default page
Zigue Hivernages everywhere, including here, directly from the artist.
Since 1992, Claude Méthé and Dana Whittle have performed, composed and shared everything musical. They are both dynamic singers and prolific composers in love with the Québécois trad-inspired music they make together. Claude’s raw, emotional singing and authentic fiddling is seamlessly matched to the accompaniment of his longtime partner, herself a rhythmic and vocal powerhouse. Together, they deliver the kind of magic that is the hallmark of musical families. The addition of their son Aimé Méthé in 2019 perfectly illustrates their commitment to the transmission of musical heritage, and brings a new intensity to their sound. In late 2022, a fourth, multi-talented member, Mario St-Germain grew their ranks, further enriching their rooted sound.
Whether on stage as a duo, trio or full band with Aimé and Mario, there is an undeniable magic, an energy that can only be found in the “family” of tradition!
Claude Méthé
Fiddle, vocals, guitar / Born in Québec City, fiddler-singer Claude Méthé has been a part of the traditional music world in Québec for more than thirty years. A self-taught fiddler, his style reflects his influences and the eighteen years he lived in the region of Lotbinière, on the south side of the St-Lawrence river not far from Québec City. Claude is a former founding member of the legendary Le Rêve du Diable, winner of a 1983 Felix for Trad Album of the Year, and a group often credited with singlehandedly reviving public interest in traditional Québécois music. Claude is well-known for his work with other trad bands, including Manigance, Ni Sarpe Ni Branche, Entourloupe, Jeter le Pont and Dentdelion). He has played all over Canada, in Europe and the U.S. and appears on at least twelve recordings, including the soundtrack of Oscar-winning film “CRAC” by Frédéric Back. Claude’s impressive repertoire of traditional songs contains gems from Manitoba, Ontario, Québec and the maritimes, sung in a voice both textured and sentimental. He is heir to the repertoire of his longtime mentor and friend Aimé Gagnon, who died in 1997. Claude now lives in the tiny village of Ste-Béatrix, in Lanaudière, the heart of what is arguably the hotbed of traditional Québécois music (it is home to La Bottine Souriante, Norouet, Les Charbonniers, Hommage aux Aînés, Festival Mémoire et Racines…).
Dana Whittle
Guitar, vocals, foot percussion, harmonica / A composer, singer, guitarist, bassist and foot percussionist, Dana offers a taste of the unique cultural mélange of her New England folk roots and her experience as an American transplanted into the heart of the traditional Québécois music scene. Most often seen with band Dendelion, trio Mil, or fiddler Claude Méthé, she is a singer and composer in her own right; her original repertoire includes songs in English and in French. Her compositions are strongly influenced by the trad Québécois music she has played almost exclusively since the early ’90s; some can be heard in concert or on recordings by other artists, including Les Poules à Colin, Stéphane Landry, Cindy Mangsen & Steve Gillette and Robert Resnick. Born into a singing family, with a grandmother who sang in the New York Metropolitan Opera and recorded gospel 78s on the Okeh label, she began playing guitar at age six. At the age of 12, she toured New England with a childrens’ folk group. At university, she began performing her own songs as well as folk, blues and bluegrass at clubs, bars and coffeehouses throughout the upstate New York region. From 1973-1984 Dana performed solo and as a member of roots groups in New England, New York and Georgia, where she lived for 7 years. Beginning in 1985, she was a frequent backup guitarist and singer for Vermont folk-trad artists Elizabeth von Trapp and Patti Casey (VT). From 1990-1997, her deep friendship with late Vermont Franco-American singer Martha Pellerin and subsequent exposure to traditional Québécois music led to the formation of group Jeter le Pont and a successful performing career in both the U.S. and Canada, plus the release of two albums prior to Pellerin’s untimely death in 1997. Dana met Claude Méthé as a result of her friendship with Martha, and in 1994, Dentdelion was born as a duo with Méthé, later adding flutist Denise Levac, her daughter Béatrix Méthé and Denise’s son Colin Savoie-Levac (both members of award-winning band Les Poules à Colin). From 2006-2014 Dentdelion played concerts and toured together in Canada, the US and Europe, performing at countless festivals, concert halls and folk clubs, in addition to playing for contradances in both Canada and the US. After moving to Québec, Dana also performed and recorded with trad singer-stepdancer Tess LeBlanc (2000-2002). She founded Tradnation Project in 2012 and in addition to the ensemble’s performances, helps young trad artists to showcase under the flag of TradNation. Dana is founder and former president of Folquébec, Québec’s first organization dedicated to the international promotion of folk music made in Québec.
