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We left Prince Edward Island on April 26th, ready for a new adventure in a land we had never set foot in. The group had often heard about this wonderful folk festival on the Shetland Islands and this year we were excited to accept the invitation to participate in the 29th edition. Everyone was really excited to discover the festival and this part of the world! After a few days of traveling (with a stop in Joliette, Qc to see our good friend Bernard Laforest), we arrived in Aberdeen to take the ferry to Lerwick. Twelve hours boat ride was awaiting us! Almost all the festival musicians and organizers were aboard, what a feeling it was to be there! The musical jams started quickly in the 2 bars, piano accordions (many of them!), fiddles, guitar, upright base, and flutes… We met a lot of people there and felt that this was going to be one heck of a festival! We arrived on the islands early the next morning, on a beautiful sunny day and I hear a local say "It’s beautiful, but it isn’t always like this!" In fact, the weather can change many times a day… Sun, rain, lots of wind, but we are accustomed to that at home! The scenery was fabulous, as were the people. The festival committee warmly greeted us as we arrived. We were staying with a great family with 3 young boys, a beautiful house right on the coast. These islands resemble our islands but are also very different. Did you know that 22, 000 people live there and more than 300,000 sheep? That there are more than 100 islands but only 16 are The history is very rich, stories of the sea, Scandinavian and Scottish roots, place where the sheep’s wool is famous and knitting was part of women’s lives, who knitted for the royalty (can you tell that I knit?! Haha!) The shows were spread out all over the islands, in small communities. The group was in good form, the public very warm and receptive to our music. Five bands played every night and it was great for us to discover all this great music! We felt a connection with the people, with the islands, the roots and the Scottish sonorities. The tune repertoire was common with the tunes played at home. There were really good bands from all over, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Ireland, England, Australia and Scotland. The heart of the festival was in Lerwick, the biggest and central town of the islands. We were all walking distance from the Festival Club, large venue where people socialized, there were bands playing on 2 stages, a bar, a big instrument room, and lots of places to play tunes… The party went on all through the night (and through to the afternoon for some!)! One of the most memorable moments for us was the music on the bus. The Saturday night, we left Lerwick to go play in Baltasound, on Unst, the most northerly island of the Shetlands. It was a 2h30 drive with two small ferries. After the concert, we took the bus with groups Zar from Denmark, Broch Maguire Band from Ireland and local musicians. We all took out the instruments as soon as we got on and the music went non-stop until we arrived back at the Festival Club! No on wanted to come out of that magical bus. It was a great time, and we had unforgettable musical moments. The next Tuesday, we were already taking the ferry back to the mainland. We left in a bus for Glasgow with Felpeyu (from Asturies) and Frigg (from Sweden) to play at the prestigious Old Fruitmarket. This theatre is an ancient Fruitmarket street, and has a lot of charm. It still has the cobblestone path as well as the old stands from the merchants. It’s located in the Glasgow Celtic Center, where the Scottish Symphony Orchestra practices and where there are many venues. At the end of the show, all the bands played a tune that we learned from Frigg, what a great way to end the night! The next morning, we took the plane for Lyon since we were playing a concert for the 13e Festival des Pérouges. The group had played the festival a few times before and this year it was also a great time! The venues are always in out of the ordinary locations and this year was no exception. We played in a barn, La Ferme des Rapans, with was transformed into an outdoor venue. Close to 400 people came out, some of which we had met at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient and the Festival de St-Chartier. We met up with a friend, who came to play a set of tunes with us on the hurdy-gurdy. A few tunes into the show, lightning and showers started and since half the crowd wasn’t covered, we invited everyone to cuddle up under the shelter. It created this intimate and magical atmosphere. What a great tour this was, thank you to all that came out to the shows and especially the festival organizers for having us, David Henderson from the Shetland Folk Festival, Colin Hynd from the Old Fruitmarket and Marie Rigaud from Le Festival des Pérouges!!
May 2009 Back from Scotland and France Between April 29th and May 3rd, Vishtèn participated in the 29th edition of the prestigious Shetland Folk Festival, on the archipelago of the Shetland Islands, in the north of Scotland. Le quartet presented many shows beside many musicians from Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, Denmark, Spain and Australia. Vishtèn’s music was very well received by the public and had a strong impact, as they brought their Acadian music to a new public! Vishtèn also played the famous Old Fruitmarket in Glasgow with bands Frigg and Felpeyu, as well as playing the festival « Le Printemps des Pérouges », in France.
December 30, 2008 Hello everyone! Welcome you to our new website. The year 2008 is almost over, and it has been a great year for the band in many ways! Vishtèn toured in Europe, the US, the Maritimes and Québec. We’ve played in amazing venues and festivals all over and had the chance to meet great people, listen and discover incredible music, as well as meet up with musician friends that we don’t see too often! We recorded a third album in April, which was a very exciting experience for us. A huge thanks to all that were involved in this project with us, the musicians, Elmer Deagle, Rémi Arsenault, Philippe LeBlanc and Bernard Miousse, as well as Donnie Chapman on sound, mix and mastering, and Dion Cyr who was doing sound front of house. Everyone did an incredible job! Also to all the people who support us near and far, you know who you are. THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts! We’ve got a new member in the band since the spring. Louis-Charles Vigneau is from the Magdelen Islands and plays guitar, banjo, mandolin and sings. We have known him for several years now (since we met in 2001 at the Festival International de Lafayette), became good friends and have played music with him regularly since them. He is a great addition to the band, and we are now two guys from the Magdelen Islands and two girls from Prince Edward Island, pretty balanced! Since the month of October, the band has been taking time to create a new show. This hasn’t happened much in the last 8 years, so we are taking advantage of this time! We thought it would be a good time to do research for old songs and tunes, as well as compose new music. We have been working from the Magdelen Islands and the Évangéline Region of P.E.I. We are right in the middle of it and we’re very excited about the new direction our music is taking! We also spent time in the month of December with our friend Danielle Martineau, a great singer/accordionist from Québec, who was with us for a week and with who we worked voices. She is truly an inspirational woman.
We hope
you had great holidays and we wish you a wonderful new year!
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