Descendants of La Bolduc reflect on new film
The recently released biopic about La Bolduc, known as the ‘Queen of Canadian folk singers’, offers a glimpse into the life of rags-to-riches songstress Mary Travers.
For Townshippers Jocelyne Calvert and Kathleen Mullin, granddaughter and great-granddaughter of La Bolduc (Travers), the film was a source of pride and sadness.
“It was emotional to see my mother’s life repeated on screen,” Calvert said, referring to her mother Denise, La Bolduc’s eldest daughter.
“It was a hard life. To be reminded of that was very sad.”
La Bolduc became a household name in the 1930s, recording and performing songs that were drawn from her father’s Irish heritage and her mother, who was of French Canadian/ Mi'kmaq descent.
Playing the traditional instruments of the day by ear (fiddle, accordion, mouth harp), which she was taught by her father, La Bolduc’s fame grew when after she moved to Montreal from the Gaspé and began writing songs that appealed to average working class people.
Her music became the foundation of traditional Quebecois folk music.
Even people unfamiliar with La Bolduc would have heard or sung at least one of her songs in school while growing up in Quebec.
Today, her songwriting is associated with feminism and political activism, referencing the plight of the working class.
According to Calvert, her grandmother’s music took on far more meaning than was originally intended.
“It was a survival thing,” Calvert said, explaining that an opportunity arose, and La Bolduc took advantage.
“There was very much a warrior spirit moving her. There was a spirit of defiance and courage in her genes. She did what she had to do to survive. If it was a benefit to the feminist cause, it was by accident,” Calvert commented, explaining that her grandmother never set out to be political.
She simply wrote about the stories of the day in the newspaper.
La Bolduc died in 1941, before Calvert was born, but she grew up learning about her famous grandmother and the role her mother, Denise, played in her success.
One of the scenes in the film that stuck out for Calvert was La Bolduc and Denise at the kitchen table, peeling potatoes and coming up with song ideas.
That, according to Calvert, was the type of recollection described by her mother, who often helped write and transcribe La Bolduc’s songs, and also accompanied her on piano.
While the focus of the film was the celebrity of La Bolduc and how it came about, a sub-plot involving Denise stuck out for Calvert.
At 16-years-old, Denise entered and won a Metro Goldwyn Mayer beauty competition and was offered an opportunity to have a film career in Hollywood.
While the film suggests La Bolduc was trying to shield her daughter from show business and a life away from her family, Calvert heard a different story from Denise.
“My mother always regretted not going,” she said.
According to Calvert, the reasons may have been a bit more selfish.
“She (La Bolduc) didn’t want her to go. She needed her to look after the other kids,” Calvert said, adding that Denise also helped with the music and even toured on occasion, accompanying La Bolduc.
“There was a lot of sadness; the choices she made, she regretted,” commented Calvert, regarding her mother’s decision not to pursue her dreams.
There were a few other discrepancies in the film, according to Calvert, but for the most part, it was a realistic account of what she remembered hearing.
“How do you fit a lifetime in the span of a movie,” she said.
“I loved the movie,” said Kathleen Mullin, great-granddaughter of La Bolduc.
“There was a song in the movie that I remember singing in a school play,” she said, years before she even knew she was related to the songwriter.
“I grew up hearing stories about both of them (La Bolduc and Denise)”, Mullin said, fascinated with the aspect of the film that focused on the mother-daughter relationship.
“But I remember grandma being a lot tougher,” Mullin said.
“She would have had to be tough as nails.”
Proud of the accomplishments of La Bolduc and her legacy, the main takeaway for Mullin and Calvert after seeing the film and reminiscing, is that they come from a long line of strong, formidable women.