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A new band has made its way into the Valcour mix. They aren’t Cajun, they aren’t zydeco, they aren’t old time. GIVERS are are pure fun. At times poppy, at times psychadelic, their music incites and demands roars of applause from the packed bars and nightclubs they play around Louisiana.

GIVERS consists of several musicians from various improvisational groups all centered in southwestern Louisiana who have combined to form one cohesive music making body, creating what they refer to as afro-beat, dancy pants, indie pop love music.

GIVERS specialize in sounds that gather together melodically and electronically bent forms of african, folk, and pop music, but send them underwater, where they are refracted with light and space, changing the overall shape and texture into something refreshingly new, yet at the same time, familiar. All natives of southern Louisiana, the members were brought up in a music scene steeped rich in culture, whether it be the Cajun or zydeco roots of their hometown, Lafayette, or the funky, dance inducing second line from neighboring New Orleans. Despite the abundance of traditional music surrounding the band, GIVERS have managed to harness a sound of their own, breaking free of tradition, all the while maintaining an honesty in their music which keeps listeners on edge.

At a GIVERS show, one can expect to experience a barrage of colors, both within the music as well as within the visual aesthetic. The chemistry between band members alongside their vibrant light show creates a lucid dream-like atmosphere anywhere GIVERS play, leaving the crowd with no choice but to become a part of what is happening. To be in this experience is to, for a moment, accept the feeling of ascendance, not submergence–to give in to one’s vulnerability as set by the music making examples on stage–to let go and truly release.

Despite being a very young band, GIVERS have established themselves in their regional scene by filling venues and reaching multiple maximum capacity limits within their first few shows. They have supported such acts as Dirty Projectors, Casper & the Cookies, Everthus the Deadbeats and MyNameIsJohnMichael.

“Try as you might to disappear into darkness or slumber, Givers will pull you toward the surface, the music revives your limbs, their energy and humor revive your mind. They are familiar, not trite. They are nourishing, not sugary.”
- Pop Matters Magazine

“Rarely-to-never have I witnessed a musical group with so brief a history blossom and acquire such a sense of innovative musical maturity as GIVERS. Combining intricately lofty vocals over some of the most danceable yet innovative beds of seemingly ever-evolving rhythms, this young outfit already comes off as some sort of new hope for tomorrow’s popular music. Sounding solidly contemporary while remaining steeped in the sort of smart danceability introduced to the public at large by Talking Heads or one of their offshoots, Tom Tom Club; keep your eyes and ears focused on what GIVERS have to offer.”
-Cecil Doyle
Music Director (88.7 KRVS)

“There’s a joyfulness in a Givers song that is impossible to pin down, a mix of musical styles and influences that connect with a celebratory yell, music that opens on itself to reveal a ebullient, open heart. It’s sophisticated stuff for a band of early 20-somethings. But youth knows no limitations, and the young musicians in Givers are seemingly bound by nothing.”
-Cody Daigle
(The Times of Acadiana Magazine)

“Givers, brand new group from Lafayette, Louisiana, deliver an alluring potion of lo-fi lovepop. The ska-influenced bassist carries the song, while the boy/girl vocal team sing about mutually bleeding hearts and favourite sweaters.”
-Silence Killer Blog

Tracks (all tracks written by GIVERS, Published by Tasso Loop Music BMI)
1. Up, Up, Up
2. Meantime
3. Ceiling of Plankton
4. Saw You First
5. Up, Up, Up (remix)

GIVERS are
Taylor Guarisco – voice, guitar, moves

Tif “teddy” Lamson – voice, percussion,ukulele, guitar, moves

Will Henderson- keyboards, samples, sax, flutes, voice, wizardry

Josh LeBlanc – bass guitar, trumpet, freedom, sauce

Kirby Campbell- drums, samples, voice, sweat, seal

Photos by Allison Bohl

Booking Contact/Agent
Peter Agoston
Panache Booking: peter@panacherock.com

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Available at iTunes now

To make a contribution to any traditional folk genre, a writer must know its traditional book of tunes, play to its audiences, and speak its language. Cedric Watson in this 2nd album as leader forges ahead with original Creole music influenced by the French Creole diaspora and West Africa. Creole’s roots are revealed in Cedric’s journey through the influences of kompa, merengue, and the flexible and sometimes humorous approach Black Creoles take interpreting duple and triple meters.

Louisiana’s Black Creole roots go back to West Africa and to many of the 6000 slaves shipped to Louisiana between 1717 and 1721 of which 2000 survived. In the Caribbean chain, Louisiana was but the last link of the Middle Passage giving Louisiana’s Creole culture and music an unbroken link to West Africa.

