Valcour Records

Ginny Hawker and Tracy Schwartz at Black Pot 2008!

joelsavoy — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 03:20:56 +0000

Foggy Mountain Top

Ginny and Tracy song 3 2

A heart-warming closing performance in the “Valcour Chapel” by this lovely couple!

Lakeview Park Theme Song now available on iTunes!

joelsavoy — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:58:22 +0000

Please go download the new Lakeview Park Theme song, written by Linzay Young, and performed by Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, at iTunes! All proceeds benefit the park!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/lakeview-park-theme-song/id386672520

Dirk Powell and Friends at Black Pot ’08!

joelsavoy — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:18:27 +0000

Bonsoir Moreau

Lake Charles Two-Step

Hey Y’all! Check out this moving set from the little Valcour chapel in ’08! Dirk dedicated this set to the late Bois Sec Ardoin and he and Christine and Eddie Poullard played his tunes and told stories about their adventures with him. Enjoy!

July Artist of the Month: Yvette Landry

phillip — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 15:53:55 +0000

This honky tonkin’ beauty may look familiar – Yvette has performed with Balfa Toujours, Dirk Powell, and Cajun music’s beloved Bonsoir Catin.

It’s about time she went solo and showed us her stuff, and we are proud to call her our July Artist of the Month!

July Artist of the Month: Yvette Landry

Valcour: Est. 1848…

joelsavoy — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:13:23 +0000

Hey y’all! Just got back from my summer adventures and things are in full swing here in Valcour land! Not only do we have three awesome CDs coming out this fall, but we have a fantastic fall/winter season ahead with great new Artits of the Month and Podcasts! Be sure to keep your eye on us! Yesterday I went to my folks house to celebrate my 30th birthday (yikes!) with the fam. Among the fabulous gifts I received was this image. As some of you know, Valcour Records was named after my triple-great grandfather, that is my GREAT GREAT GREAT GRANDPA, Mr. Pierre Valcour Savoy. My mom and dad found his signature from an OLD ledger, so I wanted to share it with you! Voilà! From August 16, 1848, the handwritten name that started it all. 1848 folks! That’s 162 years old!

-Joel

Figs

lucius — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:40:20 +0000

Figs are as much a part of Louisiana as crawfish. The Spanish were the fist to introduce the fig to what is now the United States in 1575. You can’t find someone from here, young or old that hasn’t been exposed to figs and fig preserves.

This past week I have been up to my elbows in figs -making preserves. It is super easy but a bit messy.

1 gallon figs
12 cups sugar
1 quart water
4 lemon slices

In a large pot, place all ingredients in except figs and bring to a boil. Then place the figs in the pot (carefully -the syurp you just made is like napalm.) Reduce heat and cook for 2.5 hours or until transparent. Let rest over night (they plump.) Then you are ready to place all this goodness into sterilized mason jars. Put the covers on tightly and place the jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes or so. The remove & store for later (if you can manage to wait.) Et voila -c’est fini.

For a twist, add a packet of strawberry gelatin mix in with the fig to make strawberry-fig preserves.

-Lucius

Boudin

lucius — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:50:59 +0000

Boudin being made at a boucherie

In South Louisiana there are certain topics that will assuredly cause hours long debate, possible loss of friendships and in some rare cases, physical confrontation. Boudin is one of those topics. We will argue over the proper ingredients, and what are the correct proportions of those ingredients (mainly this is about liver). We will debate the right way to eat boudin (do you eat the casing or not). And the most hotly discussed topic is, of course, who has the best boudin.

For those that don’t know, boudin form South Louisiana is pork, pork liver, onions, spices and rice, ground up and stuffed into a sausage casing. It is hardy, spicy and earthy. It is mostly eaten by itself but some do eat it with crackers or pickles or with spicy mustard. Boudin is best acquired from local butcher shops that dot the country side of South Louisana. And this may be one of the reasons why people are so loyal and defensive of the favorite boudin and the place where it comes from – local tatses and local pride.

Boudin will differ from town to town and geographical location. I have found that In the northern most part of Acadiana boudin contains a more liver than boudin in the more Southern parts of Acadiana. But there are many other ways that people tweak their boudin recipe -how course the grind, rice to meat ratio…etc. These regional tastes and traditions make the ‘who has the best boudin’ debate so subjective that it could be impossible to find the ‘best’ boudin – but it is fun to try.

For more information on boudin, how its made, who makes it and what it tastes like you can visit:

The Boudin Trail http://www.southernboudintrail.com/

Boudin Link http://www.boudinlink.com/

-Lucius

Woody Pines Black Pot ’08 Tracks!

joelsavoy — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 04:10:35 +0000

Do y’all remember this set?! Woody came in there and just took over that chapel!

