Biography:Arthur Joseph Boulay
Arthur Joseph Boulay
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| Given name: | Arthur-Joseph |
| Middle name: | |
| Family name: | Boulay |
| Place of birth: | New Hampshire |
| Place of death: | Cornwall, Quebec |
| Year of birth: | 1883 |
| Year of death: | 1948 |
| Profile: | Composer, Musician |
| Source of information: | |
Arthur Joseph (A.J.) Boulay. Boulay was born in New Hampshire in 1883 and lived there for some thirty years before moving in 1913 to Saint-Stanislas (near Beauharnois, Province of Quebec). He learned to fiddle at age ten and took formal lessons, and joined a dance band in the years prior to emigrating. As was the case with many early 78 RPM Quebecois fiddlers, music was not his main occupation, and Boulay found work in a cheese factory and a bakery. He is credited with having been the first Quebec fiddler to record, in 1923 (by RCA Victor), when he waxed a quadrille in three parts and a medley of Gigues. Boulay also played the accordion. In 1924 he removed to Cornwall, Ontario, but visited Quebec regularly, recording some sixty tunes. He died in Cornwall, December, 1948.