Les Cowboys Fringants () are a Quebecker

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

band formed in 1995 in

Repentigny, Quebec Repentigny () is an off-island suburbs, off-island suburb of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located North Shore (Laval), north of the city on the lower end of the L'Assomption River, and on the Saint Lawrence River. Repentigny and Ch ...

. The French word ''fringant'' can be translated as "dashing", or "frisky". They perform '' Quebecker'' néo-trad music (modernized Quebec

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

with a rock flavour) and draw on

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

. They have an international underground following, especially in France, French-speaking

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Band members hail from the

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

suburbs of Repentigny and L'Assomption. The entire band collaborates on the lyrics, although guitarist Jean-François Pauzé often contributes more than the others. The band are known for their live performances, captured on the '' Attache ta tuque!'' live album and the ''Centre Bell 30 décembre 2003'' DVD. The band has won 17

Félix Awards Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

, including five at the 2020 edition of the ceremony. The group are five-time

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

nominees, winning one in 2024 for Francophone Album of the Year.

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 Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

songwriting. As the néo-trad movement adapts Quebec folklore into contemporary crafts, the political message of the band is a re-occurrence of 1970s

chansonnier A chansonnier (, , Galician and , or ''canzoniéro'', ) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of songs, hence literally " song-books"; however, some manuscripts are call ...

activist messages of left-wing

solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

and, recently, sovereignism. They also sometimes adopt a

minimalist In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

and dadaesque style, a trend of the Quebec music scene of the 2000s – a decade of voluntary simple yet nonetheless quite intelligent and

joual ''Joual'' () is an accepted name for the linguistic features of Quebec French that are associated with the French-speaking working class in Montreal which has become a symbol of national identity for some. ''Joual'' has historically been stigma ...

lyrics, therefore

subversive Subversion () refers to a process by which the values and principles of a system in place are contradicted or reversed in an attempt to sabotage the established social order and its structures of power, authority, tradition, hierarchy, and socia ...

and akin to a sort of lyrical

naïve art Naïve art is usually defined as visual art that is created by a person who lacks the formal education and training that a professional artist undergoes (in anatomy, art history, technique, perspective, ways of seeing). When this aesthetic is ...

. The group's songs cover environmentalism, and poverty, as well as the denouncing of

consumerism Consumerism is a socio-cultural and economic phenomenon that is typical of industrialized societies. It is characterized by the continuous acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing quantities. In contemporary consumer society, the ...

, exploitation, state-controlled gambling, and

political apathy In political science, political apathy is a lack of interest or apathy towards politics. This includes voter apathy, information apathy and lack of interest in elections, political events, public meetings, and voting. Voter apathy is a lack of ...

. While some of those subjects are serious in appearance, they are often treated in a light manner, sometimes even in a fun or ironic way. The band also deals with themes of Quebec history, Quebec independence, suburban life, childhood and adolescence,

kitsch ''Kitsch'' ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as Naivety, naïve imitation, overly eccentric, gratuitous or of banal Taste (sociology), taste. The modern avant-garde traditionally opposed 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 Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...

, second degree artistic statement. The band themselves are noted fans of '' Passe-Partout'' composer Pierre F. Brault and have performed shows in his honour. They have also been influenced by French singer

Renaud Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan (; born 11 May 1952 in Paris), known as Renaud, is a French singer-songwriter. With twenty-six albums to his credit, selling nearly twenty million copies, he is one of France's most popular singers. Several of h ...

, and his songs with political messages and local popular language. 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 A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

and

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

. The band went on tour in summer of 2011, visiting cities in Quebec, France and Switzerland. In 2021, the band released a

concert film A concert film or concert movie is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert, by either a musician or a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian. Ea ...

, ''L'Amérique pleure'', featuring songs performed in wild locations in Quebec, directed by Louis-Philippe Eno. It was released as an on-demand digital film. In 2022, the group's lead singer, Karl Tremblay, announced that he had been diagnosed with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

. They paused most recording and touring activity as he pursued treatment, except for a performance at the

Festival d'été de Québec The Festival d'été de Québec (FEQ) is the largest music festival in Canada in terms of number of artists (more than 200), largest stage (100,000), largest number of days (11). A total number of passes of 140,350 (130,000 standard, 3,000 gold ...

in July 2023. Tremblay's death was announced on November 15, 2023. Their 2023 album ''En concert avec l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (sous la direction du chef Simon Leclerc)'', recorded with the

Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra () is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. History Several orchestras were precursor ensembles to the curren ...

, won the Juno Award for Francophone Album of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 2024 The Juno Awards of 2024 were held on 24 March 2024, at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to honour achievements in Canadian music in 2023. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year determine ...

. In 2024 they released '' Pub Royal'', an album including the last songs Tremblay completed before his death. A

jukebox musical A jukebox musical is a stage musical or musical film in which a majority of the songs are well-known, pre-existing popular music songs, rather than original music composed for the musical. Some jukebox musicals use a wide variety of songs, while ...

of the same name, featuring the band's songs performed by musical theatre actors, also launched the same year.

Members

2016-10 Les Cowboys fringants Concert metropolis 03

Current members * Jean-François "J-F" Pauzé – rhythm guitar * Marie-Annick Lépine – violin, mandolin, accordion, piano, banjo * Jérôme Dupras – bass guitar, double bass Previous members * Karl Tremblay – vocals; died on November 15, 2023 * Dominique "Domlebo" Lebeau – drums; left in 2007, citing personal reasons

Discography

;Studio albums *''12 Grandes chansons'' (1997) *''Sur mon canapé'' (1998) *'' Motel Capri'' (4 April 2000) *'' Break syndical'' (5 March 2002) *'' La Grand-Messe'' (23 November 2004) *'' L'expédition'' (23 September 2008) *'' Sur un air de déjà vu'' (14 October 2008) *'' Que du vent'' (14 November 2011) *'' Octobre'' (23 October 2015) *''Les antipodes'' (4 October 2019) *''Les nuits de Repentigny'' (12 March 2021) *'' Pub Royal'' (25 April 2024) ;Compilations *'' Enfin Réunis (12 grandes chansons + Sur Mon Canapé)'' (20 November 2001) ;Live albums *'' Attache ta tuque!'' (13 May 2003) *''Au Grand Théâtre de Québec'' (2007) *'' En concert au Zénith de Paris'' (2010) *''En concert avec l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (sous la direction du chef Simon Leclerc)'' - 2023 ;Recorded concerts *''Centre Bell 30 décembre 2003'' – (13 April 2004)

References

External links

* * *
Article at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowboys Fringants, Les Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups from Montreal Canadian folk rock groups People from Repentigny, Quebec 1997 establishments in Quebec Félix Award winners Quebec sovereigntists Juno Award for Francophone Album of the Year winners

Overview

Members

Discography

See also

References

External links