Lots of great guests and wonderful performances!

Tipitina’s Song Contest Winner: Tom Krueger!

phillip — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 03:23:06 +0000

A big fat congratulations to Tom Krueger and Emily Neustrom for knocking out a beautiful tune in just three hours at the Lafayette Tipitina’s co-op in May! They are the grand-prize winners of our second annual Tipitina’s/Valcour three hour song contest.

Learn more about the duo and hear the winning track (along with a couple of extras) in our June Artist of the Month feature!

Tip's contest winners Tom Krueger and Emily Neustrom

Valcour in American Standard Time

phillip — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 16:58:01 +0000

It is refreshing when, from time to time, critics and connoisseurs see through the commoditized version of any culture, especially Cajun culture, which has been victimized by cajun fries, gumbo parties, and crawfish-hawaiian shirts for decades now. At Valcour, we have been lucky enough to work with many artists who ooze both originality and authenticity in their representation of Louisiana culture. In this blog post, American Standard Time recognizes the value of artists reviving the authentic aspects of “Cajun” through language, playing style, and creative production:

“While the rest of the country wallowed in cheap Louisiana souvenirs and over-simplified Cajun songs, the true Cajuns and Creoles of Louisiana have kept their music close to their hearts, tucked away in their homes, and bouncing out of their packed dancehalls. Don’t blame them for the watered down soup we’ve all been fed. But do check out today’s Cajun/Creole music renaissance. You’ll find that the rough-and-tumble songs of the Louisiana’s Cajun country echo the heartbreak and blues of other American hillbilly music traditions like Southern old-time music, honky-tonk, old-school bluegrass and roots country. It’s music from the heartland of the old, weird America.”

Read the whole article here.

More Blackpot 2008 Tracks!

joelsavoy — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 21:06:40 +0000

More great tracks from Black Pot 2008: A very memorable performance by The fabulous Kristen Andreassen!

Summertime Sippin’ with Valcour

lucius — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:48:41 +0000

At Valcour we enjoy a good cocktail. Remember “Allons Boire Un Coup: A Collection of Cajun & Creole Drinking Songs?”

I have come up with a cocktail that is just perfect for sipping on the back porch durning the Summer months. It is somewhere between a Mint Julep, an Old Fashion and iced tea. Let’s call it The Valcour.

Ingredients:

4 oz of black tea bourbon (to make -soak an ice tea, tea bag in 8 oz of good bourbon for 8 hours)
6 dashes of Peychaud’s Bitters
3 bourbon cherries (to make -soak dried cherries in bourbon for a week)
8 mint leaves
3 tbs of simple syrup

Preparation:

Muddle the mint leaves and cherries in the bottom of 10 oz rocks glass. Place ice, bitters, simple syrup & bourbon into a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for at least 15 seconds. Strain into your prepared glass to serve it ‘neat’ or over 2 large ice cubes for ‘on the rocks’. Let stand for 30 second – it will have a frothy head. Sip & enjoy.

If you have a favorite summer cocktail tell us about it: bonjour at valcourrecords dot com

–Lucius

4 Years Past

lucius — Mon, 24 May 2010 18:23:01 +0000

Joel Savoy & Chris Strachwitz

Here is a little gem that I came across this weekend. It is a photo I shot of Valcour’s Joel Savoy and Arhoolie Records’ Chris Strachwitz. I shot this in the Spring of 2006. Joel & Chris were recording Cedric Watson, Ed Poullard & James Adams for what would be Les Amis Creole’s self-titled Arhoolie release. The cd was recorded in the Pine Leaf Boy’s old house on Convent Street, Lafayette, LA.

Chris Strachwitz is one amazing guy. He has been there and done it. In fact he was one of the first there doing it. His record label has been keeping “roots music” alive since 1960. He is a wealth of knowledge and we at Valcour are very proud to have him as a friend.

To learn more about Arhoolie Records and Chris Strachwitz, you can visit them at www.arhoolie.com

–Lucius

Cedric on HBO tonight

joelsavoy — Sun, 23 May 2010 23:48:40 +0000

Don’t miss this! Tonight at 9PM CST Cedric Watson will appear on the HBO series Treme with former band mates (and new Valcour recording artists) The Pine Leaf Boys! Be sure to check out this special event- I hear that some of the guys even have lines!

More Blackpot ’08 Tracks: David Greely

joelsavoy — Sun, 23 May 2010 03:42:09 +0000

More music from Lafayette’s Black Pot Festival! Here are the tracks from David Greely’s set in the 2008. Check back next week to download another performance!

