Music of Canadian cultures
Encyclopedia
Music of Canadian Cultures is a wide and divers accumulation of music from many different individual communities all across Canada
. With Canada being vast in size, the country throughout its history has had regional music scenes. The music of Canada
has reflected the multi-cultural
influences that have shaped the country. First Nations people
, the French
, the British
, the Americans
and many others nationalities have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada
peoples of Canada are of a number of diverse ethnic group
s, each of which have their own musical traditions. There are some general similarities, however. Music is usually social (public) or ceremonial (private). Public, social music may be dance music
accompanied by rattle
s and drum
s. Private, ceremonial music includes vocal songs with accompaniment on percussion
, used to mark occasions like Midewivin ceremonies and Sun Dance
s.
Traditionally, First Nations, being resourceful and creative, used the materials at hand to make their instruments for century's before Europeans immigrated to Canada. First Nations people made gourds and animal horns
into rattles
, many rattles were elaborately carved and beautifully painted. In woodland areas, they made horns of birchbark and drumsticks of carved antlers and wood. Drums were generally made of carved wood and animal hides. Drums and rattles are percussion instruments traditionally used by First Nations people. These musical instruments provide the background for songs, and songs are the background for dances. Many traditional First Nations people consider song
and dance
to be sacred. For many years after Europeans came to Canada
, First Nations people were forbidden to practice their ceremonies.
, the Northwest Territories
, and Nunavik
(northern Quebec). Prior to Europe
an contact, Inuit music was based around drums
but has since grown to include fiddle
s and accordion
s. Music was dance
-oriented and requested luck in hunting
, gambling
, or weather
, and only rarely, if ever, expressing traditional purposes like love
or specialized forms like work song
s and lullabies
. In the 20th century, Inuit music was influenced by Scottish and Irish sailors, as well as, most influentially, American country music
. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
has long been recording Inuit music, beginning with a station in Iqaluit in 1961. Accordion players like Charlie Panigoniak
and Simeonie Keenainak
quickly found an audience, with the latter notably incorporating musical influences like polka
s and jig
s from Quebec and Newfoundland.
Katajjaq
, or "Inuit throat singing", has become well-known as a curiosity. In this traditional singing style, female singers produce melodies
from deep in their throats. A pair of singers stare at each other in a sort of contest. Common in Northern Quebec and Baffin Island
, katajjaq singers perform in sync with each other, so that one is producing a strong accent while the other is producing a weak one. The contest ends when one singer begins laughing, runs out of breath or the pair's voices become simultaneous. To some extent, young Inuit have revitalized the genre, and musicians like Tudjaat
have even incorporated pop structures.
(a band consisting of a Mexican, Chilean and a Quebecer raised in Cameroon), Karen Young
, Eval Manigat (Haiti
), and Lorraine Klaasen
(South Africa
), while Toronto has a large Balkan and Turkish community that has produced, most famously, the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band
and Staro Selo, alongside Punjabi by Nature
, who incorporate bhangra, rock
, dub
, and English Punjabi pop, and the Afro-Nubians, who included musicians from across North America, Europe and Africa. Outside of these major cities, important artists include Uzume-Taiko and Silk Road Music from Vancouver
and Finjan
from Winnipeg.
French
settlers brought music with them when inhabiting what is now Quebec
and other areas throughout Canada. Since the arrival of French music
in Canada, there has been much intermixing with the Celtic music
of Anglo-Canada.
French-Canadian folk music is generally performed to accompany dances like the jig
, jeux dansé, ronde, cotillion
, and quadrille
. The fiddle
is a very common instrument, played by virtuosos like Jean Carignan
, Jos Bouchard, and Joseph Allard
. Other instruments include the German diatonic accordion
, played by the likes of Philippe Bruneau and Alfred Montmarquette, spoons
, bones
, and jaw harps.
settlers to Quebec established their musical forms in the future province, but there was no scholarly study until Ernest Gagnon
's 1865 collection of 100 folk songs. In 1967, Radio-Canada released The Centennial Collection of Canadian Folk Songs (much of which was focused on French-Canadian music), which helped launch a revival of Quebec folk. Singers like Yves Albert, Edith Butler
, and, especially, Félix Leclerc
and Gilles Vigneault
, helped lead the way. The 1970s saw purists like La Rêve du Diable and La Bottine Souriante
continued the trend. As Quebec folk continued to gain in popularity, artists like Leonard Cohen
, Harmonium
, Kate and Anna McGarrigle
, Jim Corcoran
, Bertrand Gosselin, and Paul Piché
found a mainstream audience.
