Mary Rose-Anne Bolduc, born Travers, (June 4, 1894 – February 20, 1941) was a musician and singer of French Canadian music. She was known as Madame Bolduc or La Bolduc. During the peak of her popularity in the 1930s, she was known as the Queen of Canadian Folk Singers. Bolduc is often considered to be Quebec's first singer-songwriter. Her style combined the traditional folk music of Ireland and Quebec, usually in upbeat, comedic songs.

Biography

Childhood

Mary Rose-Anne Travers "La Bolduc" was born in Newport, Quebec, in the Gaspé region. Her father, Lawrence Travers, was an Anglophone of Irish heritage, and her mother, Adéline Cyr, was of mixed French Canadian and Mi'kmaq heritage. Her family included five full siblings, and an additional six half-siblings from her father's first marriage. Bolduc and her eleven siblings spoke English at home, but also spoke French fluently. The family was extremely poor, but Bolduc attended school for a time, becoming literate in French.

Bolduc's second recording was released for Christmas of 1929. The first side had an original song of Bolduc's, La Cuisinière. Side B was an adaptation of an English folk song titled Johnny Monfarleau. Bolduc earned a total of $450 from the sales and became a household name in Quebec. With this success, Beaudry had Bolduc releasing a double-sided record every month. Bolduc recorded an additional four songs in January 1930. In 1931, her rising popularity increased the cost of her sheet music from four for one dollar to three for one dollar.

Musical style

left|thumb|Sheet music for [[Le Jour de l'An]]

Bolduc never had any formal music lessons, and developed her own style under the influence of her father's teaching and the musical traditions of Irish folk music and Québécois folk tunes. For instance, she wrote the song Les Cinq Jumelles about the Dionne Quintuplets, which was set to the tune of "Little Brown Jug".

Her music relied heavily upon the harmonica and the fiddle, the traditional instruments of reels in Quebec.

  • August 13, 1929: Gendre and belle-mère and Quand on s'est vu.
  • November 22, 1929: Valse Denise and Reel de la goélette.
  • December 6, 1929: La cuisinière and Johnny Monfarleau.
  • January 15, 1930: La servante and Regardez donc mouman.
  • January 29, 1930: Arthimise marie le bedeau and Tourne ma roulette.
  • March 11, 1930: Le bonhomme et la bonne femme and Si vous avez une fille qui veut se marier.
  • March 18, 1930: Reel comique and Galop des pompiers.
  • April 3, 1930: Le joueur de violon and Ton amour, ma Catherine.
  • April 30, 1930: Reel turluté, Gigue des commères (Duet with Alfred Monmarquette), Fantaisie écossaise (Duet with Alfred Monmarquette) and Reel Balmoral (Duet with Alfred Monmarquette).
  • May 14, 1930: Fricassez-vous, Valse turlutée and La morue.
  • May 20, 1930: Clogue à Ti-Zeph Parent (with Alfred Monmarquette and Adélard Saint-Jean), Reel des barbouillés (with Alfred Monmarquette and Adélard Saint-Jean).
  • June 18, 1930: Mon vieux est jaloux and La pitoune.
  • June 27, 1930: Un petit bonhomme avec un nez pointu and Chez ma tante Gervais.
  • August 21, 1930: Toujours "L'R-100" and Les maringouins.
  • September 23, 1930: Ça va venir découragez-vous pas and Fin Fin Bigaouette.
  • October 27, 1930: La bastringue and Mademoiselle, dites-moi donc.
  • November 4, 1930: Les agents d'assurance.
  • November 5, 1930: Chapleau fait son Jour de l'An (Duet with Ovila Légaré) and C'est comme ça qu'ça s'passe (Duet with Ovila Légaré).
  • November 13, 1930: Rouge carotte.
  • November 14, 1930: Le Jour de lAn and Le bas de Noël.
  • December 9, 1930: La petite boulangère (Duet with Ovila Légaré) and Mechetagouine (Duet with Ovila Légaré).
  • December 10, 1930: La grocerie du coin and La gigueuse (with Albertine Villeneuve and Thomas).
  • December 12, 1930: Le propriétaire.
  • January 15, 1931: Fêtons le Mardi-gras and Un vieux garçon gêné.
  • February 3, 1931: Les filles de campagne and Nos braves habitants.
  • March 26, 1931: Le sauvage du nord and Jean-Baptiste Beaufouette.
  • April 9, 1931: L'ouvrage aux Canadiens and La chanson du bavard.
  • July 7, 1931: C'est la fille du vieux Roupi and Il va m'faire mourir c'gars-là.
  • July 8, 1931: La côte Nord and Aux chauffeurs d'automobile.
  • September 15, 1931: Ah! C'qu'il est slow 'Tit Joe, Chanson de la bourgeoise and Le commerçant des rues.
  • October 8, 1931: Tit Noir a le mal imaginaire.
  • November 6, 1931: R'garde donc c'que t'as d'l'air and Danse en souliers d'boeufs.
  • November 7, 1931: Bien vite c'est le Jour de l'an and Voilà le père Noël qui nous arrive.
  • January 20, 1932: J'ai un bouton sur la langue, Rose cherche à se marier, Quand j'étais chez mon père and Les femmes.
  • May 5, 1932: L'enfant volé, Si les saucisses pouvaient parler, Les policemen and Les Américains.
  • July 2, 1932: En revenant des foins, Les conducteurs de chars, Les vacances and Sans travail.
  • March 6, 1935: Les cinq jumelles and La Gaspésienne pure laine.
  • March 20, 1936: Les colons Canadiens and La lune de miel. Either way, both had significant influence on the development of Quebec's folk music culture from the 1930s onwards. Bolduc was the most widely known folk music singer of Quebec in the 1930s. Her humorous images of daily life, her realism in depicting the society of the time, and her satirical characters all appear in the work of subsequent singer-songwriters. The stamp was designed by Pierre Fontaine based on images from Bernard Leduc. Seven and a half million copies were printed. The same year, a park was created in her hometown of Newport named Mary Travers Park.

In 2002, Mary Bolduc was made a MasterWorks honoree by the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada.

La Bolduc, a biographical film about Bolduc by director François Bouvier, was released in Quebec in April 2018. The film stars Debbie Lynch-White as Bolduc.

See also

  • List of Quebec musicians
  • Music of Quebec
  • Culture of Quebec

References

  • Site Mary Travers dite : « La Bolduc »
  • Heritage Minute