Black Pot 2008: Emma Beaton and Matt Arcara

joelsavoy — Sat, 15 May 2010 21:02:04 +0000

Hey – want some music? We have all these great live tracks laying around and the only thing we can think to do with them is to share them with you! First up, Emma Beaton and Matt Arcara live from the 2008 Blackpot Festival Valcour Records Stage. Click the tracks below to download:

Who Will Rock the Cradle

Thinking of you and Such

Sweetwater Sea

Birdeye

Last Of The Crabs?

lucius — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:31:23 +0000

On Sunday my family went crabbing in Southwest Louisiana – somewhere around Creole. The crabs were big and plentiful for the first two hours then ‘poof’! they were gone. This got me thinking about the BP oil spill that is in the Eastern part of Louisiana and steadily heading West. It made me wonder how long it will be before we get to go crabbing again. Or fishing. Or swimming. Or anything else but cleaning up.

Since 1803, Louisiana has sacrificed so much of its land, resources and culture to the development of this country. Some of us have profited greatly from this. Most of us haven’t. It is always the large companies that fair the best in these situations. But we have made a living from this. A good one at times. And we are proud to say we produce 30% of the natural gas, 14% oil, 25% of total domestic seafood in the lower 48 states and 75% of all seafood harvested in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. But it has come at a cost.

But, Sunday’s crabs were delicious and seemed to like my Valcour coozie. Which you can get with the order of any cd this month.

- Lucius

Free Beer Coozie with your CD order!

joelsavoy — Fri, 07 May 2010 20:37:51 +0000

Bud Light not included

Coozie in action!

Starting today, you’ll get a free Valcour Records beer coozie (also works with other canned beverages) with your order placed at our online store. This neoprene foam coozie is of the highest quality and will keep your beverage icy! It’s also really good-looking, and all your friends are sure to be envious. Only while supplies last, so get your order in quickly!

Lucius’ First Post

lucius — Fri, 07 May 2010 20:06:04 +0000

Hard at work, as well.

After Joel said “Awesome” Lu decided he had to get in on this. Lu will be adding content too (be expecting a lot of photographs.) He is quite the shutterbug so check back often for visual glimpses of Louisiana. We really want to share our South Louisiana with y’all. Music, photos, video and what ever else we can manage to put up here. We are all very excited and we hope that you will be too.

Joel learns how to post new stuff!

joelsavoy — Fri, 07 May 2010 19:33:06 +0000

Hard at work

Valcour’s own Joel Savoy has just learned that he can update valcourrecords.com content whenever he chooses! Now he can post random text, pics and music for your enjoyment! Sitting this moment on his back porch in Eunice, he had this to say about this new breakthrough: “That’s AWESOME!” He was really excited, and promises to practice often! Check back often for more fun stuff!

April Artist of the Month: Calvin Hairstyle

phillip — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:36:49 +0000

Baton Rouge scenester Kevin Hurstell has established himself as a part of Louisiana’s indie music foundation – from hosting the Indie Show on KLSU to contributing to bands such as Slobot and Otasco. His latest project is inspired by a wordperfect spellcheck correction… and the rest is history.

Check out his prowess in our latest Artist of the Month feature!

Calvin Hairstyle

Joel in Baraboo

phillip — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:43:31 +0000

Valcour’s Joel Savoy recently appeared on the soundtrack and in the film for Mary Sweeney’s first solo film project, Baraboo. Mary Sweeney, long time collaborator with David Lynch, has worked variously as editor and producer on many of his films, including Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, winning a British Academy Award for her work on the latter.

Sweeney, a Madison, Wisconsin native, returns to her roots in this Midwestern landscape in Baraboo. Originally titled Motel, Gas Station, the film was shot late last summer in various locations around Madison, including Cambridge, Utica, and Devil’s Lake. Its synopsis reads: “Set in bountiful rural Wisconsin, Baraboo follows six people who have each carved a life out for themselves at Petersens Cabins, a rundown motel/resort. Some are there by choice, and others by circumstance. They circle one another with caution, desire, anger, confusion and compassion, inching their way toward understanding.”

Links
Official Baraboo website
Baraboo on Facebook
Trailer on Youtube

Tipitina’s Song Contest Time Again!

phillip — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 03:39:24 +0000

Update: Deadline extended to Saturday, May 15th!

It is time for our second annual Tipscour song contest!

Valcour Records and the Lafayette location of the Tipitina’s Music Office Co-op (at 510 Johnston Street) are joining forces once again to present a songwriting and production contest during the month of April.

Tipitina’s Co-op, a tech access center providing business development and job skills training for local musicians, filmmakers and other digital media professionals, will serve as host to the contest, in which artists are allowed only 3 hours to record a song as an entry. The artist submitting the winning track will be awarded $200, an Artist of the Month feature on the Valcour Records website, and a full year membership at the Tipitina’s co-op!