Since 1979, Quebec music artists have been recognized with the Felix Award
.
has included many artists from both the traditional and pop genres.
The traditional genre is heavily influenced by the music brought to the region by the European settlers, the most well known of which are the Scots & Irish celtic
and Acadian
traditions. Folk songs are those passed on orally, usually composed by unknown persons. In the Maritime Provinces (New Brunswick
, Nova Scotia
, Prince Edward Island
), sea shanties
are widespread among the whaling
and fishing
workers. The lumber
camps of New Brunswick
have also produced their own body of folk songs. Irish and Scottish settlers in the eastern provinces of Canada brought traditions of fiddling
and other forms of music. Having declined in popularity during the 20th century, a revival of Maritime traditional inspired music began in the late 1970s, led by artists such as John Allan Cameron
and Stan Rogers
and later, the The Rankins, Mary Jane Lamond
, Natalie MacMaster
, Ashley MacIsaac
, Barra MacNeils
, and Barachois
.
Successful pop acts from all genres have had degrees of national and international success since the beginning of recorded music period. Performers as diverse as Hank Snow
, Anne Murray
, Matt Minglewood
and April Wine
have all experienced tremendous success as popular music acts with considerable national and international tours and record sales. Since the 1990s, bands such as Sloan
, Joel Plaskett
, Matt Mays
and Buck 65
have made a considerable impact.
. The widespread "Barbara Allen" is found in dozens of variations, as are songs like "The Farmer's Curst Wife
", "Lord Randall
", and "The Sweet Trinity
". With the advent of printing, broadside
ballads were found throughout Canada, many of them Anglo songs telling sad songs about unfulfilled love. In addition to the influence of English West Country folk music and sea shanties, Newfoundland music heavily incorporates themes from Irish music, with elements of the provinces French and Portuguese history also represented.
As with the Maritime provinces, contemporary artists were the catalyst for a revival of interest in traditional music. Great Big Sea
, Figgy Duff
and Irish Descendants carried the traditional sounds of Newfoundland across Canada and around the world, with the most popular being Great Big Sea.
camps of Ontario
and British Columbia
, and among the homesteaders and farmers of Alberta
, Saskatchewan
, and Manitoba
, Anglo settlers adopted numerous American songs. "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
", for example, and the song known as "Prairie Land", "Saskatchewan" or "Alberta Land", which is adapted from an American song called "Beulah Land
".
festival. By 2000, Canada began to develop as a new pole in the Caribbean music
industry. This is especially true of the genres Soca
and Calypso
. The recent changes in Canada's immigration laws have seen several prominent music artistes from the Commonwealth Caribbean like David Rudder
and Anslem Douglas
resettle with their family to Canada and developed a burgeoning Caribbean music industry based in Canada.
This trend has also been reinforced by a decrease of the industry in the New York City
area, mainly spurred by factors like the rebranding of the 30+ year old Caribbean radio station WLIB 1090-AM
by Inner City Broadcasting Corporation
in 2004. The ICB rebranding was a tremendous setback to the Caribbean community and, in essence, splintered the Caribbean music industry again across the New York City metropolitan area. In Canada, station's like Flow FM
and CHIN, both located in Toronto, Ontario have served to bind the Caribbean music industry with their regularly rotated scheduling for Soca and Calypso music. During this time, several of the leading Caribbean music DJs
industry (which just happen to be based in Ontario) took to the air and launched several new songs or mixes. Some song mixes have been entered for various Caribbean Carnival
s back in the Caribbean region and created awareness in the Caribbean of new Soca and Calypso talent based in 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...