Bijou Creole is a group of Lafayette’s young but very capable, perceptive, and experienced musicians. This is a forward looking French Creole band bound to change what Louisiana French Creole music can be in the 21st century.

- D’Jalma Garnier

Tracks
1. Bijou Créole 3:42
2. Le Sud de la Louisiane 4:07
3. Mais là 2:55
4. J’suis parti au Texas 2:44 (Traditional, Arr. by Cedric Watson, Tasso Loop Music BMI)
5. Zydeco Paradise 4:15
6. Lafayette lala 3:34
7. J’suis gone à la Blue Moon 3:46
8. C’est la vie 3:29
9. Grand Marais (Dennis McGee, Flat Town Music BMI) 3:05
10. Gardes là-bas 3:13
11. Cher ‘tit coeur 2:53
12. Bluerunner (Bébé Carrière, Flat Town Music BMI) 4:38

Total Playing Time 42:12

All Songs written by Cedric Watson, Published by Tasso Loop Music BMI, unless otherwise noted.

This is the first album in the Valcour Records Artist Series.

Often times, Cajun music fans find themselves skipping ahead to the twin fiddles track on their favorite album. This is not because its the only track they love, but because there is something special about the harmonic fiddles that resonates, literally, somewhere deep within. It presents a sound that is unique to Cajun music, and in Louisiana we can feel it in our blood, and it creates a sound track for our identity.

Linzay Young and Joel Savoy are no strangers to this feeling. They have been playing the fiddle together for years, whether in bands, at impromptu concerts, or at home around the kitchen table. In fact they like to call it “Kitchen Music,” because its just the music they like to play when they get together at the table, plain and simple.

The two have been playing music together for over 15 years. Having learned to fiddle side by side at the Savoy Music Center Saturday morning jam session they share a remarkable musical connection that is uncanny at times. In this recording, their first as a duo, they pay tribute to their musical heros from around the Eunice area where they grew up such as Dennis McGee, Wade Frugé, and Cheese Read. Breathing new life into some of these old tunes and carefully recreating others as well as writing new ones, this is a recording that jumps out at you and will make you smile because you can tell a lot of joy went into the making of it. There’s a lot to be said for fancy studio recordings and big productions- and there’s plenty of that out on the market. Here’s proof that oftentimes, less is more.

“In an age where everything seems to be way over-analyzed, it’s nice to be able to just sit down and make a record in an afternoon with no fuss and no frills­—the old fashioned way. This is our music. We hope you enjoy it.”

-Linzay and Joel

Available for download at:

Tracks

1. Madame Young (Dennis McGee, Flat Town Music)
   Joel: Fiddle
   Linzay: Fiddle and Vocal
2. Si Tu Voudrais Marier (Traditional, Arr. Joel and Linzay, Tasso Loop Music)
   Joel: Fiddle and Background Vocal
   Linzay: Guitar and Vocal
3. Tous les Soirs (Traditional, Arr. Joel and Linzay, Tasso Loop Music
   Joel: Fiddle
   Linzay: Guitar and Vocal
4. Reel Cajun (Dennis McGee, Flat Town Music)
   Joel: Fiddle
   Linzay: Fiddle
5. The Wedding March (Traditional, Arr. Joel and Linzay, Tasso Loop Music)
   Joel: Fiddle and Vocal Harmony
   Linzay: Fiddle and Vocal
6. J’ai laissé de la maison (Traditional, Arr. Joel and Linzay, Tasso Loop Music)
   Joel: Guitar
   Linzay: Fiddle and Vocal
7. Gumbo Waltz (Traditional, Arr. Joel and Linzay, Tasso Loop Music)
   Joel: Fiddle
   Linzay: Fiddle
8. Missouri Heights (Linzay Young, Panse Bourrée Publishing/Tasso Loop Music)
   Joel: Guitar
   Linzay: Fiddle
9. Mercredi Soir (Traditional, Arr. Joel, Tasso Loop Music)
   Joel: Fiddle and Vocal
10. Wagoner (Traditional, Arr. Joel and Linzay, Tasso Loop Music)
    Joel: Guitar
    Linzay: Fiddle
11. Reel Cajun (Dennis McGee, Flat Town Music)
    Joel: Fiddle
    Linzay: Fiddle
12. La Valse à Pop (Dennis McGee, Flat Town Music)
    Joel: Fiddle
    Linzay: Fiddle and Vocal
13. Empty Bottle Stomp (Traditional, Arr. Joel and Linzay, Tasso Loop Music)
    Joel: Fiddle
    Linzay: Fiddle

The Valcour Records Artist Series Albums are eco-friendly, using recycled materials in the minimal packaging, and are made for easy packing and transport, so that our artists can fit plenty in their suitcase as they head out on the road to sell their music at live performances.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the new Bonsoir Catin album, Vive L’Amour, is finally here! Well, at least it will be here on June 15th…

You can pre-order it now from our CD Store and we will ship it to you just as soon as it arrives.

