John Arcand (born 1942) is the Saskatchewan fiddler known across Canada as the Master of the Métis Fiddle. He learned the old Red River tunes from his father and grandfather, wrote close to 400 tunes of his own, and founded the John Arcand Fiddle Fest, which marked its 20th year in 2017. He is a member of the Order of Canada and a winner of the Canada Council’s Molson Prize.
Why Arcand matters
Métis fiddling is dance music with a crooked pulse, and for most of the 20th century it lived in kitchens and community halls, not on records or in schools. Arcand changed that. He gathered the elders, recorded their tunes, wrote them down, and built a festival where kids could learn them. When a young fiddler in western Canada plays a Red River jig with the right number of beats, the tune may well have come through Arcand.
Life and career
Arcand was born on July 19, 1942, one of fourteen children of Victor Arcand and Emma Loyie of Debden, Saskatchewan. His family traces its music back nine generations to the Métis communities of Red River and Batoche. He started fiddling at six and was playing for house dances by twelve. His first fiddle had two strings and was too long for him. He worked on the family farm, then in logging camps from age sixteen, which paid for a real fiddle.
He entered his first contests in 1970 and won the championship class at Back to Batoche Days in 1971. He helped start fiddle and dance groups across Saskatchewan, including the Deep Lake Stompers in 1988 and the Parkland Fiddlers Association in 1989. Around 2000 he worked at the Gabriel Dumont Institute in Saskatoon, where he led a project to record twelve master Métis fiddlers. The result was Drops of Brandy and Other Traditional Métis Tunes, a four CD set of more than 150 tunes with a companion book of sheet music, released in 2002.
Arcand founded his fiddle festival in 1998 in Green Court, Alberta, where he met his wife Vicki. The couple moved the event to their acreage, Windy Acres, south of Saskatoon. The John Arcand Fiddle Fest runs each August with camps, workshops, and contests. In 2017 the Gabriel Dumont Institute published Master of the Métis Fiddle, a book about his life and the festival, by Wilfred Burton and Cheryl Troupe.
In 2003 he received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Arts and Culture and the Canadian Grand Masters Lifetime Achievement Award. He was named to the Order of Canada in 2007 and invested in 2008. The Canada Council for the Arts gave him its Molson Prize in 2014. He continues to record, with albums including A Tribute to Andy DeJarlis (2011) and #17 (2019).
Playing style
Arcand plays for dancers first, and his timing shows it. Métis tunes often have extra or missing beats, and he keeps the pulse steady through every odd phrase so a jigger’s feet never lose the floor. His reels and jigs sit on a strong downbeat that stands in for a drum. On waltzes, such as his version of Teardrop Waltz, he opens up the bow and lets the notes ring.
His own tunes lean on minor keys and on the rhythmic turns he learned from Andy DeJarlis records. Many carry the names of people and places: Fiddle Fest Reel, Memories of Emma Lake, Sugar Hill Road, and Emma’s Memorial Waltz. He also builds and repairs fiddles, and the Gabriel Dumont Institute filmed him at work on one for its Métis fiddlers series.
Influences and legacy
Arcand learned from his father Victor and his grandfather Jean-Baptiste. Neither wrote tunes, but both played the jigs and reels that dancers needed. The biggest outside influence was Andy DeJarlis, the Manitoba Métis fiddler whose records shaped a generation. Arcand has recorded many DeJarlis tunes and paid tribute with a full album in 2011.
He recorded an album of Métis tunes with Alberta fiddler Calvin Vollrath, and the two set up the Emma Lake Fiddle Camp, where Patti Kusturok also taught. He was the first Métis fiddler and the first Saskatchewan fiddler to win the Canadian Grand Masters lifetime award. His festival has produced a wave of young Métis players, and his book Some of My Original Tunes keeps his compositions in circulation.
Signature tunes and songs
Fiddle Fest Reel Sugar Hill Road Memories of Emma Lake Emma’s Memorial Waltz Big Bear Reel de Claquette Windy Acres Two Step.
Essential recordings
Echoes of the Prairie (1994) Sugar Hill Road (1999) Drops of Brandy and Other Traditional Métis Tunes, various artists (Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2002) A Tribute to Andy DeJarlis (2011) #17 (2019)
Awards and honors
Championship class winner, Back to Batoche Days (1971) Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association Lifetime Achievement Award (2003) National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Arts and Culture (2003) Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor’s Arts Award (2004) Saskatchewan Centennial Medal (2005) Member of the Order of Canada (appointed 2007, invested 2008) Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012) Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prize (2014) Order of Gabriel Dumont (2020)
Watch and listen
The Canada Council for the Arts filmed this short profile of Arcand. You will see and hear him play and talk about the music.
Arcand plays a full concert filmed by the Gabriel Dumont Institute. Listen for the extra beats in the jigs and how the pulse never wavers.
What to learn from Arcand
Learn a Red River jig from Drops of Brandy, then learn Fiddle Fest Reel from Arcand’s own playing. The technique to steal is his timing. Arcand plays every crooked phrase as if a room full of jiggers depends on it, and that steady pulse lets him add or drop a beat without losing the dancers. Practice a crooked tune with a metronome off and your heels on. When you can play the odd phrase without your feet stumbling, you have it.
Sources
John Arcand, Wikipedia John Arcand Fiddle Fest marks 20th year with book about its founder, CBC News Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes, cumulative list of winners (PDF) John Arcand official site John Arcand, Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture, Gabriel Dumont Institute Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the fiddle guide for more Canadian fiddlers. Arcand’s biggest influence was Andy DeJarlis. He recorded and taught with Calvin Vollrath and Patti Kusturok. For the next generation of Métis fiddling, see Alex Kusturok.