The French Canadian band, Vishten knocked us out during
their performance at One Longfellow Square. Some of the best musicians on the
planet come from Canada – maybe partly because of the number of hours they have
to stay inside in the winter. To heck with video games. Canadians practice
musical instruments and sing when they have to stay inside and it really pays
off. They create a total immersion effect with the audience. I was swept away from the first note and heard myself let out a big sigh after the first song. The tension was leaving me and I was all ears and heart, awaiting the onslaught of more beauty.
Twin sisters
Pastelle and Emmanuelle LeBlanc from the tiny Acadian community of Prince
Edward Island and Pascal Miousse from the Magdalen Islands, comprise Vishten.
Their voices and musicianship are exceptional, steeped in
lifetimes growing up in musical families. Pascal, who has been playing violin
since the age of five, is handsome and sturdy with curly black hair. He has a
boyish, playful demeanor and is astounding on the violin and guitar. He played
strong and hard but with sensitivity and delicacy. He explained that the rhythm
of the motor on the fishing boats is partly responsible for the specific style
unique to fiddle players from the Magdalen islands.
Pretty, blond Emmanuelle had a platform beneath her feet and
kept time with rollicking steps while she played the bodhran drum, the tin
whistle, the Jew’s harp and keyboards. Pastelle, her pretty, dark-haired
sister, played an exquisite, old-looking accordion and keyboards as well. Their
voices have an ethereal quality and the harmonies are exquisite. Their
presentation was energetic, joyous and fresh. I've said this so many times it's getting to be ridiculous, but I can't believe how much music can come out of such a small group of people!
The word, Vishten, comes from a silly, nonsense song that
they sang as children. The father of fourteen children, who was always
searching for things to keep his children occupied, composed it. I don’t speak
French and I would never have guessed the meaning of their other songs either.
The beautiful melodies did not seem to match the oddball story lines. For example, there was
a song about a woman who worries that her fisherman husband will be seduced by
Italian women. Another one was about someone cheating on their spouse and
hiding the lover under the blankets and telling the spouse it was a cat or
other objects. There was a song written by a lobster fisherman who fell
overboard into cold water in October. He kept his fiddle on board to play when
he needed to warm up. On this particular occasion, Pascal related that the
fisherman wrote the song about the part of the anatomy of a man “zat shrink in
ze cold”. Their repertoire covers every
occasion!
They said that in Acadia they have a lot of sit down dances
where everyone is doing dance steps under the table. This practice began
because the church once forbade dancing and tapping their feet under the table
seemed less sinful. They told stories of traveling for hours by ferryboat to
music festivals in places like the Shetland Islands in Scotland. Long before
arriving at the festival they bonded with other musicians and played on the
ferryboat all day and night. In fact, they spent most of their lives playing
music til dawn at all night house parties. Sheesh, when I die I want to come
back as a musically talented French Canadian in my next life! I’m jealous!
The two hours went by too fast. They were wonderful to
listen to, wonderful to watch and thoroughly inspirational. Magnifique! I would
be thrilled to hear them live again. They have a beautifully designed website with a lot of great photos, tour schedule and cd purchase information.
http://vishten.net