As promised, we are also offering two bonus tracks for you to download free, right here:
La Valse de Tolan
Mama Rosin

Want to know more?! Here is an excerpt by Darrell Scott from the CD’s liner notes that describes it all:

“Good friends sharing lead singing—even bringing in songs for another to sing (listening to the wisdom of elders, too…Ginny Hawker: “Yvette, this is a song you have to sing with these girls” or a great great great grandfather’s letter to a dying daughter turning into a song)—real music.

These friends honor their roots, carrying their ancestors as naturally as they carry their own children—and while they honor the past, they are not slaves to the past—combining Cajun, country, bawdy powerful woman blues, old time—this is not exactly their grandmother’s music; but, it is their grandmother’s spirit—real women.

If you need your music women propped up on high heels, paint-n-powder—you’re s.o.l. here—they clearly prefer to wear the same boots on stage, or dancing, as wa;king through the workd—real women/realmusic.”

Tracklist
1. Mon Aimable Brune
2. ’73 Special
3. J’Aimerais Sentir Comme Ca Chez Moi
4. Un Bouquet de Camelias
5. Donne-Moi Une Autre Chance
6. Je Suis Pas Apres Chercher
7. Orphan Waltz
8. Listen to Me when I Talk to You
9. Si Je Pourrais Oublier
10. Black Cat Bones
11. Reuben’s Train
12. Le Moulin

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Our first annual limited edition Holiday Release is here!

Announcing Christine Balfa Plays the Triangle, featuring Christine Balfa. Nearly an hour of pure, unadulterated classic Cajun triangle. Seriously, its an idea so simple and so brilliant, we had to get Cajun royal lineage involved! This is sure to become a collector’s item, as we’re only going to print a limited amount, and it features Christine Balfa’s playing, the production of Chas Justus, and the engineering of Joel Savoy.

No one will ever do this again.

At only $6 (plus shipping) a piece, it’s the perfect gag gift or stocking stuffer for all of your friends and family who are Cajun music fans. Pre-order your copy today for a gift that’s sure to create quite a noise! At only $6 a piece you can finish all of your Christmas shopping on a budget (perfect for these rough economic times, eh?) with the ease and convenience of our online store right here.

click link below for way more information…

Working with christine on this record was effortless. Any artistic direction I could have given would have just gotten in the way of her purely simple yet nuanced style. Her playing transcends genre, stripping away superficiality and reaching directly to the core. It’s playful, emotional and at times cathartic. Let her take you on a journey of musical discovery that channels the old masters yet remains innovative and uniquely Christine.

- Chas Justus, Producer

Christine Balfa comes from a long line of traditional Cajun musicians
centered in the prairies of Southwest Louisiana.  Her father Dewey gave her
a triangle while she was still a toddler and she spent much of her childhood
jamming with the Balfa Brothers in the family home near Basile.  It wasn’t
long, however, until she found herself longing to break free from the
stifling tonality of fiddles, accordions, and guitars.  An undeniable need
to express the sounds she heard around her without limitation – mama
stirring coush coush in the pan, cowbells tinkling as the herd came back in
for the night, daddy grinding the school bus gears in the morning – became
the dominating force in her life.  This CD realizes, at long last, her
vision of liberation for the instrument.  Unfettered by melodic or harmonic
content, she can finally tell her story, and the story of her people, to the
world.

