Transcript CHRIS NORMAN: Hi, I’m Chris Norman and you’re listening to Boxwood’s Artist Huddle – Conversations. In our July 12th 2020 Artist Huddle, we featured the irrepressible Québécois fiddler, singer, composer, and podorythmie purveyor Pascal Gemme. We enjoyed a chat exploring some of the history and regional styles and the traditional music of Québec and French Canada.
CHRIS NORMAN: This Is our twenty-fifth year, Pascal, running this festival and I’m looking forward to chatting with you a bit about a festival you’re involved with as well. Are you still involved with the Sutton Fiddle Festival as well?
PASCAL GEMME: I wasn’t for a few years but now I’m getting involved again ‘cause my whole family moved to the eastern townships in Québec so to uproot my family and replant the roots again I kind of called it quits for a few years.
CHRIS NORMAN: Yeah, I know that feeling, I haven’t done that quite yet though. So, in case you don’t know Pascal, he’s one of the leading figures in Québécois music. And he’s toured the world and taught worldwide [with] Yann Falquet and with his trio Gentecorum. And Pascal tell us a little bit about how you got started, I know you have some background in composition and guitar playing as well.
PASCAL GEMME: Yeah, yeah, I studied arrangement, big band arrangements at school. But before that traditional music was in my family. And uh, my grandfather was a fiddler, my father sang, was singing songs, and uh my mother was always singing in the house. So, when I was, I think I was, I don’t know, I was 4 or 5, I started asking for a fiddle and they were like “No, no, no. No no, No no, we’ll let him ask a little bit for a few years and see if he forgets about it.” But I did not and here I am 46 years later.
CHRIS NORMAN: So, you had a long relationship with the guitar as well, is that still part of your musical life?
PASCAL GEMME: It was not for a long, long time, for 20 years I almost didn’t touch it, but for the last 18 months I’ve been playing more guitar than fiddle, so it’s coming back with a vengeance.
CHRIS NORMAN: Oh fantastic! I look forward to hearing some of that. Now with your arranging and composition, particularly with the big band stuff did you have anything to do with the arrangements for La Bottine?
PASCAL GEMME: Ah no no, but I found out about La Bottine when I was, uh, studying big band arrangements. Like, I knew I liked that music … I don’t know if uh … if some people who, if you remember MuchMusic.
CHRIS NORMAN: Yea, yea.
PASCAL GEMME: So, they had a few videos on MuchMusic and uh, I didn’t know it was La Bottine Souriante. It was just, “Oh, I really like that music,” and eventually when, while I was studying big band arrangements one of the, actually the arranger for La Bottine Souriante was in the big band that I was writing for.
CHRIS NORMAN: Is tha