Note: Chuck & Albert performed in Moose Jaw on Nov. 12, and Assiniboia on Nov. 13.
Chuck Arsenault and Albert Arsenault, who comprise the musical duo Chuck & Albert from Prince Edward Island, can play more than a dozen of instruments between the two of them.
Chuck plays the acoustic guitar, harmonica, trumpet, French horn and wooden spoons.
Albert plays the fiddle, bass guitar, jaw harp, rhythm bones and bass guitar.
However, there is a critical instrument that both of them play: their feet.
“There’s no drum kit when we play. We get a lot of percussion from just stomping and tapping our feet,” said Chuck.
Chuck and Albert, who may be distantly related but have never figured out exactly how, play traditional P.E.I. Acadian music, for which stamping and stomping is key.
They perform songs with French words accompanied by lively fiddle music.
“It’s all very light-hearted. The whole idea of the music is a break from hard work — you let your hair down and don’t take yourself too seriously,” said Chuck.
Physical comedy was a big part of the Acadian music tradition, said Chuck, and so the duo incorporate a lot of that into their onstage act.
Their onstage banter, in which they explain the meaning of each song, is in English, said Chuck.
