Joseph Allard (fiddler)

Joseph Allard (February 1, 1873 – November 14, 1947) was a Canadian fiddler and composer. He occasionally recorded under the pseudonym Maxime Toupin. Allard made many popular recordings, including Reel de l’Aveugle, Reel de Chateauguay, Reel de Jacques Cartier, and Reel du voyageur. During most of his life he was rarely in the public eye, and worked much of his life as a fisherman. Childhood Allard’s birthplace is reported both as 1 February 1873 in Woodland now Lery, Quebec and as 1 July 1873 in Châteauguay, Quebec. His family was living in Quebec when he was quite young. Allard’s father was a fiddler, and when Allard reached the age of nine he was instructed in fiddling. Allard remained in Quebec until the age of sixteen, when he moved back to the United States, where he began to enter fiddling competitions. Fiddling Allard entered fiddling competitions throughout the New England, winning competitions in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut. While in the United States, he met and married Alexina Couillard. Scottish and Irish musicians he met there taught him a number of Reels and Gigues. He continued to travel and play in the United States until 1917, when h