Folk Alliance Band of the Day: Les Rats d’Swompe

Les Rats d’Swompe. // photo courtesy Les Disques Passeport

The Folk Alliance International Conference 2023 will be held February 1-5 at the Westin Crown Center Hotel. With over 100 artists performing over the course of five days, “crossing a diverse array of genres including Appalachian, Americana, Blues, Bluegrass, Celtic, Cajun, Global Roots, Hip-Hop, Old-Time, Singer-Songwriter, Spoken Word, Traditional, Zydeco, and various fusions,” it can be intimidating to figure out where to start.

We’ve selected a few artists we think you should make time to see, and we’ll be featuring one per day until the conference kicks off on Wednesday, Feb. 1.

Our first artist is Les Rats d’Swompe, a five-piece from Ontario, Canada. We were hooked by the band’s sheer energy in this clip of them performing the instrumental “Jig ça!” off their album Élixir. The joy and fun of the quintet had us bouncing around the office, and when combined with “Vivre en ville,” we can’t wait to take the elevator all the way to the top of the Westin to cram in and dance along.

“Les Rats d’Swompe are proud French Canadians, brought together to introduce people to the sound of the traditional violin, the call and response songs, and the musicality of yesteryear. Les Rats d’Swompe are five plaid lumberjacks who take the stage to fuse elements of traditional, pop, rock and punk,” a press release says.

Les Rats d’Swompe play on Friday, Feb. 3, at 9:45 p.m. on Benton’s 20th Floor.

You can find more information on the 2023 Folk Alliance International Conference here.