. With Canada being vast in size, the country throughout its history has had regional music scenes. The music of Canada
Music of Canada
The music of Canada has influences that have shaped the country. Aboriginals, the British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. The music has subsequently been heavily influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between...
has reflected the multi-cultural
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
influences that have shaped the country. First Nations people
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
, the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and many others nationalities have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada
First Nations
The First NationsFirst Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
peoples of Canada are of a number of diverse ethnic group
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
s, each of which have their own musical traditions. There are some general similarities, however. Music is usually social (public) or ceremonial (private). Public, social music may be dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
accompanied by rattle
Rattle (percussion)
A rattle is a percussion instrument. It consists of a hollow body filled with small uniform solid objects, like sand or nuts. Rhythmical shaking of this instrument produces repetitive, rather dry timbre noises. In some kinds of music, a rattle assumes the role of the metronome, as an alternative to...
s and drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s. Private, ceremonial music includes vocal songs with accompaniment on percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, used to mark occasions like Midewivin ceremonies and Sun Dance
Sun Dance
The Sun Dance is a religious ceremony practiced by a number of Native American and First Nations peoples, primarily those of the Plains Nations. Each tribe has its own distinct practices and ceremonial protocols...
s.
Traditionally, First Nations, being resourceful and creative, used the materials at hand to make their instruments for century's before Europeans immigrated to Canada. First Nations people made gourds and animal horns
Horn (anatomy)
A horn is a pointed projection of the skin on the head of various animals, consisting of a covering of horn surrounding a core of living bone. True horns are found mainly among the ruminant artiodactyls, in the families Antilocapridae and Bovidae...
into rattles
Rattle (percussion)
A rattle is a percussion instrument. It consists of a hollow body filled with small uniform solid objects, like sand or nuts. Rhythmical shaking of this instrument produces repetitive, rather dry timbre noises. In some kinds of music, a rattle assumes the role of the metronome, as an alternative to...
, many rattles were elaborately carved and beautifully painted. In woodland areas, they made horns of birchbark and drumsticks of carved antlers and wood. Drums were generally made of carved wood and animal hides. Drums and rattles are percussion instruments traditionally used by First Nations people. These musical instruments provide the background for songs, and songs are the background for dances. Many traditional First Nations people consider song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
and dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
to be sacred. For many years after Europeans came to 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...
, First Nations people were forbidden to practice their ceremonies.
Inuit Music
Approximately 25,000 Inuit live in Northern Canada, primarily spread across NunavutNunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
, the Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
, and Nunavik
Nunavik
Nunavik comprises the northern third of the province of Quebec, Canada. Covering a land area of 443,684.71 km² north of the 55th parallel, it is the homeland of the Inuit of Quebec...
(northern Quebec). Prior to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an contact, Inuit music was based around drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
but has since grown to include fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
s and accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
s. Music was dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
-oriented and requested luck in hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
, gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
, or weather
Weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...
, and only rarely, if ever, expressing traditional purposes like love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
or specialized forms like work song
Work song
A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a specific form of work, either sung while conducting a task or a song linked to a task or trade which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song....
s and lullabies
Lullaby
A lullaby is a soothing song, usually sung to young children before they go to sleep, with the intention of speeding that process. As a result they are often simple and repetitive. Lullabies can be found in every culture and since the ancient period....
. In the 20th century, Inuit music was influenced by Scottish and Irish sailors, as well as, most influentially, American country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
has long been recording Inuit music, beginning with a station in Iqaluit in 1961. Accordion players like Charlie Panigoniak
Charlie Panigoniak
Charlie Panigoniak is an Inuit singer-songwriter and guitarist whose albums reflect on northern life....
and Simeonie Keenainak
Simeonie Keenainak
Simeonie Keenainak is an Inuit accordionist and retired RCMP officer from Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada. He is also a photographer and hunter. He has performed at the Pangnirtung Music Festival and was featured in regional and national media for his musicianship and cultural community...
quickly found an audience, with the latter notably incorporating musical influences like polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
s and jig
Jig
The Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the 16th century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...
s from Quebec and Newfoundland.
Katajjaq
Inuit throat singing
Inuit throat singing or katajjaq, also known as the generic term overtone singing, is a form of musical performance uniquely found among the Inuit...
, or "Inuit throat singing", has become well-known as a curiosity. In this traditional singing style, female singers produce melodies
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
from deep in their throats. A pair of singers stare at each other in a sort of contest. Common in Northern Quebec and Baffin Island
Baffin Island
Baffin Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut is the largest island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest island in the world. Its area is and its population is about 11,000...