- Dirk Powell, Expert

Musicians Appearing on this Album
Christine Balfa – Triangle, occasional yelling

Tracks
1. L’Anse au Paille 5:01
2. The Balfa Waltz 3:32 Listen>
3. La Port en Arrière 4:50
4. Blues de Port Arthur 4:20
5. Valse d’Heritage 3:45
6. ‘Tit Fer à Grand-Père 4:11
7. Chères Joues Roses 5:05
8. Two-Step d’Acadien 5:24
9. Blues de Tac-Tac 4:30
10. Triangle Club Special 3:25
11. La Valse d’Orphelin 4:34
12. Bayou Teche Two-Step 2:51
13. Pine Grove Blues 4:06

Total Playing Time 55m28s

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Read more about Feufollet

On a Saturday night, twenty and thirtysomethings, scholars, writers, artists, bohemians and young professionals dance to Feufollet at the favorite local outdoor venue, the blue moon saloon. Red and blue neon permeates the scene and, as the band pounds, the wooden deck of the dance floor threatens to crash to the ground or fly clear into the louisiana sky. Here is a vortex of vibrant energy, a buzzing flow of youthful expression, a scene of endless possibility that can be found on any given weekend night in Lafayette, La. Like the cultural renaissance of the late 1960s that produced artists such as Michael Doucet and Zachary Richard, now is a time of fearless, joyful expression and thoughtful creativity. Feufollet perfectly embodies this movement with their new album, Cow Island Hop. Encompassing a wide range of musical influences, there is great attention to arrangement, sonic quality and originality. This is a traditional Cajun album produced, however, through a rock-n-roll aesthetic. Cow island hop is likely the most creative recording project to come out of this new era from a band that has become one of the most important voices for Louisiana Cajun youth; proud of their heritage, confident of their roots and ready to soar into the future.
- Kristi Guillory
Folklorist/Media Archivist | University of Louisiana at Lafayette

The music of Feufollet is a perfect example of what Dewey Balfa meant when he said that he wanted to preserve not the music itself but the process that produces the music so that musicians will continue to innovate and improvise new forms that both surprise us and reassure us at the same time.
-Barry Ancelet
Granger & Debaillon Endowed Professor of Francophone Studies | University of Louisiana
at Lafayette

Feufollet is
Chris Stafford
Chris Segura
Anna Laura Edmiston
Joshua Caffery
Michael Stafford
Philippe Billeaudeaux

Taylor Guarisco played electric and upright bass on this album and was a member of the band from June ’04 through December ’07

Guest Musicians
Tiffany Lamson: Drums on 1
Jimmy Breaux: Drums on 4, 5 AND 8
Oscar Courville: Drums on 7
Nick Stephan: Saxophone on 7
Josh Leblanc: Trumpet on 7
Chris French: Tuba on 7
Richard Comeaux: Steel Guitar on 4
Ivan Klisanin: Mellotron on 6

Tracks
1. Prends Courage
2. Cow Island Hop
3. Eunice Waltz
4. Blues De Dix Ans
5. Madame Basso
6. Chère Bébé Créole
7. Femme L’a Dit
8. Chère Beth
9. Sur Le Bord De L’eau
10. Jolie Fille
11. Je M’en Vas Dans Le Chemin
For Booking, lyrics and translations, visit Feufollet.net

This album nominated for Best Zydeco Or Cajun Music Album

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For songs and tour dates visit Cedric’s Myspace.

Read Cedric’s bio

This album is the story of a historical Louisiana musician in the making. Cedric Watson returned to his roots in Louisiana after growing up in Sealy, Texas so he could develop his Creole music in the towns and pastures where his predecessors once played. He is currently an integral member of Lafayette’s acclaimed Pine Leaf Boys, whose recent Grammy nomination has ensured them a place in the Louisiana culture history books.

In his debut solo release, Cedric channels the talents of his influences, such as Bois Sec Ardoin and Canray Fontenot, but proves his chops as a writer and composer with the majority of the songs on the album either his own creations and/or arrangements. Being well-versed in the history of the music he plays, Cedric creates music with strong Creole roots, and branches out appropriately and deliberately into Cajun and Zydeco sounds. As a result, there are tracks on this album that are instant classics, and others that are refreshingly new and different.

After having such great success with Goin’ Down to Louisiana, which teamed Cedric up with Corey “Lil Pop” Ledet, we are quite happy at Valcour to be working with Cedric again. Corey Ledet appears on this album as well, by the way, along with many other of Louisiana’s finest (see below).

So enjoy Cedric’s music, keep an eye on his blossoming career, and look forward to great things for him in the near future.

