L’emprunt(e) volume 1 – Prairie Comeau

Prairie Comeau is Anique Granger and Benoit Archambault, a duo that creates music infused with nostalgia, reminiscent of a time when Francophone music lovers would delve into a precious collection of songs called La Bonne Chanson.

Singer-songwriter, guitarist and podcast producer Anique Granger was born and grew up in Saskatchewan. Her partner, Quebecois, multi-instrumentalist and childrens’ storyteller Benoit Archambault also performs performed with the Canadian neo-trad-pop group Mes Aïeux (My Ancestors) whose biggest hit was the song “Dégénérations”. The pair started singing together for fun, at home around their kitchen table. Soon they decided on a theme: rearranging only songs that dated prior to 1960 – a vast repertoire. This resulted in the release of their debut self-titled album in 2019. After several years of performing, their focus is now the repertoire from La Bonne Chanson – a song collection that every French-Canadian family will be acquainted with. In 1937 a musician, composer and priest, Charles-Emile Gadbois, set up a publishing company called La Bonne Chanson, dedicated to the preservation of culture and language. The objective was to assemble and publish the best French and French-Canadian songs and in total over 500 songs were released on 11 albums, in a collection known as La Bonne Chanson. Now Prairie Comeau is releasing an EP, featuring songs from this collection, dating from the 20th century. L’Emprunt(e) (The Loan) is produced by Nicolas Boulerice (from Le Vent du Nord). Their aim is to explore the universal themes of these songs and give them a new lease of life. The result is a refreshing and timeless take on some traditional songs serves as a reminder that we are all made of the past and the present.