Originally posted: June 2014
La Famille Léger just released a brand-new album, L’Etoile du Nord, drawn from their research and travels. It’s chock full of French-Canadian music, mostly from Acadian sources. Louis Léger, the group’s patriarch, grew up in both Moncton, New Brunswick, and Québec City, so there are influences from Québec as well. La Famille Léger was also fortunate enough to be invited to the far North of Québec to Nunavik for the Aqpik Jam Festival a few years ago. They’ve included two tunes learned from Inuit accordionists in Nunavik on the album as well.
La Famille Léger recently played for the Pacific Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium Annual General Meeting. They also played at a reception for Inuk leader Sheila Watt-Cloutier as part of the Future of Ice lecture series. Watt-Cloutier was especially touched by their music. She was born in Nunavik in Northern Québec and her mother was a great Inuit accordionist. In her closing remarks Watt-Cloutier said that hearing La Famille Léger play Acadian music from her home felt as though her mother was present and saying, “You go, girl!”
Born of a time when family and friends would gather in the warmth of the kitchens of Québec and New Brunswick to play and dance time-honored tunes together, La Famille Léger keeps that rich tradition vitally alive. The Légers play the dancing music of French Canada – the music handed down through generations in the New World, the music of back porches and kitchen parties. Patriarch Louis Léger leads the band on the one-row melodeon (a type of button accordion), son Devon plays fiddle, Devon’s mom Barbara plays guitar and his wife, Dejah is on piano. This proudly “old school” family band will have your own family dancing and joining in on the fun.
To learn more about La Famille Léger and purchase their new album, L’Etoile du Nord, please go to: http://www.lafamilleleger.com/
Devon Ledger is an affiliated graduate of the Canadian Studies Center (2005). The Canadian Studies Center has a Professional Development Program for Graduate Students enabling any U.W. student from across campus to join the Center as an Affiliated Graduate Student. Affiliated Graduate Students are provided with mentorship and opportunities on cross-border studies.