Édith Butler

Canadian artist from New Brunswick born July 27, 1942 in Paquetville. She became a country music fan at an early age while listening to the radio growing up. After leaving home to attend Notre-Dame-de-l'Acadie her brother gave her a guitar and she began playing for boarders in her convent. It was there that she also educated herself about her Acadian heritage and began writing music based on Acadian lore. To make ends meet while pursuing her musical vocation she would teach at various New Brunswick schools. In 1964 she made her television debut on CBC-TV's 'Singalong Jubilee' performing in both official languages. She also had a leading role in the National Film Board production of Les Acadiens de la dispersion (1964). Following two years of teaching, she went to Laval University to pursue a Master of Arts degree. Her first album, 'Chansons D'Acadie', came out in 1969 and led to her featured performance at the Canadian Pavilion at Expo 70 in Osaka, Japan. After which she continued her educational studies before delving into her music career full-time with 1973's 'Avant être Depaysee' LP. In 1975, following her album 'L'acadie S'marie', she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Throughout the '80's she continued releasing albums and upgraded her folk stylings to include contemporary sounds including dance material. She guest starred in the CBC series The Jubilee Years in the fall of 1992. Butler was one of four Canadian musicians pictured on the second Canada Post stamp series of Canadian Recording Artists in July 2, 2009. Also that year, she received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.