Country music is enjoying unprecedented popularity. ICI MUSIQUE Country has just launched, country festivals are popping up across the country, and the talent pool is thriving. Here are six artists from Québec and Acadie who are on the rise.
Léa Jarry
Her album Foraine (Rosemarie Records), nominated at the Premier Gala de l’ADISQ on Nov. 4, has strong echoes of Ella Langley and Kacey Musgraves. Ten songs, and just as many gorgeous videos.
“The album’s premise is my parents meeting in 1984 at the Baie-Saint-Paul fair (fête foraine in French). This record came together naturally, almost as if these songs had always been a part of me.”
Léa Jarry’s music blends folk textures with a more sensual edge that, along the way, embraces a few brief, fiery encounters with no expectation of anything lasting.
At 36, this is the Charlevoix-born singer-songwriter’s third release in a decade-long career, and she was consecrated Songwriter of the Year Award at the 2020 Gala SOCAN.
On Foraine, she wrote all the music and lyrics herself, with help from producer Connor Seidel, who seems to have an endless knack for inspired ideas.
“I didn’t know Connor before this, but he was very easy to work with. I started out with about 15 songs already written. Some of them began as ballads, and we ended up taking them in a completely different direction.”
Standouts include Quand rien ne nous fera plus rien, inspired by today’s constant barrage of news, Se marier en jeans, Cœurs météores and À contre-sens, the latter two having reached the ADISQ Top 100 chart.
“Se marier en jeans” by Léa Jarry Click to watch the full video.
Zach Chico
At the Lasso festival on Aug. 16—his Montréal debut—the Québec City native quickly got a sense of the impact his songs were having. “My whole family came up, and it took me two days to recover. I was surprised during my solo set when the crowd started singing my lyrics back to me,” explains the artist best known as a member of the band Classe Moyenne.
Zach Chico has landed five songs in the ADISQ Top 20. Three were with Classe Moyenne: their self-titled track, Autour du feu and J’t’en vacances (j’fais c’que j’veux), while two of his songs also made the chart: Où on dansait autrefois with William Cloutier and Ciao Bye! (Good Luck) with Laurence St-Martin. All told, he has more than 22 million streams to his name as a performer and songwriter. Alongside the prodigiously talented Gab Fredette, his Classe Moyenne bandmate and another restless creative always chasing fresh emotion, Zach Chico is one of the standard-bearers of the more rock-driven side of new country.
Sixteen, his upcoming EP, was produced in Nashville. “We’ve been down there four times now to write and record. I’m really lucky to work with Diane Pinet at Bloc Notes Music—she’s the one who set up those sessions with Nashville songwriters who work with some of the biggest names in the industry.”
“I just keep going and stay humble. I’ve realized that in music, sometimes you just happen to land in the right algorithm on social media.”
Zach Chico could well emerge as one of the defining country artists of the decade in French-speaking Canada.
“Où on dansait autrefois” by Zach Chico, feat. William Cloutier. Click to watch the full video.
Fred Dionne
Winner of the Country Music Award at the 2026 Gala SOCAN, Fred Dionne deserves every bit of the success coming his way. “It’s recognition from the industry, a nice pat on the back.” Add to that the three nominations he received at the 2025 ADISQ Gala for his essential Eldorado (Disques Ranch), his second album as a singer-songwriter…
“My approach to country is a little old school. I’m not really part of the new-country wave—there’s folk, classic rock, vintage guitar textures, and a nod to Creedence Clearwater Revival.”
The 30-year-old from Sainte-Adèle was born to be on the stage. “It still surprises me when people sing along to some of the deeper cuts in my catalogue. That’s been a new milestone for me this year. You learn to trust yourself, and you need to have a clear identity. As soon as I get a musical idea, I start putting words to it. I try to sing about who I am and where I come from.”
With his tasteful guitar solos and no need for flash or bravado, Dionne’s music is top-notch, and so is his visual identity. A little road trip through California provides the backdrop for the videos and photos accompanying the Eldorado album cycle.
“Country music is in a really good place in Québec right now. There’s a real sense of camaraderie, and I feel like I’m part of a great cohort. I think of my buddies Vince Lemire, Guillaume Lafond, and Francis Degrandpré…”
“Sure, we keep an eye on the streaming numbers, but at the same time, we’re not doing this just for the numbers.”
