Seriously, now. Matapat's profile in folk circles on both sides of the U.S./Canada border is rising, and they continue to distinguish themselves as excellent and innovative performers of French-Canadian music. How do they differentiate between their approach and that of other similar groups? "We have a particular sound," Bourque explained in an April 2000 interview. "There's a very big emphasis on the rhythm and the bass, as much as on the melody and the vocal. And we have dancing as part of the show; I wouldn't miss that!"

The members of Matapat all have different musical backgrounds, and since there are only three of them, everyone's influences show much more than in a larger band. Bourque, for example, came from a family where traditional music and singing were common, and as lead singer and melodeon player on many songs, his traditional background is right to the fore. As the group's only dancer, he stands out even more, performing intricate displays of stepping and clogging in each show. Most recently, the dance they have favored features Bourque taking a shaving-cup, brush, soap, strop, and straight razor and shaving an audience member while dancing around him — certainly a spectacle you won't see anywhere else!

Interestingly, despite his family's interest in traditional music, Bourque's parents did not teach him to dance. He instead picked up his dancing abilities later in school. "When I turned 13, in school, one of my friends — another boy — asked me to join him, and to join the folk dance troupe. So at first I said, 'Dance? Come on, this is for girls!' And he said, 'Yes! That's why I'm starting! To meet girls!' But before he parlayed the dance troupe into a love affair, Bourque fell in love with dance itself, especially step dancing. After school, he joined another folk dance group, in which he also played bones and called dances. He already could play the accordion and sing, and eventually he was tapped to join the successful folk band Eritage, from Montreal.

Bourque learned a few long-lasting lessons from Eritage. He recalled a conversation with Stan Rogers the great Canadian folksinger and songwriter, who produced Eritage's last album. "Stan told us when we were recording, 'Guys, never do a live album.' I said, 'Why not?' He said, 'I have done one.' And he [recorded] for that four, five shows in a row. By the last evening he had only two good tunes for the album, the rest was scrapped. And it was the last show, so he was extremely nervous!" Rogers' album, Between the Breaks…Live! is a classic, but Bourque hasn't forgotten the great one's advice; he's never done a live album yet.

This is an excerpt from issue #90.