“To propel our Louisiana Creole culture into the future seems to be quite a task, but if one lives for the music as Cedric does, the path seems effortless… These songs may well be early brushstrokes of a life’s worth of possibilities, not only for himself, but also for the identity survival of a culture.”
- Michael Doucet

(click “continue reading” link for artist credits and track listing)

Musicians
Cedric Watson – Fiddle, Accordion, and Vocals
Jermaine Prejean – Drums
Eric Frey* – Upright Bass, Banjo, Electric Bass on Tracks 7 + 15
Chas Justus* – Electric and Acoustic Guitar
Jeffery Broussard – Electric Bass
Corey Ledet – Scrubboard and Triangle
Anna Laura Edmiston – Background Vocals
Kelli Jones – Background Vocals
Joel Savoy – Lead Guitar on Track 7

•appear courtesy of Sugar Hill Records

Tracks (All songs written by Cedric unless otherwise indicated)
1. Cochon de Lait (Michael Doucet)
2. ‘Tit Black (Boozoo Chavis)
3. Cedric Zydeco Listen>
4. J’ai été tout autour du Pays (Trad, arr. Cedric Watson)
5. Two-Step de Bouki
6. La Valse de Grand Basile (Trad, Arr. Cedric Watson)
7. Zozo Noir
8. Ayoù t’as Couché?
9. Tu Seras avec Moi
10. TexaCreole Two-Step
11. Lala
12. La Vieille Chanson de Mardi Gras (Trad, Arr. Cedric Watson) Listen>
13. Ma Chère Grandmère
14. La Valse à Bois Sec
15. Zydeco du Violon

Visit the Figs Website

Get 99 cent Figs downloads in the Song Store

—————————————————
Deep in South Louisiana, many an old-time yard boasts a bountiful fig tree of the variety Celeste. Several gangly trunks spread out from a central root, and the deep-lobed, dark green leaves bring to mind the predicament of Adam and Eve. It takes the blistering summer heat to ripen the brownish-violet fruits, their reddish insides pebbled with crunchy seeds. These figs, at once commonplace and exotic, are delectable by themselves. But cooked together in a heavy pot over a slow fire, with some sugar for sweet and some lemon for zing, they make a local confection called fig preserves that is—well, celestial.

The fertile soil of Lafayette, Louisiana, has recently sprouted the all-girl group The Figs. The area is already home to such young powerhouse bands as the Red Stick Ramblers, the Pine Leaf Boys, the Lost Bayou Ramblers, and FeuFollet, ably filling the Cajun, zydeco, and swing niches. With this debut recording session, The Figs push the area’s musical margins farther afield into the old-timey tradition, though there’s nary a holler in sight.

The sisterhood came together with the unbridled enthusiasm of any self-respecting garage band, in order to hang out with friends and have a good time. They admittedly didn’t consider themselves “real” musicians, and there was some initial instrument-swapping as each member found her groove. Now the bottom end is held down by drummer Paige Pemberton and bassist Melissa Stevenson (who occasionally blows the harp as well), while Sarah Gray and Caroline Helm man the electric and acoustic guitar strings. Claire Oliver grounds the group’s Appalachian feel with her claw-hammer banjo, and Jillian Johnson works a plucky tenor ukulele.

While the instrumentation supplies a toothsome biscuit, it’s the three- and four-part vocal harmonies that provide the sweet filling. At times bluesy or cheeky, at times levitating into the ethers, these women’s voices mingle like moon and shine. Their themes range from heartthrob to heartbreak in flavors sweet, sour, and salty, and their playlist includes a healthy helping of smart, sassy originals. Sarah’s aching 3/4, her lilting lament I’m So Tired, and her puckish Transcendental Baby are linchpins of the Fig style; Paige and Sarah collaborated on the regional yet country-tinged Spoonin’, and Jillian’s shuffling Rollin’ Down South shows off her Tennessee roots. Their repertoire also includes dynamic covers from such varied sources as the Carter Family, Mark Knopfler, and fellow local songwriters. From blues to rockabilly to straight-up old-timey and haunting a capella, these ladies make the vintage stuff sound fresh and the new stuff sound retro. A live show finds them all figged out in Depression-era outfits, looking anything but old-fashioned.

In his provocative poem Figs, D.H. Lawrence wrote:

What then, good Lord! cry the women.
We have kept our secret long enough.
We are a ripe fig.
Let us burst into affirmation.

Bursting with gusto and grit, this crop is at peak flavor. So spike your lemonade, prop your feet up on the porch rail, and let The Figs kick out your jams.

- Sharon Arms Doucet

Download lyrics and translations to accompany the music!
————————————

The stereotype is an old one: people in Southwest Louisiana like to party. People come from all over the country, from all over the world even, to party in places like Eunice, Mamou and Lafayette. Anyone who lives in these places can confirm this. People in Southern Louisiana like to drink, and they do so often.

