Jeremy Morse
Shawville April 6, 2022
In his 1962 song, Blowin’ in the Wind, Bob Dylan asked “How many years can a mountain exist before it’s washed to the sea?” Last Saturday, folk musician and geologist, Marc Audet, answered that it would take “1.5 billion years to wash away a mountain” following his rendition of the song at the Little Red Wagon Winery.
Audet’s 2-hour solo set blended authentic folk music with some acoustic versions of popular rock songs. He charmed the . . .
audience with stories inspired by the Ottawa Valley’s history and traditions of the past. His in-depth monologues between songs added some much-appreciated historical context and personality to the performance.
Audet created his Winter Folk Show in 2019. He played three shows before the pandemic forced him to cancel the series. He revived it in 2021 with 10 shows, only to cancel after the first performance due to provincial health restrictions.
This time, Audet scheduled a six-date series. With four shows down, he is confident that he will be able to complete the tour. “It’s been a really fun journey playing in different places and meeting people.”
Audet started writing folk music nearly eight years ago after his former band went on an indefinite hiatus. With a strong interest in history, Audet’s songs became a canvas for the stories he had collected. “For years and years and years, I’ve enjoyed going into the bush and exploring old ruins of sawmills and depot farms.”
He was urged to write about these sites preserve their stories and contribute to the region’s history. “I’ve been able to document these historic aspects that otherwise would not have been documented.”
An example of Audet’s preservation effort is Halfway There, a song that documents a forgotten square timber-era depot farm in the Upper Ottawa Valley. “One day, we were coming out of the bush on a canoe trip and we wandered off and found it.”
Amazed by the architecture and hand-forged metal, Audet decided to research the property and connect with some of the descendants the farm’s operators to learn their stories.
Another example is Holden Pond, a song about the village of Stonecliff that was flooded during the construction of the area’s hydro dam. Audet explored the former village’s church while scuba-diving and was inspired by the surreal underwater landscape.
“There’s a woman in Deep River who lived right next to this church and general store, I met with her and interviewed her, she told me all about the feelings of despair when they had to move and watching the water rise and swallow up their yards and playground,” he said. “Between the inspiration of sitting on these steps and feeling the wear and then hearing the emotion from this woman, there couldn’t be a better thing to write about.”
In school, Audet admits that he was a “horrible student” and never cared much for history or art, but developed an appreciation for them later in life. “People over time develop interests and a lot of people seem to have more interest in history as they get older,” he said.
In the past eight years, Audet has written about 50 songs, with 20 of them completed. “Some songs turn out decent right away and others take a few years to refine,” he said. “It’s kind of fun having this reservoir of neat musical ideas to draw on.”
Audet is recording his next album in May. Unlike his first album, The River, his second release is set to feature a more traditional folk sound.
Audet is scheduled to play at the Ott-awa Grassroots Festival later this month.
