La Bottine souriante are a Québécois folk revival band, formed in 1976 by Yves Lambert and others in his home city of Joliette.[1] Since their founding during a peak period of Québec nationalism, they have become one of the most important disseminators of Québécois folk music, both within the province and internationally; many important Québécois folk musicians have at some time played with the group.[2]
Since their first album, Y’a ben du changement (1978), their music has been received with success: they recorded 14 studio albums with Lambert from 1976 to 2003, winning two Juno awards and eight Prix Félix during this time. La Bottine souriante continues to tour extensively around Europe and Canada,[3] and is especially popular in the USA.[1] They have also been politically active, and campaigned for “Yes” in the 1980 Québec referendum.
The personnel in the band have changed extensively since their founding; the current lineup consists of Eric Beaudry, David Boulanger, Robert Ellis, Jean Fréchette, Jean-François Gagnon-Branchaud, Mathieu Gagné, Jocelyn Lapointe, Olivier Salazar, Sandy Silva, Timi Turmel, and André Verreault, with Lambert having left in 2003. Founding members included Mario Forest, Lambert, André Marchand, Gilles Cantin, and Pierre Laporte, and many other musicians have been involved with the group both as core members and as guest artists. The instrumentation consists of common French-Canadian folk instruments (accordion, guitar, fiddle, harmonica, mandolin, jaw harp) as well as elements of Celtic and Irish music, brass instruments, and more recently jazz-inspired piano and bass.[4] The group has a long history with 16 studio albums and numerous guest appearances over their almost 50-year history. Some suggested listening has been included below.
Since much of their music is intended for dance, foot-tapping is featured prominently (e.g. the opening track Cette bouteille-là from Appellation d’origine contrôlée). This particular album also features percussive dancing by Sandy Silva as part of the music.[5] In this album, the title relates to an agricultural label (AOC) which designates local products produced in a particular region, perhaps to evoke an organic, agrarian aesthetic (though the instrumentals in this album contain a curious fusion of big band and funk not heard in their earlier output). The galloping rhythms are a commonality across much of their musical output across time, and can be also heard as early as in Y’a ben du changement. Alternation between songs and instrumental dance pieces also persists across albums, and many techniques (e.g. call and response) remain the same.
Suggested Sources:
- “La Bottine souriante.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Article published February 07, 2006; Last Edited December 15, 2013.
- Thérien, Robert. “La Bottine souriante.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Article published August 21, 2006; Last Edited December 16, 2013.
- Noakes, Taylor. “Yves Lambert.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Article published September 7, 2022; last edited September 7, 2022.
- Wikipedia Editors. “La Bottine souriante.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Bottine_Souriante
- Romero, Angel. “Foot Tapping Good.” Review of Appellation d’origine contrôlée by La Bottine souriante (Borealis, 2011). World Music Central. https://worldmusiccentral.org/2012/01/13/foot-tapping-good/
Suggested Listening:
- A recent album: Appellation d’origine contrôlée (Borealis, 2011): https://ubc-naxosmusiclibrary-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/world/catalogue/BCD211
- The first album: Y’a ben du changement (Milles-Pattes, 1978): https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_km3UsEQ3IuBkKbMSaVrUU8KM6ezNB8g9I&si=pj6_iym4GGst6-L_
- Artist page, containing most of their albums, on Youtube Music (free to access): https://music.youtube.com/channel/UC6_J-ocwlQV7FjsgrjapY2g?si=WCIsj3JSckCPQnGd
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