"Honey, in a bar on in a church, it doesn't make no difference—it's all the same."

Zydeco. More than just South Louisiana black man's music, it's his sustenance. Consumed like beans and rice and cherished like religion. A mesh of cultures and musical patterns into one distinct sound. A social institution where the functions of the dance hall and the local church often syncretize, ironically, like the unity and diversity of zydeco music itself.

It's been around Acadiana a long time, from...