Aimé Méthé
Fiddle, banjo /Aimé Méthé is the second child of trad musicians Claude Méthé and Dana Whittle, who, like his sister and older brother, was born with a natural ear for music and talent on whatever instrument he picked up. As a small child, he studied piano and guitar and occasionally joined the family band onstage to pick out a tune on guitar. With a bachelors degree in fine arts, he has been a practising artist – printmaker, filmmaker, composer, woodworker, photographer, designer – since high school. He has composed original music for theatre productions, learned Baroque piano concertos by ear and experimented with digital soundscapes, among other musical pursuits. After hearing traditional Québécois music daily from birth, he more recently began playing fiddle (his sister Béatrix is the fiddler in indie-folk group Rosier), followed by banjo, and quickly became a regular at sessions in Québec City where he resides. He joined family band Zigue during the making of their latest album, Hivernages, and debuted in Spring of 2019, subsequently joining them on tour in western Canada and the U.S. during the summer of 2019, just before you-know-what hit. His natural talent, superb rhythm and creative ideas add a welcome new dimension and it is moving to watch the father-son duo on fiddle together. In his non-musical time, Aimé works as a builder and restorer of artisanal doors and windows for historic buildings.
Mario St-Germain
Flute, fiddle, mandolin, bodhran, vocals / Based int he Portneuf region of Québec, Mario St-Germain has been a multi-instrumentalist since his youth. He is a founding member of Québec traditional group La Volute and can be heard regularly with Abies. He has performed with numerous groups over the years, including Les P’tits Bücheux, Manigance (alongside Claude), Derrière Chez Nous, Les Chauffeurs à Pieds, Les Têtes de Violon and Trëma. For Mario, traditional music is a way of life and a cultural passport. He is dedicated to transmitting this art to future generations. He joined Zigue in 2022 and his many talents bring a whole new perspective to the trad-folk approach that sets this group apart.
Listen
Discography
Claude Méthé + Dana Whittle
Zigue : Hivernages (2019) / Musique du coeur (2017) / Dentdelion : La Tondeuse (2009, Roues et Archets, RA014) / Claude Méthé : Mon père a fait bâtir maison (2023, Tradmédia TM004, avec/with Dana, Aimé, Béatrix); L’Amant confesseur (2006, Roues et Archets, RA008) / Madamoiselle, voulez-vous danser? (1996, Smithsonian Folkways, SFW-CD-40116) / Dentdelion : Les beaux yeux bleus (1995, Minuit dans la cuisine, MINCD-795) / Jeter le pont : L’escapade (1994, Minuit dans la cuisine, MINCD-594) / Jean-Paul Guimond : Cette maison de fête (1993) / Jeter le pont : Entrecroisé (1992, Minuit dans la cuisine, MINUIT-001)
Claude : other groups/albums
Genticorum : Malin Plaisirs (2005, Roues et Archets) / Édouard Richard : Musique Gaspésienne (2000, Minuit dans la cuisine, MIN-ER112000) / Ni Sarpe Ni Branche : Quand ça vient l’temps (1999, Minuit dans la cuisine, MINCD-1199) / Aimé Gagnon : Violoneux d’origine (1998, GAGCD-26421) / Manigance : Nouvelles manigances (1991) / Joséphine (1989, avec Danielle Martineau) / Le Rêve du Diable : Auberge (1983, Mordicus) / Le Rêve du Diable : Délires et des reels (1979, Tamanoir) / Le Rêve du Diable : Rivière jaune (1977, Tamanoir) / Le Rêve du Diable (1976, Tamanoir, 40,00 sold)
Dana : other groups/albums
Yves Lambert, Les Vacances de Monsieur Lambert (2003, Pruche Libre) / Tess LeBlanc, Si ça me chante (2001) / Patti Casey, Under different skies (LongShot Music, 2000) / Linda Breitag, Feet to the fire (1999, Bendy Music)
Honours
Prix Aldor EspaceTrad (Claude, 2023) | Bearer of Tradition Award (Claude), Goderich Celtic & Roots, Ontario, 2018 / Medal of Honour (Claude/Le Rêve du Diable), Québec National Assembly, for cultural contribution to Québec heritage, 2012 | Folk Alley Artist of the Month, Dentdelion, Oct 2011 | Nominee Grand Prix Desjardins (Dana), Lanaudière (cultural ambassador) 2011 | Yankee Magazine Top 40 Albums, Jeter le Pont/L’Escapade, 2001 | Porcupine Award Madame La Bolduc Award, Great North Wind, Toronto, Dentdelion/Les beaux yeux bleus, 1995| North x Northeast, showcase/vitrine, Toronto, Dentdelion, 1996 | Root ‘n’ Branch Top Pick, International music, WSMU, Dartmouth, MA, 1995 | Félix award (Claude, ADISQ) Traditional Album of the Year, 1983 | Theme composition/performance (Claude) film « Crac » Frederic Back, Oscar à Hollywood | 2nd place winner (Dana, composition and performance) Ted Mack Talent Showcase Rochester, NY, 1976
Broadcast
La Grande Veillée avec Stéphane Archambault, Radio-Canada (Feb 2025) | Northern Traditions, WGDR, Plainfield, VT | Fous de Folk, folk57.com, Metz (France) |A Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor, Minnesota Public Radio, NPR | Radio Canada, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montréal : Breakaway, Des Musiques en Mémoire (concert Maison de la culture, Montréal), Ici Vancouver | CBC télévision, Primetime, Toronto | Bonjour, United Cable, New Hampshire | Y A Rien De Trop Beau, TV Quatre Saisons, Québec | Rural Rhythms and Veranda, Vermont Public Radio, Windsor, VT | Vermont Folk, Adelphi Cable, Vermont