, Éric Lapointe, Vilain Pingouin, Mes Aïeux, Les Trois Accords, Kaïn, Dumas, La Chicane, Les Colocs, Mélanie Renaud, Cindy Daniel, Daniel Bélanger, Paul Cargnello, Laurence Jalbert, Rudy Caya, Jean Leloup, Celine Dion, Les Stups, La Chicane, Dan Bigras, Isabelle Boulay and more Cœur de pirate; some bands, such as Les Cowboys Fringants have known success in Europe while Karkwa, Vulgaires Machins, Les Batinses and Malajube are recognized elsewhere in Canada and internationally. A hip-hop scene is present in the Montreal area with groups like Loco Locass, Sans Pression, Criollo, Atach Tatuq, Manu Militari, KCLMNOP, Imposs and Dubmatique; the metal scene is represented by Sword, Voivod an
Irish set dance
Irish set dance, sometimes called "country sets", is a popular form of folk dancing in Ireland. Set dances are based on quadrilles; these were transformed by the Irish into a unique folk dance of the Irish rural communities. When the Gaelic League was formed in 1897, it sought to discourage set dance, because it was perceived as being of foreign origins, at odds with the League's nationalist agenda. In its place, the League promoted ceili dance, a process which continued during the 1930s and 1940s with the support of the Catholic Church in the form of the Public Dance Halls Act 1935; the rise of rock and roll in the 1950s caused the popularity of set dancing to fade. However, in the 1980s a revival started and many sets that have not been done for forty years or more are being recovered and danced again. To start, four couples are arranged in the form of a square to dance with each couple being in the middle of the sides of the square. Both the eight dancers in the group and the dance itself are called a "set".
The dance is a sequence of several dance figures, which have a common theme or structure. The figures begin and end with repeated parts that everyone dances, during the figure each couple or pair of couples will dance separately. In the set, the couple with their backs to the band are traditionally named "First Tops" with "Second Tops" facing them; the couple on First Tops left. The First Tops are the first to dance, with some sets having First Sides and Second Tops going next and some having Second Tops and the First Sides. Second Sides is always the last couple to dance, is therefore a good place for beginners to start, as they get more time to watch the demonstrations of the figure that the other couples give. Set dances from a particular region have similar elements. For instance, sets from the Connemara region have the First Sides on the right of the First Tops, sets from the Clare region involve footwork similar to Irish competitive Stepdance or traditional freeform Sean-nós dance. Distinctive set dances and dance regions emerged in the beginning of the 19th century and evolved as popular house dances separate from the more formal Irish step-dancing tradition.
In some homesteads a kitchen pot was placed under the flag stones as an extra acoustical element for the house dance. Set dance differs from square dance and round dance in that it does not require a caller: the sequence of figures is predefined by the name of the set. In places with a large community of set dancers, like Ireland or New York City, it is usual for dances to be uncalled - that is, done with no calling - because most dancers know the instructions for the common sets. However, at venues with larger numbers of occasional dancers, a caller is present to give instructions as the dance progresses, for those people who are not yet familiar with the set. List of Irish Set Dancing Champions The South Galway Set The Clare Lancers Set Irish dance Irish stepdance Sean-nós dance Sean-nós dance in America Slide Polka GeneralToss the Feathers - Irish Set Dancing Pat Murphy, Mercier Press ISBN 1-85635-115-7 The Flowing Tide: More Irish Set Dancing Pat Murphy, Mercier Press ISBN 1-85635-308-7 Apples in Winter - Irish Set & Social Dancing Pat Murphy, available at: pmurphysetdance@eircom.net A Handbook of Irish Dances, 5.
Edition, J. G. O' Keeffe, Art O' Brien, Gill & Son Ltd; the Story of Irish Dancing Helen Brennan, Mount Eagle Publications Ltd. 1999 ISBN 0-86322-244-7 Set Dancing And Sean Nos Dancing website by Gerard Butler Set Dancing News Set Dancing Music and Instructions Database Study notes for two-hand and set dances Study Notes for 80 Sets and 11 Figure Dances Set Dancing Videos on YouTube
Les Cowboys Fringants
Les Cowboys Fringants are a folk rock music group formed in 1995 in Repentigny, Quebec. The French word fringant can be translated as "dashing", "spry", "smartly dressed", or "frisky", "lively", "spirited", they draw on country music. They have an international underground following in France, French-speaking Belgium and Switzerland. Band members hail from the Montreal suburbs of L'Assomption; the entire band collaborates on the lyrics, although guitarist Jean-François Pauzé contributes more than the others. The fundamental aspect of the band are their explosive live performances, captured on the Attache ta tuque live album and the Centre Bell 30 décembre 2003 DVD. Les Cowboys represent an important part of modern Québécois music, they are part of the néo-trad movement that appeared in Quebec around the turn of the 21st century, they embody a resurgence of political songwriting. As the néo-trad movement adapts Quebec folklore into contemporary crafts, the political message of the band is a re-occurrence of 1970s chansonnier activist messages of left-wing solidarity and sovereignism, although in a more distinctly modern way.
They sometimes adopt a minimalist and dadaesque style, a trend of the Quebec music scene of the 2000s – a decade of voluntary simple yet nonetheless quite intelligent and joual lyrics, therefore subversive and akin to a sort of lyrical naïve art.. The usual subject matter of the group includes: environmentalism, poverty and family troubles, as well as the denouncing of consumerism, state-controlled gambling, cynical government attitude and political apathy. While some of those subjects are serious in appearance, they are treated in a light manner, sometimes in a fun and ironic way; the band deals with themes of Quebec history, Quebec independence, suburban life and adolescence, kitsch and sports. Their songwriting is renowned for having woven an elaborate tapestry of fictional characters with interpersonal relationships, sometimes a number of these characters appear in more than one song. Much like their writing, the clothes of the male members of the band are quite unique, sometimes purposely normal or kitsch and something of a postmodern, second degree artistic statement.
Fans have followed the trend by wearing the kitsch T-shirts and other official clothing, with the group logo. The band themselves are noted fans of Passe-Partout composer Pierre F. Brault and have performed shows in his honour, they have been influenced by French singer Renaud, his songs with political messages and local popular language. Many of the idiosyncrasies of their music stem from Marie-Annick Lépine, a versatile musician, who makes the band line-up distinct from the conventional guitar-bass-drums-singer, her talents contribute to the vivacious sounds of instruments like the violin and accordion. She has worked on the Dumas album Le cours des jours; the band went on tour in summer of 2011, visiting cities in Quebec and Switzerland. Karl Tremblay Jean-François "J-F" Pauzé Marie-Annick Lépine Jérôme Dupras Previous members: Dominique "Domlebo" Lebeau – Left the group on 22 August 2007, citing personal reasons. David Jesperson Ivanhoe Jolicoeur 1997 12 Grandes chansons 1998 Sur mon canapé 2000 Motel Capri 2001 Enfin Réunis 2002 Break syndical 2003 Attache ta tuque!
2004 La Grand-Messe 2007 Au Grand Théâtre de Québec 2008 L'expédition 2008 Sur un air de déjà vu 2010 En concert au Zénith de Paris 2011 Que du vent 2015 Octobre 2004 Centre Bell 30 décembre 2003 – Néo-trad List of bands from Canada Music of Canada Music of Quebec Official website