The stereotype falls short, however, by offering a limited version of how Cajuns and Creoles drink and how they talk and sing about drinking. People in every part of the world drink, but people in Southern Louisiana don’t just drink, they create powerful artistic expressions about drinking, songs and stories that place drinking within the currents of a vital, dynamic culture, visions of the bottle weaving in with the pain of lost love, the turning cycles of death and rebirth and the rituals of celebration and mourning that order and nurture our spiritual and social lives.

Yes, Cajun and Creole musicians do get drunk. In fact, as I write this, there is a drunk Cajun sitting right next to me, playing the accordion. This is not the point, however. In the songs collected on this album, we can see that Cajuns and Creoles do far more that just get wasted. In these songs, drunk people dream. They waltz. They get their guns and go out in the middle of the night and kill raccoons. When their bottles are empty, they stomp their feet and play furious, driving dirges on the fiddle. People all over the world get drunk on Saturday night and have hangovers on Sunday, but Cajuns drink a glass of lemonade and then write a song about it.

It’s not particularly interesting or important that people in Southern Louisiana like to drink. Of utter importance, however, are the wild and sometimes strange things they do when they drink and party together, and the soulful, brilliant way they transform these activities into song.

We hope this album is a good example of both.

- Producer Joshua Clegg Caffery

Valcour Records would like to thank Debbie Fleming Caffery for allowing us to use her internationally revered photography on the front and inside covers of the cd packaging.
Tracks and Performers (Titles spelled as licensed):
1. Allons Boire un Coup
Joel Savoy, Linzay Young, Richard Burgess

2. Whiskey C’est Mon Ami
Racines

3. Mon Bon Vieux Mari
Anna Laura Edmiston

4. La Bouteille a Ruiné Ma Vie
The Lost Bayou Ramblers

5. La Valse du Bambocheur
Courtney Granger and Friends

6. Si J’aurais des Ailes
Ann and Joel Savoy

7. Drunkard’s Dream
Feufollet

8. Table Ronde Listen>
Cedric Watson

9. Pine Grove Blues
The Pine Leaf Boys

10. One Scotch, One Burbon, One Beer
Racines

11. La Jog a Plombeau
Cedric Watson

12. Blues du Saoulard
The Red Stick Ramblers

13. Drunkard’s Waltz
Joel Savoy

14. Quand J’étais Vaillante
Ann Savoy and Jane Vidrine

15. Parlez-Nous à Boire
Chris Stafford

16. Rye Whiskey
The Lost Bayou Ramblers

Not long ago, the future of Creole music looked bleak. Bébé Carriére, the great fiddler at the heart of the Lawtell Playboys, passed away. Danny Poulard, too, was gone. The African American French musical traditions of Southwest Louisiana, which underpin so much of what we now like to call “Cajun” and “Zydeco” music, seemed to be rapidly disappearing, lost in the din of the dancehall and the relentless boom of the electric bass. Salvation, though, often comes from strange places. In this case, it came from perhaps the strangest place of all: Texas.

Now residing in Parks, Corey “Lil Pop” Ledet originally hails from Houston, where the old music still runs strong in the families who left rural Louisiana for better work decades ago. Cedric Watson, who now lives in Lafayette, grew up in the rustic environs of Sealy, Texas. The sudden appearance of these two dynamic musicians has been a near religious experience for lovers of Cajun, Creole and Zydeco music. In Lil Pop’s virtuoso piano key accordion playing, they hear echoes Clifton Chenier’s genius. When Cedric Watson breaks into a broad grin as he channels the old songs, they recall Canray Fontenot.

But this music is about more than individual people, and Cedric and Corey are not ghosts of a dead culture. Cedric and Corey look to the past, true, but they do so as a means of creating a meaningful musical present. When you listen to this record, it will be easy to draw comparisons to the musical heroes of the past. Don’t forget, though, to think about these young men in the first strong flowering of their talent, changing and renewing the music every time they pick up an instrument.

Think of all that’s yet to come.

-Joshua Clegg Caffery

Tracks:
1. Goin’ Down to Louisiana Listen>
2. Broken Hearted Listen>
3. Ma Negresse
4. Black Snake
5. Colinda
6. Madame Faielle Listen>
7. Valse de Cherokee
8. Let the Good Times Roll
9. Canray’s One Step
10. Mama Told Papa
11. Richard Two Step
12. Hungry Man Blues

Musicians:
Jermaine Prejean- drums on all cuts except “Black Snake”
Brad Frank- drums on “Black Snake
Chas Justus- guitar
Dion Pierre- bass
Corey ledet- accordion, vocals, and scrubboard
Cedric Watson- fiddle and vocals