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Kate and Anna McGarrigle are a Canadian folk music duo from Quebec.
Anna McGarrigle are sisters who write and perform together. They were born of Canadién and Irish parents in Saint-Sauveur-des-Monts, northwest of Montreal, and educated at a Roman Catholic convent school. Their careers in music began with the 1960s folk combo Mountain City Four, in conjunction with Jack Nissenson and Peter Weldon.
Their songs have also been covered by a variety of other artists, including Maria Muldaur, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Billy Bragg, Chloé Sainte-Marie and Anne Sofie von Otter. Although associated with Quebec's anglophone community, the McGarrigles have also recorded and performed many songs in French. Two of their albums, Entre Lajeunesse et la sagesse (also known as French Record) and La vache qui pleure, are entirely in French, but many of their other records include one or two French songs as well. Most of their French songs have been co-written by Philippe Tatartcheff, with occasional input from Kate McGarrigle's son, Canadian-American solo artist Rufus Wainwright. Rufus and his sister Martha Wainwright, also a singer, are the children of Kate and her former husband, singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III.
Their version of Wade Hemsworth's song, "The Log Driver's Waltz" grew famous as the soundtrack for a 1979 animated film by the National Film Board.
They provided backing vocals on Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds's 2001 album No More Shall We Part.
Another sister, Jane McGarrigle, is a film and television composer who has written and performed several songs with the duo.
They were appointed Members of the Order of Canada in 1993 and received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award in 2004.
They appear in the 2006 Leonard Cohen tribute film Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man. Cohen, like them, originates from Montreal.
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