, katajjaq singers perform in sync with each other, so that one is producing a strong accent while the other is producing a weak one. The contest ends when one singer begins laughing, runs out of breath or the pair's voices become simultaneous. To some extent, young Inuit have revitalized the genre, and musicians like Tudjaat
Tudjaat
Tudjaat are Madeleine Allakariallak and Phoebe Atagotaaluk, two Inuit women from Nunavut, Canada who are keeping the ancient tradition of Inuit throat singing alive. Tudjaat got its start when Madelaine, who performed as part of a backup chorus with Susan Aglukark's third CD, was noticed by its...
have even incorporated pop structures.
Immigrant Communities
Montreal's large immigrant communities include artists like ZekuhlZekuhl
Atna Jean Emmanuel Njock, aka Zekuhl, is a singer, guitarist, percussionist and a songwriter of world music. He presents a Bolbo-Jazz style....
(a band consisting of a Mexican, Chilean and a Quebecer raised in Cameroon), Karen Young
Karen Young (Canadian singer)
Karen Young is a singer, lyricist, composer and arranger from Quebec, Canada who has explored several different musical styles....
, Eval Manigat (Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
), and Lorraine Klaasen
Lorraine Klaasen
Lorraine Klaasen is a Montreal-based world music singer. Her mother is South African singer Thandi Klaasen. She has performed at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, and her international itinerary has included the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean...
(South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
), while Toronto has a large Balkan and Turkish community that has produced, most famously, the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band
Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band
The Flying Bulgars is a Canadian folk music band, who play original music rooted in the folk and celebration music of Jews originating in Eastern Europe. The band's music adds elements of rock, jazz and salsa....
and Staro Selo, alongside Punjabi by Nature
Punjabi by Nature
Punjabi by Nature was a seven piece bhangra band founded in Toronto in 1993.. They were nominated for a 1996 Juno Award in the Best Global Album category for their album Jmpn For Joy....
, who incorporate bhangra, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
, and English Punjabi pop, and the Afro-Nubians, who included musicians from across North America, Europe and Africa. Outside of these major cities, important artists include Uzume-Taiko and Silk Road Music from Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
and Finjan
Finjan
Update: Finjan is now part of .Founded in 1996, Finjan was headquartered in San Jose, California before being acquired by M86 Security in 2009...
from Winnipeg.
French-Canadian music
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
settlers brought music with them when inhabiting what is now 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....
and other areas throughout Canada. Since the arrival of French music
Music of France
France has a wide variety of indigenous folk music, as well as styles played by immigrants from Africa, Latin America and Asia. In the field of classical music, France has produced a number of legendary composers, while modern pop music has seen the rise of popular French hip hop, techno/funk,...
in Canada, there has been much intermixing with the Celtic music
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
of Anglo-Canada.
French-Canadian folk music is generally performed to accompany dances like the jig
Jig
The Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the 16th century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...
, jeux dansé, ronde, cotillion
Cotillion
In American usage, a cotillion is a formal ball and social gathering, often the venue for presenting débutantes during the débutante season – usually May through December. Cotillions are also used as classes to teach social etiquette, respect and common morals for the younger ages with the...
, and quadrille
Quadrille
Quadrille is a historic dance performed by four couples in a square formation, a precursor to traditional square dancing. It is also a style of music...
. The fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
is a very common instrument, played by virtuosos like Jean Carignan
Jean Carignan
Jean Carignan, was a Canadian fiddler.Born in Lévis, Québec on December 7, 1916. He was a well-known fiddler from Quebec. Joseph Allard, Michael Coleman, and J. Scott Skinner are all brilliant traditional fiddlers whose music Carignan studied. Carignan was a friend of famous violinist and...
, Jos Bouchard, and Joseph Allard
Joseph Allard
Joseph Allard , a native of Lowell, MA, was a professor of saxophone and clarinet at the Juilliard School, the New England Conservatory, the Manhattan School of Music, as well as adjunct positions at many other schools. He succeeded saxophonist/clarinetist Vincent J...
