Vishtèn’s Bio

There's an old saying that goes something like, “ Go out and make your mark in the world exploring the new ways but don't turn your back on your roots”. The members of Vishten have been doing just that for the past ten years, touring their brand of new-traditional Acadian music in over 1000 performances rendered in 8 different countries. Made up of seventh generation Acadians living separate but parallel musical experiences, twin sisters Pastelle and Emmanuelle LeBlanc from Prince Edward Island, Canada have teamed up with Pascal Miousse from the nearby Magdelen Islands to create a sound that incorporates elements of the new ways while retaining and staying true to the essential Acadian spirit of their roots. The sound is essentially Celtic but with a difference.

The songs are French, sung by each band member, alone or in four part harmony. The foot percussion drives the rhythm in a fiddle tune at times yet refrains itself in the gentler musical moments. The band members are accomplished multi-instrumentalists and step-dancers incorporating the fiddle, guitar, accordion, penny-whistle, banjo, mandolin, piano, jaw-harp and bodhran into each performance. They are surely making their mark in the world today as their musical maturity comes through to captivate audiences wherever they play.

Vishtèn’s Story - A Musical Tale of Two Islands

In the North Atlantic Ocean, in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence off of Canada's east coast, lays tiny Prince Edward Island and nearby, the even smaller archipelago known as the Magdalen Islands (les Îles de la Madeleine). In addition to being connected today by a ferryboat, both Islands have a shared history and a shared cultural tie that dates back several centuries.

This cultural tie tells a story of early French Acadian settlers seeking a better life in the new world. In their quest to survive, many of these settlers eventually became fishermen and carried with them their musical traditions as a means of celebrating their survival. There still exists today a small enclave in Prince Edward Island where the French culture is predominant while the Magdalen Islands still remains primarily French.

There has been a musical connection between these two places for centuries, traded back and forth through trips made on fishing boats in the old days and marriages among the French people which have taken place over the years. A musical marriage that embodies the spirit and the sound of this connection in the present is the contemporary Acadian traditional group Vishtèn.

Today the three members who make up Vishtèn, Pastelle LeBlanc, Emmanuelle LeBlanc, Pascal Miousse have become a distinctive and powerful international voice for traditional music from this part of the world.

Twin sisters Pastelle and Emmanuelle LeBlanc were raised on Prince Edward Island and grew up in a household where fiddle music was commonplace. Their musical parents opened their home night after night to local and traveling fiddlers and musical jams into the wee hours were a regular occurrence.

Soon the young sisters were becoming accomplished step dancers and learning the fundamentals of music on the piano. All the while they had the opportunity to listen to and experience the fiddlers and accompanists of their parent's generation. One of the best of these was Bertrand Deraspe, a fiddler from the Magdalen Islands. His style of play was (and still is) decidedly French Acadian in its syncopated lilt and use of foot percussion accompaniment. This style had a strong resemblance to other local fiddlers from their area of Prince Edward Island, fiddlers such as Louise Arsenault who was also a regular musical guest at the house.

It wasn't long before the sisters realized that there were other young people in their community who had also begun to value this music. They began to jam with one another and soon formed a band of peers calling it Celtitude later changed to Vishtèn.

Here is where the journey had its origin and the quest for a distinctive musical identity began. Pastelle's early piano training proved useful in making the transition to accordion and Emmanuelle soon discovered a flare for playing penny whistle and bodhràn. Their voices had also matured and the sweetness and smoothness of sibling harmonies was soon added to the mix.

Growing up on the Magdalen Islands fiddler Pascal Miousse was also influenced by his father's connection to music. Pascal's father was a guitarist who loved fiddle music and the socializing that ensued whenever the fiddle came out. He inspired Pascal to take up the fiddle at the age of five. It wasn't long before he was playing for his father's friends, being awakened at three AM to play at the party after the dance, which had suddenly materialized in the kitchen of his home.

Pascal developed rapidly and soon broadened his musical scope to include the guitar, mandolin and bass. With a couple of friends from the Magdalen Islands he too formed a band and toured for 10 years, playing mostly rock music with a fiddle tune thrown in once in a while, lest he not forget his roots.

As that collaboration was ending, a chance encounter on the street one day with Pastelle caused him to re-enter the world of traditional music. It seemed that Vishtèn had just lost its fiddler and was in dire need of a stylistically French fiddler. Of course it definitely helped that he also sang and played everything else, and most importantly understood what the band was about thanks to his childhood roots. He and his style of play have become a musical anchor of Vishtèn's sound giving it a distinctive voice within the broader Celtic genre.

And now three young musicians each pursuing their own version of a personal musical road guided by their own inherent traditions have collectively arrived at the same intersection at the same point in time. These musicians who are still in their early years have made a conscious choice to play and interpret in new ways the music they learned from their parents’ generation. It certainly must stem from a deep respect for and love of the sounds and rhythms forged by the musicians who have come before, inspiring them to create anew and carry this music into the future. Vishtèn has evolved into a group that will leave its own legacy and inspire musicians for generations to come.

		Emmanuelle LeBlanc Bodhran, Piano, Whistles, Dance, Voice. A descendant of one of the first colonial families on her father’s side, Emmanuelle gets her Irish roots from her mother’s side. She grew up with her twin sister Pastelle in the Evangeline region of Prince Edward Island. She was raised with a passion as much for dance as for music. The magic of the stage fascinated her. “On stage, we feel energy that comes from the public – and this makes us want to give even more.”  She wants her next musical projects to be traditional, while also being enriched by new influences, by music and composers from here... It is through her work as an artist that allows Emmanuelle to take her strength from the contact and interaction with the public. Through this, she is able to communicate her heritage.
		Pastelle LeBlanc Accordion, Piano, Dance and Voice. Noticed at a very young age by a local dance professor who wanted to form a group dedicated to preserving Acadian dancing, Pastelle learned and mastered several styles of stepdancing. She’s taught and created many dance choreographies. A multi-instrumentalist, she favors the accordion. It’s a passion that comes directly from her grandfather who influenced her through his Acadian melodies. “It’s a family tradition. It’s a sound that breathes, that sings, with its rich sonorities... it’s an instrument that sails and swings!” On stage, Pastelle emits this purity... conscious of the necessity to preserve, to share. “This style is precious. It familiarizes us with the songs of yesteryear. Then the music takes us along in the style, too, and brings its own influences. It’s about playing the pieces as we feel them today...” Proud to be Acadian and to know her culture, her compositions are a way for her to continue to develop style and to create new pieces. She hopes they will grow themselves into being considered among the ranks of traditional Acadian music.
		Pascal Miousse Fiddle, Mandolin, Guitar, Voice. Pascal is native to the Magdelen Islands, which are part of the province of Quebec. From the ages of four to 10, Pascal took classical violin lessons before starting to play the guitar with his father. From the age of 14 onward, he learned the bass, and played in bars, dance halls and festivals as part of a traditional folk group. At the age of 20, he went on a 10-year tour of eastern Canada with his group. After this involvement in rock, soul and folk, he met Vishten in 2002 at the FrancoFête in Moncton. He quickly took his place in the group, all while showing a large degree of energy and generosity. “On stage, I am grounded.” He feels the roots and takes part fully in this osmosis that takes place during a musical moment – in the freedom of a fiddle – in the improvisation on an “instrument that touches the soul... that touches something inside.” He shares these moments with those who feel the passion he experiences on stage.