As time marches on, Preston Frank’s stock continues to rise as an icon of old-time Creole and Zydeco music. The septuagenarian accordionist and vocalist, a fourth-generation musician, is one of the last living links to traditional Creole music, where Creole and Cajun once broke communion together but have diverged in quantum leaps since then. Preston still performs regularly with his family band consisting of progeny Keith, guitar; Jennifer, bass; and Brad, drums—all of whom he mentored as kids decades ago when assembling the crew.
It’s hard to believe 20 years have passed since Preston released Born in the Country. While there were always plans for another recording, it never happened. Finally, Keith attempted a live recording of Preston & The Frank Family Band at his 2022 Creole Renaissance Festival, but unsatisfied with the results, he scrapped it. So, the Franks trekked to Dockside Studio and cut these dozen tracks for Seventy-Five—Preston’s age then—in a day. Mixing and mastering at Keith’s Soulwood Studios took longer, but the extra time was worth the wait. You couldn’t ask for a tighter, crisper recording that sounds superb at any reasonable volume.
Several songs are sung in Creole French; nearly all are longstanding chestnuts in Preston’s repertoire. Some, like the Cajun “Midland Two Step,” also recorded by Creole musicians Canray Fontenot and Morris Ardoin, show how intertwined Cajun and Creole music are.
In the course of this recording, you get a sense of how Preston puts his stamp on tunes by borrowing and changing them up a bit to make them his songs. The galloping instrumental “The Mule” bears a resemblance to “Hee Haw Breakdown” but is spiced with more pepper and enthusiasm than some versions. “Shake What You Got” reincarnates riffs from “Hot Tamale Baby” with a jammin’ groove in the last minute. “You Act Sick” may remind some of Adam Hebert’s “Pointe Aux Pins,” but Preston plays a “B” part his Uncle Carlton invented and a “C” part he crafted. Many of these songs may be of an older vintage, but Preston plays them, so they have a nouveau zydeco appeal to today’s dance crowd. “Heartbreak Eyes” is one of Preston’s newer originals, something he wrote for this recording. Also featured are fresh versions of Preston’s signature songs, “Why You Wanna Make Me Cry” and “Born in the Country.”
The song that may surprise longtime listeners the most is the tuneful “Gone to Lafayette,” which makes its official recorded debut. The song’s story is about a protagonist planning to hit the town, Lafayette, after cashing his paycheck to do a little BBQ, dancing and drinking on a Saturday night. Keith remembers when his father’s group cut it in the early ’80s when he was just an eight-year-old drummer. Guitarist Classie Ballou, Sr. wanted to send it to Austin City Limits for an appearance on the PBS-syndicated TV show, but no one remembers if it was ever submitted. At Keith’s urging, Preston recorded this neglected gem.
Though Preston sings most of these tunes, he graciously passes the baton around. Granddaughter Sidney Chambers lets it wail on “Green Grass;” Keith sings “Why You Wanna Make Me Cry” with conviction and passion. Towards the end, he, too, changes it up by singing, “This is my song/ This is your song/ Our song,” etc., recalling how Ronald Ardoin once sang something similar in one of his Ardoin family bands.
For Preston, performing and recording with the family band is the only way to go. He knows that a family that plays together stays together.
