I just came out from two weeks in the Maine woods at Maine Fiddle Camp. It was an amazing time and made me think about the rich traditional music scene right here in Maine, especially our unique Franco-American music tradition. Right after the civil war there was an intense migration of French speaking people from Canada seeking their “fortune” working in the fabric mills in Maine and elsewhere in New England. Their music and dance traditions came with them, of course, and that was the beginning of the evolution of the “Maine Franco music tradition,” kind of an isolated music scene. As a result we have many great performers that “you never heard of” outside of Maine. One of those is the father of my Maine Fiddle Camp colleague, Jo-Anne Bouthot. Here are a few words.

Lionel “Toots” Bouthot, Jo-Anne’s dad, was from Biddeford, Maine, one of many “mill towns” in the state. Toots was renowned as a guitar, piano player, singer, dance leader, storyteller and entertainer in Maine’s vibrant Franco-American community. He is probably best known to the Maine trad music (and MFC) community as fiddler Ben Guillemette’s musical partner. Toots accompanied Ben for many years mostly playing around home but sometimes touring (Toots says he played the Grand ol’ Opry 3 times!)

Here’s the intro to an interview Toots did with the Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center in 2018:

Born in Biddeford, Maine in 1929, Lionel “Toots” Bouthot is well known as a musical performer. Starting out by winning a contest at the age of 5, he continued to perform through the years. The money he earned, even while going to elementary school, often exceeded the weekly wages paid to millworkers at the time. His work history includes 27 years at Metropolitan Life, Fire Commissioner and volunteering to teach children about salmon fishways. It was his musical talents, however, that especially endeared him to the community at dances and weddings. He has been recognized in articles and contributed to sharing Franco-American cultural traditions through the Maine Arts Commission program. Lionel “Toots” Bouthot decided to live his life in Biddeford, where he raised a family of 7 children with his wife, Theresa. And here is the whole interview:

Buckle up! This is over an hour long but very much fun!

 

Some of you may remember a video that was made public for a while when Ben Guillemette passed away a few years ago. It was entitled “Bonsoir Mes Amis,” a film by Huey, and if you click here you can play the trailer which shows Toots (and Ben) in action.

These guys played together for decades, in additions to parties and weddings, gigs like the national Folk Festival, the Smithsonian, you get the idea. Word has it Toots really didn’t like being on the road that much while Ben did. There were musical differences too. Ben really like to play Western Swing music.

Anyway, they split up and that set the stage for a reunion at Maine Fiddle Camp back in the year 2010. They hadn’t played together for 20 years but as soon as they got on stage the old “banter’ was back and you could tell these guys really knew each other! Here’s a video of Toots and Ben at Camp:

Toots passed away on July 2, 2023, days before his 94th birthday.