. Other instruments include the German diatonic accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, played by the likes of Philippe Bruneau and Alfred Montmarquette, spoons
Spoons
Spoons, also known as Pig and Tongue, is a fast-paced game of matching and bluffing family of card games of the Crazy Eights group, closely related to Craits played with an ordinary pack of playing cards and several ordinary kitchen spoons or various other objects...
, bones
Bones (instrument)
The bones are a musical instrument which, at the simplest, consists of a pair of animal bones, or pieces of wood or a similar material. Sections of large rib bones and lower leg bones are the most commonly used true bones, although wooden sticks shaped like the earlier true bones are now more...
, and jaw harps.
Quebec music
FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
settlers to Quebec established their musical forms in the future province, but there was no scholarly study until Ernest Gagnon
Ernest Gagnon
Ernest Gagnon was a Canadian folklorist, composer, and organist. He is best known for compiling a large amount of French Canadian folk music which he published as Chansons populaires du Canada in 1865-1867...
's 1865 collection of 100 folk songs. In 1967, Radio-Canada released The Centennial Collection of Canadian Folk Songs (much of which was focused on French-Canadian music), which helped launch a revival of Quebec folk. Singers like Yves Albert, Edith Butler
Édith Butler
Édith Butler O.C. is an Acadian singer-songwriter and folklorist. Her career began in the early 1960s with performances in Moncton, followed by national appearances on CBC Television's Singalong Jubilee.2003's Madame Butlerfly is her most recent studio recording.-Honours:*Butler was appointed an...
, and, especially, Félix Leclerc
Félix Leclerc
Félix Leclerc, was a French-Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor and Québécois political activist. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 20, 1968...
and Gilles Vigneault
Gilles Vigneault
Gilles Vigneault, is a Canadian poet, publisher and singer-songwriter, and well-known Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist.A poet deeply rooted in his native Quebec, Vigneault has become an icon at home and Quebec ambassador abroad...
, helped lead the way. The 1970s saw purists like La Rêve du Diable and La Bottine Souriante
La Bottine Souriante
La Bottine Souriante is a folk band from Quebec specialising in traditional Québécois music, often with a modern twist.Formed in 1976, they have toured extensively through North America and Europe. As well as the traditional accordion, fiddle, guitar, piano and double bass, the band added a...
continued the trend. As Quebec folk continued to gain in popularity, artists like Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
, Harmonium
Harmonium (band)
Harmonium was a Canadian progressive rock band from Montreal, Quebec.-History:Lead vocalist and guitarist Serge Fiori met Michel Normandeau in a theatre music meeting on November 1972. Later on in 1973 they met bassist Louis Valois and became Harmonium. In November 1973 the group performed their...
, Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Kate and Anna McGarrigle, were a pair of Canadian singer-songwriters from Quebec, who performed as a duo until Kate McGarrigle's death on January 18, 2010.-Profile:...
, Jim Corcoran
Jim Corcoran
Jim Corcoran is a Canadian singer-songwriter and broadcaster.-Biography:Jim Corcoran was born in Sherbrooke, but went to high school and his obtained his B.A. in Boston, Massachusetts in the late 1960s...
, Bertrand Gosselin, and Paul Piché
Paul Piché
Paul Piché is a Québécois singer-songwriter, environmentalist, political activist and renowned Quebec sovereigntist....
found a mainstream audience.
Since 1979, Quebec music artists have been recognized with the Felix 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...
.
Maritime music
The Music of Canada's MaritimesMaritimes
The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...
has included many artists from both the traditional and pop genres.
The traditional genre is heavily influenced by the music brought to the region by the European settlers, the most well known of which are the Scots & Irish celtic
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
and Acadian
Acadian
The Acadians are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia . Acadia was a colony of New France...
traditions. Folk songs are those passed on orally, usually composed by unknown persons. In the Maritime Provinces (New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
), sea shanties
Sea Shanties
Sea Shanties is the debut album of Progressive Rock band High Tide. The cover artwork was drawn by Paul Whitehead.-Production:Denny Gerrard produced Sea Shanties in return for High Tide acting as the backing band on his solo album Sinister Morning...
