Third time lucky

When the 2014 FĂ©lix Award recipients were announced by ADISQ honouring the best in Canadian Franco music, De Temps Antan was flying over the Atlantic Ocean on their way to London.

The Quebec based trio, comprised of the blazing fiddle of André Brunet, the brash accordion of Pierre-Luc Dupuis and the exquisite guitar of éric Beaudry, had won Traditional Album of the Year on October 26.

“We were jetlagged and we celebrated in the middle of London with a pint of Guinness,” laughs Dupuis recalling the joyful toasts.

The trio had released the 11-track Ce monde ici-bas in 2013, their third album after Les Habits de Papier (2010) and A’LannĂ©e (2007).

Since their inception in 2003 De Temps Antan’s recording output has been limited, however they are gaining momentum and global attention. Spending over 200 days on the road, the have toured England, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Spain and France.

And they are no strangers across the Canadian landscape with 10 mini-tours planned for across Canada this year including a stop at St. Albert’s Arden Theatre on Friday, Nov. 14.

In De Temps Antan’s first two albums, they carry the torch of Quebec’s musical folk past with a hint of contemporary rhythms to keep it relevant. As an acoustic style, it is lively, rough-hewn, infectious and good-humoured.

“This one is different. It sounds more Cajun and it’s more ambitious because we added new instruments,” Dupuis explains.

And it’s no wonder. Lafayette-based Cajun singer Louis Michot, of the Lost Bayou Ramblers, was invited to sing the heavily syncopated L’AmĂ©rica. An adaptation of a song from Naples, it tells of man who leaves Quebec to find work. He finds love, settles down and never returns.

The trio arrived in the studio carrying half a dozen tunes and worked out the arrangements on the spot all the while riding the pressure of their collaborative energy.

Producer Elois Painchaud, who also made De Temps Antan’s second album, focused on keeping the sound spontaneous while adding a synthesizer, bass, keyboards and percussion to three tracks Dupuis states.

For the title cut, Ce monde ici-bas, the trio used emerging composer David Marin’s lyrics and built on a riff that suggests a Cajun-folk take on the blues classic Rollin’ and Tumblin’.

Quebecois singer and cellist Jordane was also invited to partake in Adieu donc Cher Coeur, where she creates the spirit of a woman who has just left a man. From energetic drinking songs to slow valses, the material lives and breathes joie de vivre.