Well, we all knew it was bound to happen eventually. These days we can do nearly everything on our personal computers, from “making” groceries or selling stock. So why not learn a Cajun two-step or the Zydeco “running man” from some of Southwest Louisiana’s best dancers using an interactive CD-ROM? Rounder Records will be releasing the software you need to do just that later this month.
Record producer Scott Billington has spent nearly twenty years in South Louisiana making records and travelling throughout the area. He has worked with some of the biggest names in Cajun and zydeco music, including Buckwheat Zydeco, Beau Jocque, John and Geno Delafose and Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys. He also produced a Grammy-winning album with Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. Billington has just completed production on an interactive CD-ROM called Allons en Louisiane: The Rounder Records Guide to Cajun Music, Zydeco and South Louisiana.
Billington says that he hopes “the guide will be interesting to those who are already familiar with the culture of South Louisiana and also to those people who know almost nothing about it but are interested in learning.” The guide is stuffed with all kinds of goodies, including quick-time video dance and cooking instructions. One of my favorite features of the CD-ROM was an appearance by Delafose (the
“Creole Julia Child” and mother of Geno Delafose) making one of my favorite dishes, a creole sauce piquante! In addition to the cooking and dance demonstrations, there are dozens of interviews with musicians like Michael Doucet and Boozoo Chavis among others. The CD also boasts of dozens of previously unpublished photos, many taken from the private collections of the featured musicians. You won’t want to miss the neat photo of Steve Riley and Geno Delafose playing together during their high school days at Mamou High School (the high school which also graduated one of OffBeat’s best new columnists).
For those poor souls who have not yet experienced a Cajun or Creole Mardi Gras run, the Allons en Louisiana CD-Rom contains all you need to chase a virtual chicken for your Fat Tuesday gumbo. Billington adds that he felt the “CD-ROM was the ideal way to present this material because reading it off the page is very different from hearing it from the musicians and in that ‘accent.’ So what we have here is not a book, nOt a movie, not a record but a medium that combines all of those things into something really useful.” And most importantly, “the CD-ROM is very people- oriented and very user-friendly.” Of course, since no visit to South Louisiana would be complete without a musical interlude (especially not a virtual visit) Billington has included music throughout and the interactive CD-ROM is accompanied by a musical disc containing tracks by Geno Delafose, Balfa Toujours, Beausoleil and many others.
September also marks the release of the Acadian-Cajun Family Trees CD by Progeny Publishing, a company which specializes in genealogy software. This CD may be a little late for those Acadians who participated in the Congres Mondial Acadien (CMA) , the massive and highly successful reunion of Acadians from all over the world held in South Louisiana this past August. However, for those Acadians who were not able to track down those long lost relatives in time for the CMA but definitely want ro participate next time, the Acadian-Cajun Family Trees CD will make tracking down your long lost ((tante” or “cousine” much easier. The CD contains family records of over 600,000 Acadian descendants and most of the data was compiled by individuals doing personal genealogy research on their own Acadian bloodlines. In the spirit of cooperation that reigns in South Louisiana, many Acadians chose to submit their research to genealogist Yvon Cyr at the web site www.acadian.org so that it would be shared with others. The CD allows for quick genealogy searches and the creation of family tree-style charts. It is especially geared towards novice genealogists so it is extremely user-friendly but even seasoned genealogists will be able to find new information and make new connections using this software.
Finally, September is one of the biggest months in Southwest Louisiana for music festivals. Anyone familiar with this region of Louisiana knows that local festivals are never just about dancing and having a good time. Rather, musical celebrations are often geared toward preserving the unique cultures of Southwest Louisiana. In keeping with this theme, www.louisianaradio.com will sponsor a benefit concert at the Grant Street Dancehall in Lafayette on September 19, 1999 featuring Geno Delafose & the French Rockin’ Boogie, Cory McCauley and his Evangeline Aces, and The Traiteurs. All proceeds will benefit the Dr. Tommy Comeaux Endowed Fund for Traditional Music, to be established at the University of Southwest Louisiana. The Comeaux Fund will be used to promote the performance and preservation of the traditional music of Southwest Louisiana as a living and thriving art form. September will also mark a year since louisianaradio.com began broadcasting Louisiana music 24 hours a day on the World Wide Web.
Of course, we must not forget that September is the month for two of Southwest Louisiana’s most important musical festivals. In terms of zydeco music and Creole, culture, the 17th Annual Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival is the granddaddy of them all! This year the festival will be held on Labor Day weekend as always from Friday, September 3rd to September 5th, 1999. The festival kicks off with a performance by Chris Ardoin & the Double Clutchin’ at the now famous Slim’s Y Ki-Ki on Hwy 182 in Opelousas. The festival activities continue from 9:00 a.m. to midnight on Saturday, September 5th in Plaisance. As with each of the past sixteen festivals, this year’s festival will feature the biggest names in zydeco and some of the best food the area has to offer.
Likewise, the Festivals Acadians, to be held from September 17-19 in Lafayette’s Girard Park, will feature Cajun music’s premiere artists. Both festivals have played a pivotal role in grassroots movements in Southwest Louisiana to maintain the area’s rich musical traditions and have grown to become two of the most important musical events in all of Louisiana. As a result, the festivals are favorites of natives in the area and will provide the perfect opportunity for visitors and locals alike to hear the latest music, tryout the hottest new dance moves and sample some of the best food ever made. You definitely want to attend one or both of these festivals. Adieu!
Danielle Bias is a native of Mamou, LA and is currently writing a master’s thesis about zydeco.