are widespread among the whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
and fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
workers. The lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
camps of New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
have also produced their own body of folk songs. Irish and Scottish settlers in the eastern provinces of Canada brought traditions of fiddling
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
and other forms of music. Having declined in popularity during the 20th century, a revival of Maritime traditional inspired music began in the late 1970s, led by artists such as John Allan Cameron
John Allan Cameron
John Allan Cameron, was a Canadian folk singer, "The Godfather of Celtic Music" in Canada. Noted for performing traditional music on his twelve string guitar, he released his first album in 1968. He released 10 albums during his lifetime and was featured on national television...
and Stan Rogers
Stan Rogers
Stanley Allison "Stan" Rogers was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter.Rogers was noted for his rich, baritone voice and his finely crafted, traditional-sounding songs which were frequently inspired by Canadian history and the daily lives of working people, especially those from the fishing...
and later, the The Rankins, Mary Jane Lamond
Mary Jane Lamond
Mary Jane Lamond is a Canadian celtic folk musician who performs traditional Canadian Gaelic folk songs from Cape Breton Island. She was born in 1960 in Kingston, Ontario, graduated from Westmount High School in Montreal and then the Celtic Studies program at St...
, Natalie MacMaster
Natalie MacMaster
Natalie MacMaster, CM is an award-winning fiddler from the rural community of Troy in Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Canada who plays Cape Breton fiddle music....
, Ashley MacIsaac
Ashley MacIsaac
Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac is a Canadian professional fiddler from Cape Breton Island.His album Hi™ How Are You Today?, featuring the hit single "Sleepy Maggie", with vocals in Scottish Gaelic by Mary Jane Lamond was released in 1995...
, Barra MacNeils
Barra MacNeils
The Barra MacNeils are a Canadian musical group from Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia. The founding members of the group are siblings Sheumas, Kyle, Stewart, and Lucy MacNeil. In 2005 two additional brothers, Ryan and Boyd, joined the band...
, and Barachois
Barachois (band)
Barachois is a Canadian band from Prince Edward Island that plays traditional Acadian music.The members of the group are:*Albert Arsenault - fiddle, percussion, bass, vocals*Hélène Bergeron - keyboard, guitar, fiddle, vocals...
.
Successful pop acts from all genres have had degrees of national and international success since the beginning of recorded music period. Performers as diverse as Hank Snow
Hank Snow
Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow was a Canadian-American country music artist. He charted more than 70 singles on the Billboard country charts from 1950 until 1980...
, Anne Murray
Anne Murray
Morna Anne Murray CC, ONS is a Canadian singer in pop, country and adult contemporary styles whose albums have sold over 54 million copies....
, Matt Minglewood
Matt Minglewood
Matt Minglewood is a Canadian musician whose style can be described as a blend of country, blues, folk, roots and rock.-Career:...
and April Wine
April Wine
April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969. According to the band, they chose the name 'April Wine' simply because members thought the two words sounded good together...
have all experienced tremendous success as popular music acts with considerable national and international tours and record sales. Since the 1990s, bands such as Sloan
Sloan (band)
Sloan is a Toronto-based alternative rock quartet from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Throughout their 20-year tenure Sloan has released 10 LPs , two EPs, a live album, a "best of" collection and no less than thirty singles...
, Joel Plaskett
Joel Plaskett
Joel Plaskett is a Canadian rock musician originally from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. He grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia and now resides across the harbour in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia...
, Matt Mays
Matt Mays
Matt Mays is a Canadian singer-songwriter and was the lead singer of Matt Mays & El Torpedo, a rock music group based in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia and New York City. Previously, Mays was a member of a Canadian indie band The Guthries...
and Buck 65
Buck 65
Richard Terfry , who uses the stage name Buck 65, is a Canadian experimental artist, MC and turntablist. Underpinned by an extensive background in abstract hip hop, his more recent music has extensively incorporated blues, country, rock, folk and avant garde influences.Terfry is also a radio host,...
have made a considerable impact.
Newfoundland music
Anglo-Canadian folk ballads are particularly well-preserved in NewfoundlandNewfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
. The widespread "Barbara Allen" is found in dozens of variations, as are songs like "The Farmer's Curst Wife
The Farmer's Curst Wife
The Farmer's Curst Wife is Child ballad number 278. It has been recorded by Pete Seeger and Jean Ritchie-Synopsis:A farmer had a bad woman for his wife, and one day the devil came for her. They reached Hell, and the gates were shut, so she struck him. She made life in hell so bad that the devil...
