Maine Fiddle Camp is over for 2023 and (in person) Fiddle Hell is coming up soon (November 2-5). I’ve been corresponding with my good friend, Éric Favreau, in both contexts. As we parted ways in August after MFC, I remember saying something along the lines of, “see you in Hell!” hah hah

Éric Favreau and I have been on staff at Maine Fiddle Camp for the last 15 years or so, and at Fiddle Hell for the last five..   He is a superb Quebecois fiddler, a great teacher, and with his great sense of humor, LOTS of fun to learn from and to see perform on stage. There is an air of mystery to this man too, and I’ll try to clear a little of that up.. Éric is from a family of traditional musicians (his father and uncle were both fiddlers) and has spent a great deal of time seeking out and playing with other Quebecois fiddlers, learning their repertoire and studying their styles. He is also a traditional music historian, spending much time listening to music archives, and making field recordings of his own. This has contributed to Éric’s amazing repertoire of Quebecois tunes! But Éric is more than just a fiddler and music historian, he is just plain a great entertainer. He has a captivating stage presence with a vast repertoire of songs and stories in addition to fiddle tunes! Anyone who was at Camp when he told the story about crossing the Canadian/US border with a box of bones (rhythm bones) and trying to explain to the customs officer that he “played” them, knows what I am talking about!! He is a consummate entertainer/educator, specializing in the “Introduction to Traditional Music” in Québec’s public school system under the auspices of the Minister of Education. He also teaches traditional fiddle and the history of traditional music at the Cégèp (junior college) in Joliette, Québec.

As far as music and dance camps go, in addition to teaching at Maine Fiddle Camp, Éric has taught at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes (in Port Townsend, WA), Swannanoa Gathering (NC), Ashokan Fiddle and Dance Camp (NY), Fiddle Hell (MA) and has performed and taught at the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention in Ireland and Scotland. He has solo recordings, recordings with fiddler Mario Landry (“Reel a Deux”), recordings with the group Entourloupe (“La St-Berdondaine,” “Les choux pis des Melons,” “Épilogue”), and several recordings with Raz de Maree (Tidal Wave), with Fiddle Camp staffers Rachel Aucoin, Sabin Jacques and Stuart Kenney. Their album “Marche du St-Laurent” was a finalist at the 2011 Canadian Folk Music Awards in the category Traditional Instrumental Album of the Year.

Yeah yeah, most of us know this, but how did Éric become a part of Maine Fiddle Camp? For that answer and much more, read my 2019 interview with Éric by clicking here. You will really enjoy this so click away.

Éric will be teaching all Maine Fiddle Camp sessions in 2024.

Finally, here’s a little “teaser video” inviting folks to attend the Covid era (2021) “Virtual Maine Fiddle Camp.” The tune Éric is playing is Reel des Esquimaux (Eskimos’ Reel). Note the precision foot percussion……..

And here’s a video of Raz de Maree. This was taken at an “old time variety show” at MFC in 2016 and the context was that they came on stage right after a young woman played fiddle while jumping up and down on a pogo stick! Owen Marshall is introducing them.

That’s it for this month folks. If you have comments or suggestions, you can contact me by email at callbill@hotmail.com

oh yeah and don’t forget to tune in to our weekly Tuesday night online mini-concert and jam. here’s the info: Tuesday night Online jam session and mini-concert with Pam Weeks and Bill Olson – FolkWorks

bill