Amedé Ardoin has been hailed as the father of zydeco and Cajun music, but his final record is a meager index card that lists him as Case No. 13387. Name: Amede Ardoin. Age: 43. Civil Condition: M. Race: C. Admitted: 9-26- 42. Parish: St. Landry. Residence: Eunice, La. Birthplace: La. Discharged: (blank). Previous Att’ks: None. [...]
Don’t pinch Yvette Landry. She may discover the last nine months have only been a dream. A fantasy-come-true is the only way Landry, a science teacher, former Crawfish Festival Queen and single mother, can explain the international buzz about her debut CD, Should Have Known. Landry’s disc of 16 original country songs was ranked on [...]
A Grammy Award has unexpected perks. Just ask Chubby Carrier, winner of this year’s Grammy for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album for his CD, Zydeco Junkie. Carrier, who lives just outside of Lafayette, will soon get a key to the city. He’s already received a certificate of recognition from the Louisiana House of Representatives. [...]
Allen Toussaint called Paul “Lil’ Buck” Sinegal the “Gentle Giant of Guitar.” But get him reminiscing about his 50 years in music and the laid-back Lil Buck often leaps to his feet, hands moving, arms flailing and his tongue flip-flopping between English and Creole French. “When Big Joe Turner walked onstage, that man was huge,” [...]
Buckwheat Zydeco and Terrance Simien have been part of two Grammy wins, six Grammy nominations, an Emmy, three Presidential inaugurations, 10 movie soundtracks and dozens of national TV shows and commercials. Each has toured more than a million miles and although they both live near Lafayette in southwest Louisiana, they’ve never played together. Until now. [...]
Swamp pop, south Louisiana’s blend of Cajun rock ’n’ roll, New Orleans R&B, country and zydeco, lives a life of irony in its Southwest Louisiana birthplace. As gray hair grows on the music’s original musicians and fans, swamp pop is rarely featured at the region’s numerous festivals, clubs and casinos. Many swamp pop classics were [...]
As past president and longtime supporter of the Cajun French Music Association, Ray Landry knows all about organizing the annual Le Cajun Awards and Festival. The CFMA honors some of Cajun music’s best and brightest with a Grammy-style awards show and festival Aug. 20-22 at Lafayette’s Blackham Coliseum. But this year, instead of rolling out [...]
A radio station in Switzerland features Donna Angelle’s music. A promoter in Brazil is anxious to work with her. Angelle’s travel log includes tours of Africa and France last year and upcoming gigs in Florida, California, Oregon and Washington. But gigs in her native southwest Louisiana are few and far between for this rare female [...]
