Les Charbonniers de l'enfer: The F-I FI, N-I NI show

“Time passes, and it takes its time,” as the song goes. And time has passed… More than 30 years of happily mining, here and elsewhere, the glowing embers of Quebec’s traditional repertoire; 30 years of getting together and sharing; 30 years of singing to the beat of their feet without ever losing heart; 30 years of camaraderie in unison and in harmony; 30 years of getting along and sometimes moving along.

After all these years of joy, punctuated by the great sorrow of losing their beloved Jean-Claude Mirandette, he of the distinctive voice, why shouldn’t they treat themselves and others?

And so Michel Bordeleau, Michel Faubert, André Marchand and Normand Miron are setting out once more along the highways and byways they’ve travelled so often. A farewell tour of their world, one last chance to see, in a show directed by the brilliant Émile Proulx-Cloutier, these four singing coal miners: Les Charbonniers de l’enfer!

Everything is shaped by the sound of their voices. Like a time machine, it transports us to a past rich in culture. A Quebec-based a cappella group dedicated to researching and performing the oral tradition repertoire, Les Charbonniers de l’enfer have been firing up audiences for over 30 years, lighting up the stage in venues across Quebec and Europe.

Since the death of their great friend and bandmate Jean-Claude Mirandette (the fifth Charbonnier) on April 12, 2019, the group consists of four seasoned singers: Michel Bordeleau, Michel Faubert, André Marchand and Normand Miron. The originality of their approach lies in their ability to bring a musical heritage to life through a revitalized repertoire, where the sound of their stamping feet punctuates the rhythms of their voices.