Origins and formation 

In September 1994, Karl Tremblay and Jean-François Pauzé met for the first time after a hockey party of the Jets of Repentigny, a junior B club. In about January 1995, when Tremblay learnt that Pauzé was a guitarist, he informed him that he was a singer and that he wanted to create a group. On a dark evening of February 1995, Pauzé invited him to jammer in his parents' basement. They composed then a first song entitled "ways to happiness", followed the day after by "Gaétane". All in all, about twenty songs would be composed during this period. In summer 1996, Tremblay and Pauzé participated to an amateur competition of composer-songwriters organized by the brasserie " The Feast " of Repentigny and finished second. For this national competition, the duet decided to join under the name of " Les cowboys Fringants " without thinking further:

" Why this name? It is really a very commonplace story. Well, exactly as I said, we wanted to participate to an amateur competition and as it was of the western song in a country bar of our region and we wondered which name to take. We hesitated between the   "Oiseaux fringants"and the "Cowboys fringants", then we said ourselves, given that it is the Western we are going to be called the dashing Cowboys. And that not was farther than that. That lasted one minute the selection of this name." say Karl Tremblay.