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Welcome to "Cajun Corner".
The main reason for my first visit to Louisiana was purely musical.
I wanted to experience the atmosphere of those Cajun-songs in their original environment.
During my visit also the interest in the whole Cajun-culture grew.
Although their ancestors had a hard time, the Cajuns are a proud and optimistic folk.
This site is made to promote that great music from Southwest Louisiana's "Cajun Country".
On the Cajun Corner, you'll find information about Cajun, Zydeco & Swamp Pop music from
in and outside Louisiana.
Laissez les bons temps rouler !
Don't hesitate to contact me…
Yvieboy
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Doc Marshalls, the
style : Cajun
Coming from New York City, the Doc Marshalls stand for Cajun, Zydeco & Honky Tonk-Country. This band was formed in Brooklyn in 2001. With a very energetic act they play up-tempo cajun two-step-, waltz-, zydeco- and good ol' country-covers and -originals.
The Doc Marshalls are:
Nick Beaudoin: vocals, acoustic guitar, Cajun accordion and washboard
Mat Kane: fiddle, mandolin, washboard,
Hightower Smith: lead and acoustic guitars
Terence Murren: bass
Doug Clark: drums
more info on :
http://www.docmarshalls.com/
Added : 7 23, 2003
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Watzloves: Rocking Country Gumbo – LP VoodooRhythm VR1213
style : Zydeco
Formed back in 1998 this trio gives you a strange mixture of Polka, Rockabilly, Cajun, Zydeco, Hillbilly, Swamp rock,… and all the rest you can imagine. Mainly they call
themselves a Cajun band, but Cajun might be not enough to describe their style of music.
This is the new record of the most amazing Cajun band of all time the Watzloves. Recorded at Bob’s own 8 track studio with instruments such as Accordion, Drums, Trombone, Slide Guitar, and Organ makes this record to the freshest Country Cajun Tex Mex and Zydeco record of all time. Next to Silky’s fantastic song writing, you hear her singing a playing the accordion like no one else can. DM Bob is hitting the drums like a catfish catcher and Jackobus is on the Slide and on the Trombone and other unorthodox instruments…
The album is full of great moments & good up tempo zydeco songs but it could have been better. Specially the production of the album could be done better, but maybe it’s done that way for a reason. Certainly if you know Voodoo Rhythm Records, then you’ll know they love their trashy sound.
14 Crazy songs from 3 crazy rockers living in Germany. An excellent filler for your record collection & great stuff if you want to broaden your taste in music. But beware, there is no much hillbilly or rockabilly on this album.
Mr Blue Boogie
Rate (1-5) : 
more info on :
http://www.voodoorhythm.com
Added : 6 30, 2003
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Cajun Company, the
style : Cajun
A few years ago, I was one of those curmudgeons who thought that real good Cajun music could only come from Louisiana. But a few bands (and mostly this one!) already convinced me I was wrong. Well-made gumbo or jambalaya taste very good everywhere! All of this was proved at the Willem Tell bluesclub in St-Lenaerts, Saturday 24th May. The jambalaya was delicious and the band, The Cajun Company, perfect! They play exactly that style of Cajun that brings me goose bumps and tears in my eyes. Pure early traditional Cajun from the good ol’ days, straight from Louisiana! They make me think so much at guys such as the Balfa Brothers, Octa Clark and Hector Duhon, …
For this time, fiddler Pauline has been replaced by the also very talented David Buyle (from the great Hank van Damme). The way that guy can play the fiddle and the age he seems to have, he surely must have been playing the fiddle in another life!
Lead singer Bas, who plays the Cajun accordion so well and with so much feeling, has got a brilliant voice and handles that Cajun language so good, you can’t hear where he really come from. The same thing for Herman, who also keep the right rhythm on the triangle and who bring some great vocals in harmony. I suspect these guys of being real Cajuns who were banned from Louisiana before moving to Holland…
The lovely Vera plays the acoustic guitar in perfect traditional Cajun style. With her great way of playing, she also makes a bass or double bass unnecessary in this band.
Also on CD they sound very authentic. Their second one (La robe de Rosalie) has been recorded in Crowley, Louisiana and produced by Dirk Powell (from Balfa Toujours, etc.), who also played some fiddle together with Pauline. The mixing on this cd is perfect and it brings the live-atmosphere to your room!
