One of Quebec's most respected fiddlers and singers will be in Owen Sound with the trad-folk trio Mil on November 7.
Claude Méthé, with guitarist Dana Whittle and flute and whistle player Denise Levac, will co-host an all-instruments Quebec dance repertoire workshop for area musicians that afternoon at The Harmony Centre, then play for the regular Fiddlefern Country Dancers contra dance that evening at nearby St. George's church hall, with dance callers Frank Francalanza and Lorraine Sutton.
Méthé, also a singer and prolific composer, is among the most influential Quebec fiddlers of his generation. His career began in the 1970s and 80s with Le Rêve du Diable, a group he co-founded and for which he received honours from the Québec National Assembly in 2012. Arguably Quebec's first commercially successful trad band, Le Rêve du Diable was indirectly responsible for spawning and influencing many more to come.
Méthé's solo album L'Amant confesseur was nominated for trad Canadian folk album of the year.
Guitarist, singer and songwriter Dana Whittle, originally from Vermont, has been a key contributor to the Quebec Trad music scene since the early 1990s. Flute and whistle player Denise Levac has been part of the bustling Lanaudière trad community for many years, both with her performances and her highly original compositions, often with a European or Celtic sensibility.
The three members of Mil are also part of the much-respected, five-piece Quebec grad-folk group Dentdelion.
Mil will also perform in concert near Markdale the night before the band's Owen Sound visit, at Maple View House Concerts. The group's promotional material promises "crunchy vocal texture, edible harmonies, intimate arrangements, danceable compositions, hefty rhythm and tasty playing with true Québécois style and understated modernity."
The November 7 Quebec repertoire workshop, at the Harmony Centre, runs from 1 to 4 p.m. and is open to all instruments. The cost is $25 to pre-register and $30 at the door that day.
Deadline to pre-register is October 23. Pre-register for the workshop by e-mail to dancefranc@hotmail.com. Fiddlefern Country Dancers are urging enough local musicians to register in advance to make sure the workshop will happen.
A potluck dinner at St. George's church hall will follow the workshop, before the regular monthly Fiddlefern Country Dancers contra dance that evening at 8 p.m.
More information is available at www.fiddfern.ca and at www.milmusique.com