", "Lord Randall
Lord Randall
"Lord Randall", or "Lord Randal", is an Anglo-Scottish border ballad, a traditional ballad consisting of dialogue. The different versions follow the same general lines: the primary character is poisoned, usually by his sweetheart; this is revealed through a conversation where he reports on the...
", and "The Sweet Trinity
The Sweet Trinity
"The Sweet Trinity", also known as "The Golden Vanity" or "The Golden Willow Tree", is Child Ballad 286. The first surviving version, about 1635, was "Sir Walter Raleigh Sailing In The Lowlands "The Sweet Trinity", also known as "The Golden Vanity" or "The Golden Willow Tree", is Child Ballad 286....
". With the advent of printing, broadside
Broadside (music)
A broadside is a single sheet of cheap paper printed on one side, often with a ballad, rhyme, news and sometimes with woodcut illustrations...
ballads were found throughout Canada, many of them Anglo songs telling sad songs about unfulfilled love. In addition to the influence of English West Country folk music and sea shanties, Newfoundland music heavily incorporates themes from Irish music, with elements of the provinces French and Portuguese history also represented.
As with the Maritime provinces, contemporary artists were the catalyst for a revival of interest in traditional music. Great Big Sea
Great Big Sea
Great Big Sea is a Canadian folk-rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year-old Irish, English, and French heritage...
, Figgy Duff
Figgy Duff
Figgy Duff was a Canadian folk-rock band from Newfoundland. They played a major role in the Newfoundland cultural renaissance of the 1970s and 80s. Formed in 1976 by Noel Dinn, who named the band after a kind of traditional white pudding, Figgy Duff travelled across Newfoundland, learning...
and Irish Descendants carried the traditional sounds of Newfoundland across Canada and around the world, with the most popular being Great Big Sea.
Western Canada
Among the lumberLumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
camps of Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, and among the homesteaders and farmers of Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, and Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, Anglo settlers adopted numerous American songs. "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
"Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" is a cowboy folk song. Also known as "The Cowboy's Lament", "The Dying Cowboy" and "Bury Me Out on the Lone Prairie", the song is described as the most famous cowboy ballad...
", for example, and the song known as "Prairie Land", "Saskatchewan" or "Alberta Land", which is adapted from an American song called "Beulah Land
Beulah Land
Beulah Land is a well-known gospel hymn written by Edgar Page Stites in either 1875 or 1876. The hymn, Stites' most popular, is set to music written by John R. Sweney...
".
Caribbean Music
The history of Caribbean music in Canada started in 1967, with Toronto's first annual CaribanaCaribana Festival (Canada)
Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto, formerly known as Caribana, is a festival of Caribbean culture and traditions held each summer in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Annually, the festival draws hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the globe to Toronto's lakeshore...
festival. By 2000, Canada began to develop as a new pole in the Caribbean music
Caribbean music
The music of the Caribbean is a diverse grouping of musical genres. They are each syntheses of African, European, Indian and native influences, largely created by descendants of African slaves...
industry. This is especially true of the genres Soca
Soca music
Soca is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago. Soca is a musical development of traditional Trinidadian calypso, through loans from the 1960s onwards from predominantly black popular music....
and Calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
. The recent changes in Canada's immigration laws have seen several prominent music artistes from the Commonwealth Caribbean like David Rudder
David Rudder
David Michael Rudder is a calypsonian from Trinidad.-Career:David Rudder is one of the top calypsonians of all time. In 1977, he joined Charlie's Roots, one of the top bands in Trinidad and Tobago. He spent many years as one of the vocalists with the band...
and Anslem Douglas
Anslem Douglas
Anslem Douglas is a musician and composer from Trinidad and Tobago, most famous for the hit single "Who Let the Dogs Out?"- Biography :Anslem Douglas first became interested in music watching folk performers at the local community center in his native village of La Romain, in Trinidad...
resettle with their family to Canada and developed a burgeoning Caribbean music industry based in Canada.
