Joel fraternizes with Weird Al
Joel Savoy took off for Los Angeles last Friday to represent Valcour at the 52nd Annual GRAMMY awards. After nearly an entire day of airport delays, he settled in at the Figueroa Hotel in downtown LA late Friday night and began the celebration with a glass of cognac at the hotel bar with nominees Ann Savoy (mom) and Jane Vidrine. Joel had two CDs he produced/co-produced nominated for GRAMMY awards this year: Valcour’s L’esprit Creole (Cedric Watson) and Arhoolie Records’ Stripped Down (Magnolia Sisters). This was his third trip to the GRAMMYs, but the development of the Cajun/Zydeco Category brought new hope for taking home the gold! Though defeated by the legendary Buckwheat Zydeco, it was a fantastic trip where he got to socialize with the who’s who of the music industry and spread the word about Valcour Records. After a weekend of non-stop parties, endless drink and food and celebrating, he came home Monday feeling inspired by what he had seen, and proposed these 10 thoughts for the new year:
1. How could they forget to turn on Gabe Witcher’s fiddle mic for the pre-telecast GRAMMYs?! What a shame!
2. It’s nice to have the Cajun/Zydeco category. I’ve finally come around to the idea, and I think it has potential to raise the bar for our local artists. However, at all of the Louisiana parties, all anyone talked about was New Orleans. Who is running this shit? Pop quiz: Does Cajun/Zydeco music come from NOLA? If you answered yes, please mail a check for $100 to 872 Highway 758, Eunice.
3. WTF? Every single performance at the GRAMMYs was overdone. That’s not even the right word. Every performance was so over-the-top I wanted to cry. Don’t get me wrong, it’s AMAZING being there right in the midst of al that action and production and everything, but is this where pop culture is headed? Everything is so overdone there isn’t a hint of emotion or connection. There is no exchange between the audience and the performers. Everyone is just sitting around in shock and then when it’s over, they’re asking themselves what just happened. A good show is one thing, and lights, FX and dancers- all that’s cool. But it was all just way too intense. I hope you out there reading this understand what I mean. Can we fix that before it’s too late?
4. Taylor Swift is cute and all, but Album of the Year? Really? Has anyone heard that album? It leads one to wonder what the GRAMMY award actually means.
5. I decided that Weird Al was the only celebrity I ever wanted my picture taken with. Done.
6. Imogen Heap is awesome.
7. Lucent Dossier, the magical troupe that performed all night at the GRAMMY afterparty, is awesome. It was the highlight of my whole trip. After the Weird Al pic.
Joel w/ Anya from the Magnolia Sisters
8. Did y’all know that Cedric’s drummer, Jermaine Prejean, actually opened up the entire GRAMMYs? Right before it went on TV, Jermaine on snare drum, Trombone Shorty, and Shamarr Allen on trumpet (and someone else- sorry I forgot) stood on the little circular stage right in the middle of all the celebrities and played ‘when the saints go marching in’ acoustic and standing up. It was awesome!
9. Does 3D really work in a live setting? It wasn’t doing it for me…
10. Game on. Let’s see some amazing new records come out this year, Louisiana. Go get those GRAMMYs!
Stay tuned for more as we move into the Mardi Gras season!
0 Responses to “Valcour Represented at GRAMMYs”