Mes Aïeux is a folk music

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 group from Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 founded in 1996.

Although they are labeled as leaders of the "neo-traditional

Néo-trad

Néo-trad is a musical style from Quebec that arose around the turn of the 21st century. It can be considered a subgenre of Québécois Trad music. The term combines the Greek prefix neo, meaning new, and the contraction of the word traditionnelle, as in traditional music.It basically constitutes...

" movement in Quebec, they frequently use subjects and characters from traditional French Canadian folklore (the devil, the chasse-galerie

Chasse-galerie

La Chasse-galerie also known as "The Bewitched Canoe" or "The Flying Canoe" is a popular French-Canadian tale of voyageurs who make a deal with the devil, a variant of the Wild Hunt. Its most famous version was written by Honoré Beaugrand...

, the shepherdess, the coureur des bois

Coureur des bois

A coureur des bois or coureur de bois was an independent entrepreneurial French-Canadian woodsman who traveled in New France and the interior of North America. They travelled in the woods to trade various things for fur....

, drinking songs, etc.) in order to approach modern themes with a sense of humor. These themes include globalization

Globalization

Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...

 (Qui nous mène?), politics (Ça va mal), generational conflicts (Dégénérations/Le reel du fossé), over-medicating (Remède miracle), the frenetic pace of modern life (Train de vie (le surcheval), Continuer pareil), recent Quebec history (2096 (chanson à boire)), etc. Some of their songs are about famous characters from Quebec history such as "La Corriveau" (La Corrida de la Corriveau) and "Alexis le Trotteur

Alexis Lapointe

Alexis Lapointe, known as Alexis le Trotteur was a Quebec athlete in the early 20th century who has become a legendary character of québécois folklore.- Origins :...

" (Train de vie (le surcheval)). They also sing some humorous songs about Québécois cultural phenomena such as poutine

Poutine

Poutine is a Canadian dish of French fries and fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy or sauce. Sometimes additional ingredients are added.Poutine is a fast food dish that originated in Quebec and can now be found across Canada...

 (Hommage en grain).

In November 2005 their album "En famille" went platinum (100,000 copies sold) and their two earlier albums, "Ça parle au diable" and "Entre les branches" both went gold (50,000 copies sold). In December 2006, "En famille" was certified double platinum (200,000 copies sold) and their latest album "Tire-toi une bûche" went gold after only three weeks.

In 2005 Mes Aïeux was honoured with a Félix Award

Félix Award

The Félix Award is a music award, given on an annual basis to artists in the Canadian province of Quebec.The first Félix awards were presented on September 23, 1979, by the Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois...

 for the category of Best Contemporary Folk Album for "En famille", in addition to being nominated for Group of the Year.

In 2007 Mes Aïeux won 3 Félix Awards for the Group of the year, Best selling album and song of the year.

Members

Its six founding members include:

• Marie-Hélène Fortin
• Éric Desranleau
• Stéphane Archambault
• Frédéric Giroux
• Marc-André Paquet
• Benoît Archambault.

Albums

Since their founding, the group has released five albums:

• Ça parle au diable (2000)
• Entre les branches (2001)
• En famille (2004)
• Tire-toi une bûche (2006)
• La ligne orange (2008)