Ain’t nothing but a house party Barachois keeps Acadian social history alive, lively

Rarely has a lesson in cultural history been so much fun.

For the past eight years, the four members of Barachois, who will play at 7 p.m. Friday at The Grand Auditorium in Ellsworth, have helped to keep alive the Acadian oral history of their native Prince Edward Island. The Acadian group will perform at the National Folk Festival in Bangor in August.

Members of the quartet, all of whom have the surname of Arsenault, have done this not in a lecture hall but rather on the concert stage. They’ve spread the word through lively instrumentation, rhythmic step dancing and a big dose of humor.

They’ve toured not only their native Canada and the United States but also 11 foreign countries, where their languages, French and English, are not widely spoken.

“We’ve had people come up to us and say that they didn’t understand a thing we said, but they didn’t notice,” explained Helene Arsenault-Bergeron, who provides piano, vocals, dance, pump organ, guitar and foot percussion for the band. “The humor is very visual, and the music rhythmic, so it really speaks for itself.”

Barachois (the Acadian word for shallow pools of water separated from the sea by sand dunes) originated in the kitchen parties of native Prince Edward Island. Arsenault-Bergeron and her brother, Albert Arsenault (vocals, dance, fiddle, bass and percussion), are the children of renowned island fiddler Eddy Arsenault. Their distant cousin, Louise Arsenault (fiddle, vocals, dance, harmonica, guitar), also grew up in the same Evangeline district.

“We three grew up in fiddling families, which shaped our musical influences to a great extent,” explained Arsenault-Bergeron from her native Prince Edward Island home. “There was always music in the house. You weren’t necessarily encouraged to play music. If you could play, it was consid-

ered a gift. Also, we learned just through osmosis.”

The fourth member of the group is Chuck Arsenault (vocals, guitar, harmonica, dance, sousaphone, trumpet), who is no relation to the other three (65 percent of the Acadian families are named Arsenault). He grew up in the English-speaking community of Montague, later discovering his Acadian roots.

The four hooked up in the comedy revue La Cuisine a Meme, then began Barachois in 1995.

Selections for the group come from archival tapes, which feature mostly now-deceased village elders singing a cappella versions of the old songs. The members of Barachois then build orchestrations and stagings for the songs.

“If the lyrics and the melody line are interesting, if it touches us in some way, we start working with it, and it soon takes on a life of its own,” Arsenault-Bergeron said.

The group has released three albums, but the quartet really comes alive in concert.

An energetic fiddle with a piano foundation is the main voice in a Barachois number, with foot rhythms, homemade percussion and close harmonies added in. While the group’s members themselves are musically substantial, humor is another dominant element in the group’s shows.

“It’s part of the culture itself,” Arsenault-Bergeron said. “The community get-togethers centered around humorous skits, and each family has some characters. It’s as much a part of the musical tradition as the music itself. It seems inseparable. It was a natural thing to transmit to our audiences. If they don’t understand the lyrics, that kind of humor helps them get a feel for what it’s about.”

The group plays 200 to 250 shows a year. With such an enthusiastic performance, the members of Barachois need to find ways to keep up their energy levels.

“If you’re not careful with how you manage your energies, it’s hard to keep going,” Arsenault-Bergeron said. “We all have learned individually what we needed to nurture our energies on the road. At tour stops, we all go our separate ways and indulge our own interests. Pursuing those interests is energizing in itself.”

For tickets to the Grand show, call the box office at 667-9500 or 866-363-9500 or online at www.grandonline.org. The group also will perform at 2 p.m. March 16 at the Waterville Opera House.