Well, what more can I say…? This band is definitely the biggest surprise I’ve seen on stage, in years! This band is a must for all (traditional) Cajun lovers and also for everybody else… (‘cause you surely will love it, even if you don’t know it yet)
more info on :
http://www.cajuncompany.net
Added : 6 1, 2003
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Delafose, Geno & French Rockin’ Boogie
style : Zydeco
Geno Delafose started at the age of 7 as washboard player and 8 as drummer with the Eunice Playboys from his father John Delafose. John Delafose & the Eunice Playboys, which was my favourite Zydeco band, played pure traditional Zydeco, sometimes very close to Cajun with a lot of Rock’n’Roll influences added. On John Delafose’s cd “Joe Pete Got Two Women” on Arhoolie Records, he played drums on the tracks his brother Tony (who became the bass player) don’t. But later he came more to the front on the other great rockin’ Zydeco cd’s “Pere Et Garçon Zydeco” and “Blues Stay Away From Me”, where he also played the accordion and vocals on part of the tracks. These cd’s resulted in a no-nonsense real rockin’ Zydeco-style (sometimes even Cajun) which suits my wishes much more than some of the modern Zydeco-acts who rather bring the funky beat in their style.
Geno Delafose plays the diatonic French accordion and the piano accordion. He started his own band, named French Rockin’ Boogie, formed with members of the Eunice Playboys and other musicians. In September 1994, little time after French Rockin’ Boogie released their first cd, his father, John died. Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie kept on playing in the good old style, by putting their Zydeco energy in Cajun goodies from The Balfa Brothers, Iry LeJeune, D.L. Menard, Lawrence Walker, etc. and Creole standards from his father and also from the legendary Creole fiddler Canray Fontenot… Just like in his father’s band they also sometimes have a fiddle added in their songs, like on several tracks from the cd “La Chanson Perdue”, from 1998 where Dirk Powell and Steve Riley played the fiddle. Christine Balfa also plays triangle and guitar on several songs on this cd. The more traditional sound you hear by the Delafose’s is also a result of the more traditional (Cajun) instruments these guys use(d), such as French accordion, fiddle and even triangle… They start from a traditional base and add some typical Zydeco marks on the rhythm (such as a washboard), which result in their good rhythmic music.
more info on :
http://www.ritmoartists.com/geno/delafose.htm
Added : 2 24, 2003
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Balfa Toujours
style : Cajun
Balfa Toujours is one of the top Cajun bands performing today. Led by Christine Balfa, youngest daughter of the legendary Dewey Balfa, the group plays traditional Cajun music, offering fresh interpretations of old favorites and also performing new songs written by the band. The band first performed in 1993, a year after Dewey Balfa's death. Beyond their technical skills as musicians, the members of Balfa Toujours succeed in conveying the spirit of the music played by Dewey and his brothers, giving voice to the deep emotions of happiness and sorrow that contribute to Cajun music's universal appeal. When Dirk Powell, Christine's husband, first saw her perform with her father at the national folklife festival in Washington, D.C., in 1985, he was immediately impressed, but did not actually meet her until six years later. While they were dating, Powell would drive from Maryland to Louisiana, steering with his knees so that he could practice the accordion, extending his remarkable musical talent to yet another instrument beside those he plays as part of his Appalachian heritage. Kevin Wimmer, who was raised in New York City, learned to play the classical violin as a child, but once he attended a workshop at the Newport Festival led by Dewey Balfa, he knew he wanted to spend his life playing the Cajun fiddle. Eventually, he traveled to Basile, where he lived for several months learning from Dewey firsthand. Dewey Balfa's legacy now extends to a new generation. Courtney Granger, the newest member of Balfa Toujours, dreamed that his grand uncle, Dewey Balfa, placed his hand on Courtney's heart the night before Courtney recorded his own CD when he was 16 years old.
Hope to see this great traditional cajun band soon again!
more info on :
http://www.balfatoujours.com/
Added : 2 23, 2003
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Allan, Johnnie
style : Swamp-pop
His lovely wife didn't know if she wanted to marry a musical hero, a D.J., a songwriter, book writer, a great cook or a school director… So she took all of them by marrying Johnnie Allan. He’s a fantastic man with a very young heart! He knows (and can tell) so many great, interesting (musical) stories that you could only wish you could spend your whole holiday with him! He’s a true ambassador of the South Louisiana music scene, a living encyclopaedia of Swamp-Pop, Cajun, Zydeco, Swamp Blues, etc. This legendary Swamp-pop star (who also did some great Cajun stuff!) also came from a legendary family. Surely if you know that Joe (Joseph) Falcon, who made the first Cajun record ever with “Allons A Lafayette” in 1928, was his uncle!
