Among them was a guy and a girl who had met at the Cégep de Rivière-du-Loup. Gaétanne the Beauceronne of Sainte-Héndine and Richard the louperivois, had begun to sing old songs that had nourished their childhood. Without any other accompaniment than Richard's podorythmia, they enjoyed making shows for their friends and in the cafes of Rivière-du-Loup. And here we invite them to Quebec for the great event. A producer notices them, a first album is launched and the shows accumulate. An adventure of a decade begins that will take them all over the country and in Europe. They become the bearers of tradition, the ambassadors of a traditional Quebec which gives itself a young and contemporary face.
In the early 70s, Quebecois music took on more rocky accents, but with original material. Yes the song can groover in French with music from here. The youth who lived on original Anglophone music or in translation discovered an original rock that was no longer a copy. In the midst of this effervescence, the Breton-Cyr duo distinguished itself. They arrive with a personal repertoire which they have collected for the most part, present themselves without concession, a capella, with a way of singing that comes closest to the tradition. No discount, genuine. And yet it works.
It was not by chance that this success was achieved. Gaétanne Breton and Richard Cyr were young and beautiful, but that is not enough to explain their success. These songs, they loved them deeply, they stuck to the skin as well as if they had been their compositions. The tradition was alive and vibrant. We laughed with the songs of lewd or joking, the complaints moved us, all in the simplicity of an authentic interpretation. The addition of musicians, later, allowed to enrich this sonorous universe while respecting the spirit that animated them. But the 80's arrived. The post-referendum moroseness and the new decade relegated the craze for traditional music. Breton-Cyr could not survive.
But traditional music does not die. People still keep her alive and she comes back. Gaétanne Breton continues to bring her songs and tales to young audiences here and in Europe. Richard Cyr unfortunately died on April 10, 2003. But the influence of the duo continued and remains present in the memories. How many youngsters in their twenties who brought traditional music back to our stage in the mid-90s were fed, in their childhood by the album Breton-Cyr sing and content for the children.
Yves Robitaille
Tracklist:
1Je m'en vais au marché
2Belle grosse madame
3Chu pas capable
4Un ivrogne à table
5Marie quantitome dominome
6Le bedeau de St-David
7Raquette à ramager
8C'est un p'tit cordonnier
9La courte pointe
10C'était un beau p'tit bonhomme
11Mon mari est malade
12Je m'en fus dans une auberge
13Lalam dou dou
14L'oiseau messager
15La violette
16Un p'tit métier
17Pis l'bonhomme y riait