This trend has also been reinforced by a decrease of the industry in the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
area, mainly spurred by factors like the rebranding of the 30+ year old Caribbean radio station WLIB 1090-AM
WLIB
WLIB is an urban contemporary gospel AM radio station located in New York City. WLIB is owned by Inner City Broadcasting Corporation along with sister station WBLS...
by Inner City Broadcasting Corporation
Inner City Broadcasting Corporation
The Inner City Broadcasting Corporation is an American media company based in New York City. ICBC is notable for being one of the first broadcasting companies wholly owned by black people...
in 2004. The ICB rebranding was a tremendous setback to the Caribbean community and, in essence, splintered the Caribbean music industry again across the New York City metropolitan area. In Canada, station's like Flow FM
CFXJ-FM
CFXJ-FM is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario, which uses the on-air brand FLOW 93.5. It first aired in 2001 as Canada's first urban music station...
and CHIN, both located in Toronto, Ontario have served to bind the Caribbean music industry with their regularly rotated scheduling for Soca and Calypso music. During this time, several of the leading Caribbean music DJs
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
industry (which just happen to be based in Ontario) took to the air and launched several new songs or mixes. Some song mixes have been entered for various Caribbean Carnival
Caribbean Carnival
Caribbean Carnival is the term used for a number of events that take place in many of the Caribbean islands annually.The Caribbean's Carnivals all have several common themes all originating from Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, based on folklore, culture, religion,and tradition, not on amusement...
s back in the Caribbean region and created awareness in the Caribbean of new Soca and Calypso talent based in Canada.
See also
- Music of CanadaMusic of CanadaThe music of Canada has influences that have shaped the country. Aboriginals, the British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. The music has subsequently been heavily influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between...
- Canadian rockCanadian rockCanadian rock describes a wide and diverse variety of music produced by Canadians, beginning with American style rock 'n' roll in the mid-20th century. Since then Canada has had a considerable impact on the development of the modern popular music called rock...
- Canadian music genresCanadian music genresCanadian music genres identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music made by Canadians. The music of Canada has reflected the multi-cultural influences that have shaped the country...
- Juno AwardJuno AwardThe Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
- Western Canadian Music AwardsWestern Canadian Music AwardsThe Western Canadian Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony for music in the western portion of Canada, that originated in its current form in 2003...
- Polaris Music PrizePolaris Music PrizeThe Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label...
- East Coast Music AssociationEast Coast Music AssociationThe East Coast Music Association is a non-profit association that hosts an annual awards ceremony based in Atlantic Canada for music appreciation on the East Coast of Canada...
- Canadian Music Hall of FameCanadian Music Hall of FameThe Canadian Music Hall of Fame honors Canadian musicians for their lifetime achievements in music. The ceremony is held each year as part of the Juno Award ceremonies. Members of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame represent many of the world's great talents...
- Canada's Walk of FameCanada's Walk of FameCanada's Walk of Fame , located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of successful Canadians...
External links
- Canadian Music Periodical (CMPI) - Library and Archives CanadaLibrary and Archives CanadaLibrary and Archives Canada is a national memory institution dedicated to providing the best possible account of Canadian life through acquiring, preserving and making Canada's documentary heritage accessible for use in the 21st century and beyond...
- Encyclopedia of Music in Canada The Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian Encyclopedia is a source of information on Canada. It is available online, at no cost. The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in both English and French and includes some 14,000 articles in each language on a wide variety of subjects including history, popular culture, events, people,...
- RPM Magazine, 1964-2000 - Library and Archives Canada
- The Junos/Canadian Music Hall of Fame official website
- Canadian Classic Rock
- CanadianBands.com
- Canoe.ca /Jam!—Jam!Jam!Jam! is a Canadian website, which covers entertainment news. It is part of the CANOE online portal, owned and operated by Quebecor through its Sun Media division....
- New Music Canada—By CBC Radio 3CBC Radio 3CBC Radio 3 is a radio station that consists of two parts devoted to Canadian arts and music: a radio service which is available on Sirius Satellite Radio and streaming audio, and several daily and weekly podcasts from the CBC Radio 3 website...
- Shakin' All Over: A History of Canadian Rock and Roll
- Canada's Walk of Fame
- Canuckistan Music- reviews of lesser-known records
- Torontomusicscene.ca Toronto Area Rock