Les Cowboys Fringants

Les Cowboys Fringants (English: The Frisky Cowboys) are a popular band and cult phenomenon from Quebec, who perform Québécois néo-trad music (modernized Quebec folk music with a rock flavour), the band also draws on Country music. They have gained an international underground following, especially in France, French-speaking Belgium and Switzerland. There is even a group of French fans called Les Cousins Fringants (a take on the expression cousin that the French use to affectionately call French Canadians). They hail from the Montreal suburb of Repentigny and L'Assomption. The entire band collaborates on the lyrics, although guitarist Jean-François Pauzé often contributes more than the others. The fundamental aspect of the band are their explosive live performances, captured on the Attache ta tuque live album and the Centre Bell 30 décembre 2003 DVD.

Overview

Les Cowboys represent an important part of modern Québécois music. They are part of the néo-trad movement that appeared in Quebec around the turn of the 21st century, and they embody a resurgence of political songwriting (after the drought of the 1980s and parts of the 1990s, political songwriting had been a victim of Post-Referendum Syndrome). As the néo-trad movement adapts Quebec folklore into contemporary crafts, the political message of the band is a re-occurrence of 1970s chansonnier activist messages of left-wing solidarity and, recently, sovereignism, although in a more distinctly modern way. They also sometimes adopt a minimalist & dadaesque style, a trend of the Quebec music scene of the 2000s - a decade of voluntary simple yet nonetheless quite intelligent and Joual lyrics, therefore subversive and akin to a sort of lyrical naïve art. (The 1970s did see the first wave of voluntary Joual art, like the songs of Robert Charlebois and Aut'chose, and the plays of Michel Tremblay, although not as willingly exaggerated. This is present even more so in the music of Les Trois Accords, Les Denis Drolet, Daniel Boucher, or in "Pépé et sa Guitare"'s (Pépé and his Guitar) song Carole).

The usual subject matter of the group includes: environmentalism, poverty, anguish and family troubles, as well as the denouncing of consumerism, exploitation, state-controlled gambling, cynical government attitude and political apathy. While some of those subjects are serious in appearance, they are often treated in a light manner, sometimes even in a fun, amusing and ironic way. The band also deals with themes of Quebec history, Quebec independence, suburban life, childhood and adolescence, kitsch, relationships and sports. Their songwriting is renowned for having woven an elaborate tapestry of fictional characters with interpersonal relationships, and sometimes a number of these characters appear in more than one song. Much like their writing, the clothes of the male members of the band are quite unique, sometimes purposely normal or kitsch and something of a postmodern, second degree artistic statement. Fans have followed the trend by wearing the equally kitsch t-shirts and other official clothing, with the group logo.

The band themselves are noted fans of Passe-Partout composer Pierre F. Brault and have performed shows in his honor. They have also been influenced by French singer Renaud, and his songs with political messages and local popular language (for Renaud, the French argot).

Many of the idiosyncrasies of their music stem from Marie-Annick Lépine, a versatile musician, who makes the band line up distinct from the conventional guitar-bass-drums-singer. Her talents contribute to the vivacious sounds of instruments like the violin, mandolin and accordion. She has also worked on the Dumas album Le cours des jours.

The band are currently (summer 2011) on tour visiting cities all over Quebec, France and Switzerland.

Members

• Karl Tremblay (vocals)
• Jean-François "J-F" Pauzé (guitar)
• Marie-Annick Lépine (violin, mandolin, accordion, piano, banjo etc.)
• Jérôme Dupras (bass guitar, double bass)

Previous members:

• Dominique "Domlebo" Lebeau (drums) - Left the group on August 22, 2007, citing personal reasons.

Discography

• 12 Grandes chansons - (1997)
• Sur mon canapé - (1998)
• Motel Capri - (April 4, 2000) - (listen)
• Enfin Réunis (12 grandes chansons + Sur Mon Canapé) - (November 20, 2001) - (listen)
• Break syndical - (March 5, 2002) - (listen)
• Attache ta tuque! - (May 13, 2003; live album) - (listen)
• La Grand Messe - (November 23, 2004) - (listen)
• Au Grand Théâtre de Québec - (2007; live album)
• L'expédition - (September 23, 2008)
• Sur un air de déjà vu - (October 14, 2008)
• En concert au Zénith de Paris - (2010; live album)
• Que du vent - (November 14, 2011)

Filmography

• Centre Bell 30 décembre 2003 - (April 13, 2004)

See also

• Néo-trad
• Quebec sovereignism
• Politics of Quebec
• List of Quebec musicians
• Music of Quebec
• Culture of Quebec

External links

• Official site (in French)
• Official forum (in French)