John Allen Guillot was born in Rayne in 1938. At 13 he was playing rhythm guitar with Walter Mouton and the Scott Playboys. In 1953 he joined (the legendary) Lawrence Walker’s Wandering Aces as steel guitarist for 5 years. In ’58 he formed the Krazy Kats (with the rest of Lawrence Walker’s band). Johnnie wrote so many great songs, but just to mention a few of them I really like “J’aime Grand Gueydan” (one of the Cajun songs he did under the name Cajun Born together with Warren Storm), “Let’s Do It” (with a very danceable Jiving beat), “Cajun Man” (not a Cajun song as you should expect), “Homebound Train” (with a very rhythmic Chuck Berry-beat), “Let’s Go Get Drunk” (kinda country song with a great mixture of French and English lyrics)… There are also a bunch of great own written songs on his more recent cd "The Ultimate Louisiana Experience", from which he told me it could be his last cd... I hope you change your mind, Johnnie!
“The Promised Land” (from Chuck Berry) and “South To Louisiana” (based on Johnny Horton’s “North To Alaska”), which was written by Clifford “Pee Wee” Trahan, also belong to my favourites.
He’ll be back in Europe next may (2003) for the Hemsby Rock’n’Roll Weekender. Be sure to give him a big welcome and to enjoy his (still) great live performance!
On the left side of the picture you can see his golden record he had with his great version of Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land” (with accordion solos) and the T-Shirt with the print “If it ain’t Stiff it ain’t worth a fuck” is one he had from Stiff Records where he recorded for… See ya soon, Johnnie and thanks again for the very tasty Gumbo, to take us with you to your great concert in Lake Charles, your great stories and so on… and also to learn me to know a bit about Swamp Pop, to make me appreciate it and even to make me love it!
more info on :
http://www.bestiff.co.uk/jallan.html
Added : 2 11, 2003
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Storm, Warren
style : Swamp-pop
Storm, Warren
No, no! This is not Balthazar Boma from F.C. The Champions on the right! (inside joke for the Belgians) This is Warren Storm himself! This very enjoyable Swamp-pop idol, also known as drummer from rockabilly cat Al Ferrier (and on many Jay Miller Sessions like Clifford “Pee Wee” Trahan but also blues legends like Slim Harpo, Lightnin’ Slim, Lazy Lester, etc.), is still active on stage these days, especially in the South of Louisiana. In the 50’s he was Jay Miller’s best selling Swamp-pop artist. This drummer-singer scored a real hit in ’58 with a great “2-sider”: Prisoner’s Song and Mama Mama Mama (Look What Your Little Boy’s Done), from whom the second one is, in my opinion, based on Jimmy Evans’ “What Am I Gonna Do”…;)
But he also had many other great typical Swamp Pop-songs (with an attractive Fats Domino feeling inside) such as: “Troubles, Troubles”, “So Long, So Long”, “I’m A Little Boy”, …
Warren Joseph Schexnider (his real name) was born in 1937. His father was drummer with the legendary Cajun band, the Rayne-Bo Ramblers. In ’48, he met his early hero Hank Williams, in ’52 he made his musical debut and he continued playing Country and Cajun for the next few years. In 1956 he formed the Wee-Wows and he used “Storm” as last name, which he took from Gale Storm, a star back in ’56… Hope to meet you back, Warren!
more info on :
http://www.warrenstorm.com/
Added : 2 11, 2003
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Daigrepont, Bruce
style : Cajun
Bruce Daigrepont is surely one of my favourite modern Cajun acts! This very talented accordion player, with smooth voice, plays with his band a very own style which is somewhere in between traditional and modern Cajun and took also influences from Rock’n’Roll and Zydeco. Born and raised in New Orleans he had his first instrument, which was a guitar, when he was 5 years old. Later he got involved in the bluegrass music and he took banjo lessons from Allen Shelton, who played with Jim & Jesse. At 15 he toured with his 5-string banjo with Luke Thompson and the Green Valley Cut-ups. In 1979 he had his first accordion and from then, he started to do what he’s still doing. If you’re ever in New Orleans, then it’s absolutely a must to go see him on a Sunday afternoon in Tipitina’s (Napoleon Street), where he still plays almost every week, and you’ll enjoy his great music for hours and dance on the rhythm of the Tipitina Two-Step! I also enjoyed his 4 cd’s very much (especially the 3 first ones) and I’m looking forward for a 5th one and surely to see him back live on stage! “Laissez faire”, Bruce, and keep holding the “Acadie à la Louisiane”!
