Airs-Mémoire: Traditional Fiddle Tunes from the Tip of the Gaspe Peninsula

I'm happy to announce that the latest edition of the Airs-Mémoire collection of transcriptions is now available for download. This project to preserve these melodies in sheet-music form is a collaboration between musicians France Dupuis (Quebec City) who did the transcriptions and Guy Bouchard (Douglastown) who played the melodies for France and suggested the guitar accompaniment that appears along with the music. I was fortunate to see the beginnings of their collaboration when I was visiting Guy shortly after he moved to Douglastown in 2018; France was visiting at the same time and we all passed many hours jamming on some of these tunes in Guy's living room. We even got to perform them for Bernard and Christina's wedding anniversary party that year!

France and Guy see this collection as "a tangible way to preserve and disseminate tunes from the local oral tradition." The new edition contains 54 traditional tunes from the eastern Gaspe Peninsula, a table of contents, and an appendix of references. 

It is available for download for $18 from France Dupuis' website.

It has been astounding to see so many people helping make this music and Gaspesian musicians better known far and wide. I want to congratulate France and Guy for their ongoing dedication and tireless work with this music.

Porch jam session. The Kennedy Homestead, Douglastown 2018. L to R: Guy Bouchard, Laura Sadowsky, France Dupuis, Glenn Patterson, Brian Fournier, Norma McDonald