To schedule an appointment to create your entry, please contact Rachel Nederveld at the
Lafayette Tipitina’s Music Office Co-op:

(337) 234-5137
510 Johnston St
Lafayette, LA 70501

Here are the rules & guidelines:

All entries must be recorded at the TIpitina’s Music Office Co-Op (at 510 Johnston Street) in Lafayette during the month of April (deadline extended to Saturday, May 15).
Participating artists and bands must consider their home base to be within the 22 parishes of Acadiana (and must provide a mailing address in Acadiana).*
All entries must consist of original material.
Only one entry per Artist or band (if two different bands share one member, that is fine, but different bands cannot contain two or more of the same members).
All entries must be recorded and mixed from start to finish during a single three hour recording session (it is fine to use songs previously written and worked on, but all recording music take place during the three hour session).
Song entries must be between two and four minutes in duration.
Entries will be judged by the partners at Valcour Records, LLC; criteria will include, but are not limited to: songwriting, instrumentation, vocals, creativity, performance quality, production quality, and likability.
Checks will be made out to a single recipient indicated at the time of entry, and any distribution among participants thereafter will be solely the responsibility of the artist.
Participants under 18 years of age must provide the name of a parent or legal guardian to accept financial winnings on their behalf.
All genres of music are welcome and variety is encouraged.
Contest rules are subject to change without notification.

March Artist of the Month: Picardy Birds

phillip — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 03:29:36 +0000

Part Acadiana, part jazz, many parts harmony and 100% sheer creativity. The Picardy Birds grace our Artist of the Month page for March and we think you’ll be pleasantly overwhelmed with what you hear!

Give them a listen on our March Artist of the Month Feature!

March Artist of the Month, the Picardy Birds

Dr. Feelgood… In Loving Memory

phillip — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:28:43 +0000

Thank you for for keeping our heritage alive!

Click here to read about his contributions.

Valcour Represented at GRAMMYs

phillip — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:16:19 +0000

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!

February Artist of the Month: Generationals

phillip — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:51:53 +0000

Louisiana is really becoming a hot scene for young indie acts, and it is probably safe to say these guys are leading the pack. The Generationals out of New Orleans (a project by former members of Baton Rouge’s Eames Era) are making a splash nation-wide and have legitimized Louisiana’s place among geographies producing true independent music innovators.

But see for yourself in our February 2010 Artist of the Month Feature…

February Artist of the Month: Generationals

GIVERS on Oxford American, NPR, Daytrotter

phillip — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:36:21 +0000

Everybody’s favorite Afro-pop Indie band from Lafayette, GIVERS, continue to get noticed on the national scene. In addition to having their song, Ceiling of Plankton, featured on the Oxford American’s Editors’ Picks page, the band’s song, Saw you First, has been featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered. Now, just as they get ready to kick off their Northeast/Southeast/Texas/Louisiana Spring tour, GIVERS has been invited to perform for a Daytrotter session on February 9th! It’s hard to keep track of it all, but in a futile attempt, here are some useful links for all you crazy GIVERS fans:

GIVERS on All Songs Considered

GIVERS on the Oxford American site

Daytrotter site (this link will become more useful after February 9th, but they have a fantastic collection of recordings that you can enjoy at any time!)

GIVERS tour dates on Myspace

Cedric All Over: NPR and NY Times

phillip — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:23:34 +0000

Photo courtesy of Piotr Redlinski, The New York Times

Cedric Watson et Bijou Créole’s recent performance at Globalfest in Manhattan has not gone unnoticed. Johnn Pareles at The New York Times says Cedric “reconfigures new and old Cajun music with guts and smarts” and NPR decided to feature Cedric and the band as stand out artists on All Songs Considered. Cedric’s rigorous touring schedule and his second GRAMMY nomination are paying off in the form of exposure and media coverage. We expect this trend to continue as his album is now officially nationally released and airplay and promotions have ramped up.

Read the New York Times review here

Listen to the live performance from All Songs Considered here

And if you haven’t caught the Music Voyager webisode featuring Cedric, watch it here

Spinner Shouts Out to the Savoys

phillip — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:31:42 +0000

Yes, the Savoys are all over the Cajun and Zydeco GRAMMYs – Wilson and the Pine Leaf Boys, Ann and the Magnolia Sisters, and Joel, who produced the Magnolia Sisters’ and Cedric Watson and Bijou Créole’s GRAMMY nominated albums. Steve Hochman recounts the scene at the Savoy’s latest boucherie and discusses the family’s internal competition in his Spinner writeup, Will the Savoy Family Hog the Cajun/Zydeco GRAMMY?

Check out the article, or at least watch this video of the boucherie by Gloria Maso: