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Reviving the traditional sounds of Quebec

In many ways, Genticorum represents a new generation of traditional Quebecois musicians, players not tied to the province’s separatist aspirations. Historically, the popularity of traditional music waxed and waned along with the evolution of Quebecois identity. Through the early 1960s the music was woven into the fabric of Francophone life and promoted strongly by the Catholic Church, which played as dominant a role in Quebecois society as it did in Ireland.

“The church even bought a radio station and broadcast traditional songs,’’ Gemme says.

But with the rise of the Quiet Revolution, the decade-long process that sidelined the church’s influence in Quebec, traditional music quickly fell out of fashion, and a generation came of age with little interest in it. In the mid-1970s, though, with the separatist movement galvanized by a series of referendums regarding independence, traditional music became a nationalist tool.

“The music skipped a generation and then revitalized as a force to rally people,’’ Gemme says. “It’s powerful music, and it became very popular again, with radio broadcasts and recordings. Every pub and bar presented traditional sessions a few nights a week, or pop bands inspired by traditional music. But by the mid-1980s, nobody wanted to hear it anymore. That’s when I was starting to get interested, and I couldn’t find anyone to take fiddle lessons with where I lived.’’

Hailing from a family with deep musical roots, Gemme moved to Montreal from the rural village of Farnham in 1999 seeking to play traditional music full time. While haunting various jam sessions, he found kindred spirits in Falquet and de Grosbois-Garand, musicians with wide-ranging experience dedicated to honing a roots repertoire.

These days, traditional music flourishes in pubs around Montreal and Quebec City. Through festivals and forums like the Prairie Home Companion Cruise that departed from Boston on Saturday with Genticorum and fellow Quebecois trad combo Le Vent Du Nord, the music’s international profile is slowly rising, though the struggle at home persists.

“I wouldn’t say there’s a scene; there are many scenes,’’ Gemme says. “The accordion players and fiddle players have a hard time mixing. Many pub sessions focus on instrumental music, and the song collectors guard their new discoveries jealously. But it keeps growing. Every year we see players we’ve never met, young and old. We’re always looking to play with the older musicians. That’s how the music gets around.’’

07/04/11 >> go there