more info on :
http://www.brucedaigrepont.com/
Added : 2 11, 2003
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Hackberry Ramblers : "Cajun Boogie" - CD ; Flying Fish
style : Cajun
This cajun band with Western Swing- and Hillbilly-influences plays since 1933 (!) and was on 8th June 2002 for the first time live on stage in Europe (at the cajun and zydecofestival in Raamsdonkveer, Holland). Although the founders of this band, Luderine Darbone (89) on fiddle and Edwin Duhon (92) on accordion, and the other members of the band aren't teenagers anymore, they still had a very energetic act and still played some great music that gave me tears in my eyes. They didn't play it all faultless, but that's especially because they're all playing it very spontaneous and not just doing their thing on stage. They really enjoy playing their music, and you can bet your hat, I (and everybody else who was there) enjoyed hearing and seeing it! The funny vocal noises, mostly from double bass player Johnny Faulk, makes the Hackberry Ramblers also sound a bit as the Maddox Brothers of Cajun music (if it is possible to compare this band with any other thing) Because the same spontaneity, enthusiasm and great music can be heard on their cd's, I can recommend you to check it out. Next to a few (mostly 1930's) songs on compilations, I have 3 of them: "Jolie Blonde" (on Arhoolie, recordings from 1963 and 1965), "Deep Water" (on Hot Biscuits, from 1997) and "Cajun Boogie" (on Flying Fish, recorded in 1992). The sixties recordings on "Jolie Blonde" are more typical traditional cajun than the others. The sound and style of "Deep Water" is very similar to "Cajun Boogie" and to what they're still doing on stage. The c.d. "Cajun Boogie" starts and ends with the Hackberry Ramblers' Theme Song (great short opening and closing songs with funny lyrics) and that's exactly how they start and finish their live shows. "Grand Texas" is a fantastic cajun classic, which is the original of Hank Williams' Jambalaya. This song has special guest Crawford Vincent on vocals. He also sings on the Hillbilly-styled song: Cajun Boogie. Michael Doucet (from Beausoleil) is also a special guest, as great extra fiddler on a few songs. Other special guest on vocals is Rodney Crowell who sings partly on "Old Pipeliner" (another Hillbilly song, done in the typical Ramblers- style). "Turtle Tail" (La Queue de Tortue) happens to be a real (and for insiders well-known) cajun song with fantastic accordean and fiddle tunes. "Une Piastre Ici, Une Piastre La Bas" sounds as a funny clap your hands, stomp your feet and sing along-song with typical Glen Croker-guitar and Luderine Darbone-fiddle breaks. "Dancing With A Broken Heart" is a nice cajun waltz, sung in French. In Cajun music, it absolutely doesn't mean, if the title is in English that the song is in English! (Sometimes even in both: Cajun French and English) But next to the theme songs and "Old Pipeliner" we have other songs in English with the Ray Price song "I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)" and with a slower version of "Sitting On Top Of The World". "Crowley Waltz" is another cajun waltz in French. Hearing the very high vocals, you could almost call it a "false", but it's funny and it proves again that the Hackberry Ramblers rather bring enthusiastic spontaneity, then studio perfection. "Les Gens de la Coulée" is another typical cajun song with guitar, accordean and fiddle breaks. The last song before the closing theme is "Beaumont Rag", which is a western swing instrumental from Bob Wills, here played with great fiddles by Luderine Darbone and Michael Doucet. This great enjoyable cd should be obligated subject-matter for everyone who plays in a band! Not to be pessimistic, but most modern bands (and studio engineers!) could learn so much from it and if they only could copy a little bit of that Hackberry Ramblers-enthusiasm and spontaneity, we would live in a better world… Let's all give it a try!
Yvieboy
Rate (1-5) :
Added : 7 10, 2002
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