Jamie Bergeron could tell something was wrong. Most people were dancing and having fun as his Kickin’ Cajuns band entertained the crowd at Tony’s Circle Top in Gueydan last December.
But a small group wasn’t dancing. In fact, a look of horror was on their faces. With the band still playing, Bergeron left the stage to see what was wrong. “He calmly put down his accordion, took off his hat and put down his earphones,” said Rick Lagneaux, keyboard player with the Kickin’ Cajuns. “He went into the crowd and I wondered, ‘Where is he going?’”
Bergeron discovered that 73-year-old Girlie Thibodeaux, who had just finished dancing, was passed out on the floor without a pulse. Bergeron immediately transformed from musicians to paramedic, a position he has held with Acadian Ambulance for 14 years. “I took off all my stuff, went down there and she had just went into cardiac arrest,” said Bergeron. “I did mouth-to-mouth, we started CPR and got some help from the Gueydan Fire Department. We ended up shocking her twice and a couple of minutes later, we got her back.”
Bergeron called Acadian’s main office, instructing them to send Air Med, the company’s rescue helicopter. He also had the Gueydan Fire Department, which later arrived on the scene, to set up a night landing zone. Thibodeaux was revived and transported to Lafayette General Medical Center.
“She’s doing real good now,” said Bergeron. “She just had a triple bypass.” Playing music and saving lives is just another day’s work for Bergeron, who continues to reign as one of southwest Louisiana’s most popular musicians. After only six years as a professional musician, Bergeron draws overflow crowds, including 1,800 at a fan appreciation party in November in Rayne.
For the past three years, nearly 5,000 have attended his show at a gumbo cookoff in Arkansas. In January, Bergeron and the Kickin’ Cajuns played the annual Mystic Krewe Mardi Gras ball in Washington, D.C.
On February 4-8, the band entertains for Mardi Gras at Pleasure Island at Walt Disney World. More than 200 have signed on for the band’s Cajun Cruise 2005, a seven-night tour of the Caribbean aboard the Carnival Cruise Lines ship Conquest.
Nearly 400 revelers on the 2003 Cajun Cruise raised such a ruckus that the boat sold out of beer each night. Kickin’ Cajuns fans enthusiastically buy the band’s T-shirts, caps, hats, seasoning and more at live dances and the web site, www.kickincajuns.com. Throw in a new CD, Garde Pas Ca(Don’t Look at That) which is selling well and receiving healthy radio airplay, and life is good for Bergeron and crew.
“We haven’t played for chairs in a while,” said Bergeron. “We started out like that, but it’s gotten bigger than I thought it would be.
“In the last two years, we’ve gotten the respect. Before we were just a fly-by-night band, but people started looking at us hard in the past two years.
“We did like everybody else and tried to get in the clubs and give them our promo cassette. But they would just throw it in the trash with the rest of them.”
John Dwyer, the band’s guitarist and manager, said a personal touch has won the group many fans. “We push socializing with the people,” said Dwyer. “We’re not playing for ourselves. We’re there to entertain these people and that’s our main goal. If we see there’s something they’re not dancing to or reacting to, we’re going to change it. We’re not going to continue it.
“We love to do stuff with the kids. We want from the kids on up, the whole family.”
“They’re our fans, but they’re our friends,” added Bergeron. “We’re invited, every weekend, to go eat at somebody’s house after a gig. It’s a friendship thing.
“I watched that ever since I was a kid. When I go listen to people, I’m listening to the music, but I’m also watching and learning. If I can see they’re doing something, I’m trying to perfect that.
“I know the big stars can’t talk to everybody. But if you could at least look at them or acknowledge that they’re there, that’s all we need.”
Fans have acknowledged their kindness by buying numerous copies of Bergeron’s new CD, which features the band’s trademark mix of French music, zydeco and swamp pop. The band covers crowd pleasers like Belton Richard’s “Give Me Another Chance,” Keith Frank’s “Have Mercy” and “Pieces to My Heart,” Horace Trahan’s “That Butt Thing” and “Warm and Tender Love” by Percy Sledge.
Originals include “Where’s My Woman?,” “I’ll do Whatever It Takes” and the French tearjerker “Put Daddy on the Line,” a tribute to Bergeron’s father who passed away four years ago.
“I was looking at a TV commercial about church music and I got an idea from one of the songs,” said Bergeron. “We did something for my dad on the last CD, too.
“He didn’t get to see my first CD. He died the week before it came out. I had Rick do a color copy of the CD because I knew he was dying. He got to listen to it. But he never saw the actual CD.
“I guess I grieve for him through my music.”
HOMETOWN BOY
R&B rocker Marc Broussard has been selected as the opening headliner for Festival International de Louisiane, which takes place April 20-25 in downtown Lafayette. Festival International celebrates its 19th year as the largest outdoor, free Francophone event in the United States. Thousands descend on Lafayette for music, food and art that celebrates Louisiana’s French connections with Africa, Europe, Canada, the Caribbean and other locations.
Broussard joins Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, Aaron Neville and Dr. John as Louisiana music legends who have traditionally opened the festival with a Thursday night concert. Dana Canedo, festival director, said that even though Broussard is only 22-years-old, his celebrity is constantly growing. Broussard spent 2004 touring in support of his Island Record debut, Carencro, named after his hometown just north of Lafayette.
Broussard has performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, National Public Radio, A&E’s Breakfast With The Arts and dozens of venues around the country. “He’s a legend in the making,” said Canedo. “He’s been doing so much and his star is definitely rising.
“We’re so excited to get him. He has a huge following and he’s a hometown boy.”
For more festival information, call (337) 232-8086 or visit www.festivalinternational.com.