“Eldorado” by Fred Dionne. Click to watch the full video.
Arpin Lépine
The 26-year-old construction worker from Saint-Félix-de-Valois, in the Lanaudière region of Québec, has just wrapped up his first summer performing onstage. A triumphant appearance at Lasso, a warm reception at Festivent in Lévis and in Saint-Tite…
Lépine’s blend of folk, rap and country is the perfect vehicle for him. The songs he writes with Rémy Blais (a.k.a. Cook The Beat) are strikingly original: En espérant que tu reviennes, Chance, Vie d’adulte, Dans notre coin, Coude au plancher… More than anything, what defines Lépine is the authenticity of what he has to say, which is rooted in his lived experience. “I represent a lot of people. Québec is mostly made up of regions outside of urban areas. We’re never too far from the sand pits, you know what I mean?”
Arpin Lépine can touch your soul with next to nothing. His song St-Félix has become an anthem. It’s one of the 12 tracks on Lune Brune (Cook House Music), an album released in January 2026 which has racked up 12 million streams across platforms, just in case he needs a little extra motivation.
“One morning, I’ll wake up feeling inspired to write something folk, and the next day it’ll be something more country. When I get an idea, I pull out my phone and start writing. I want to be as open and honest as possible, which is the complete opposite of the rap I used to make, with all the bling, the money, the women… We all want to rap; our friends think it’s cool, but then you get a little older.”
“St-Félix” by Arpin Lépine. Click to watch the full video.
Laurence St-Martin
The Sorel native released her fourth album, Ailleurs (Productions Véronique Labbé), last May and it has been nominated for Album of the Year—Country at the Premier Gala de l’ADISQ that will take place on Nov. 4.
Musically, the album is all over the map, and her voice is the thread that ties it all together. She writes all her own songs, which are intimate, sometimes campfire-like, and sometimes inspired by 2Frères. As she approaches 30, Laurence says she drew on memories from her younger years—shows like One Tree Hill and Hannah Montana, and the music of Avril Lavigne and Marie-Mai. “I wanted to reconnect with the younger Laurence and bring her into who I am today.”
But she also thrives on collaboration, working with Fred Dionne, Gab Fredette and rapper Greenwoodz. “I invited the whole Classe Moyenne crew over to record at my place,” she recalls. In fact, Dans mon tiroir, which she co-wrote with the band, went on to become a major hit.
She has clearly managed to carve out a place of her own, moving beyond her influences in the process. Laurence is clearly coming into her own. Ailleurs leaves a striking impression of contrasts—tender and sensual, with simple ballads carrying just a hint of turmoil. It all feels natural, honest and true.
Her YouTube presence—with 70 vlogs and 11,000 subscribers—is another important part of her growing profile. New-country artist and radio host Véronique Labbé also wears several hats on Laurence’s team, serving as her manager, publisher and co-producer.
“We complement each other really well. It’s kind of like a marriage—except I talk to her more than I talk to my boyfriend!”
“Rivière” by Laurence St-Martin, feat. GreenWoodz. Click to watch the full video.
Menoncle Jason
In May, the singer-songwriter from Memramcook, New Brunswick, released his fourth album, Hallo chanceux (Le Grenier Musique). The album cycle has also taken him to France for two shows with his three-piece band.
An engineer by training, Jason Leblanc alter ego’s is a country-dwelling character who struggles to adapt to modern life and lives by the premise that “everything was better back then.”
On Aug. 15, as Acadians celebrated National Acadian Day, none other than Menoncle Jason served as master of ceremonies. The stage was filled with objects straight out of his songs—a trailer, camping chairs… The whole set felt unmistakably like him.
On Hallo chanceux, he tells family stories through a lo-fi lens: all 12 songs were recorded on cassette and analog tape at the dusty, nearly abandoned MRC (Memramcook Recording Studio). The music is pulled apart, kneaded, reshaped and sculpted, with results that are as charming as they are surprising.
“It was all about the natural acoustics and distinctive sound of that old studio,” says Menoncle, winner of the Paul Daraîche Award at the 2025 SPACQ Gala.
His lighthearted humour is an absolute delight, while his musical flights of fancy make him an endlessly compelling character—a far cry from the rustic country, laden with prophecies and heartbreak, of his early albums. And he sings it all in Chiac. What’s not to like!
“Au Canada” by Menoncle Jason. Click to watch the full video.