Paul Ménard

Paul Ménard was a Canadian fiddler and country musician born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, on March 16, 1932. A gifted player from childhood, he began playing fiddle at age six after his brother Joe noticed his interest in music and gave him his first violin. By the age of nine, Ménard was already performing with his brothers in Northern Ontario and Northern Quebec, developing the lively, ear-trained style that would carry him through a long career in Canadian country and old-time fiddle music.

Ménard became an important figure in the growth of country music in Quebec during the 1950s. Known for his strong stage presence and natural musical ability, he became a familiar presence in the Quebec country scene and worked with some of the province’s best-known country entertainers, including Willie Lamothe. He also appeared on Le Ranch à Willie, Lamothe’s influential country music program, and played fiddle with The Hackamores, a band formed by Dougal Trineer.

His recordings show the range of his repertoire and the different musical settings in which he worked. On Plays Live From The Cycle Ranch, released on Banff Records, Ménard was presented in an unusual live setting recorded at The Cycle Ranch in Pierrefonds, Quebec. The album mixed fiddle favourites such as “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” “Old Joe Clark,” “Sweet Georgia Brown,” “Camptown Races,” “Flop Eared Mule,” “Arkansas Traveller,” and Ward Allen’s “Maple Sugar” with the sounds of motorcycles, including a 650 c.c. BSA Firebird Scrambler and a Bridgestone 350 GTR. The liner notes described Ménard as one of the greatest country music fiddlers and emphasized that he had already been seen many times in night clubs and on national television.

Ménard also recorded a self-titled album for Ouesteurne Records, produced by Gaetan Richard. Issued as Paul Menard on Ouesteurne GR-322, the album featured Ménard on fiddle and included a bilingual program of French and English titles such as “Le Reel De Mon Oncle Damas,” “Marianne Lapierre,” “Le Reel Ouesteurne,” “Hitch Hiker’s Blues,” “Fiddler’s Dream,” “Le Reel De La Bête Puante,” “Rambler’s Hornpipe,” “Des Fleurs Sur Le Gazon,” “The Little Green Frog,” and “The Irish Washer Woman.” The repertoire reflected his place between old-time fiddle, Quebec country, and the broader Canadian country tradition.

Over the course of his career, Ménard released more than ten albums, many of them featuring his own compositions. Several of his tunes were named for family members, including “La Gigue d’Amedée,” named for his father, and “Alana’s Waltz,” named for his granddaughter. He later recorded and produced material through his own label, Menard Music Company, also known as MMC.

Paul Ménard died in 1993. His work remains part of the history of Canadian fiddle music and Quebec country, connecting Northern Ontario family music, Quebec television and country performance, old-time fiddle repertoire, and self-produced independent recordings.