French-Canadian Folk Music

French-Canadian folk music is the fiddle-led dance tradition of Québec and Acadia, rooted in the reels, jigs and songs French settlers carried from Brittany, Normandy and Ireland. Its engine is the podorythmie — feet pounding out percussion from a seated player — driving fiddles, button accordions and jaw harps through medleys of tunes, with call-and-response turlutte mouth-music and songs of lumber camps and river drives. The 1970s revival made *La Bottine Souriante* international ambassadors; *Le Vent du Nord*, *Genticorum* and *Les Charbonniers de l'enfer* sustain a living tradition of veillées, festivals and step-dance competitions.