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Louisiana Sounds Across the Country Introduction "You can find Louisiana in everything," Landreth once told me during an interview, after demonstrating how to play Jimi Hendrix's "Crosstown Traffic" as blistering Cajun blues. Here is more proof--a dozen dispatches from way down in the state, by a writer who has done the miles and vividly caught the people he's heard and met along the way. It is not the Louisiana in everything. But it's close."~ David Fricke -Rolling Stone July 14th 2015

Cajun Music

Cajun and Creole music is responsible for the creation of Zydeco music. It is said that Cajun music owed a great deal of its style to Afro-Creole accordion and fiddle music. This music was extremely influential and because of the presence of the Afro-Creole style modern Cajun music and Zydeco was able take form.

"I had played in house dances, family gatherings, maybe a dance hall where you might have seen as many as 200 people at once. In fact, I doubt I had ever seen 200 people at once. And in Newport, there were 17,000. Seventeen thousand people who wouldn't let us get off stage." -Dewey Balfa

Dewey Balfa is considered to be an ambassador for Cajun music and culture. He was a fiddler and singer who lived from 1927-1992 who was credited with being a driving force in the revival of traditional Cajun music. In 1964 Balfa gained great publicity and performed at the prestigious Newport Folk Festival. Balfa was originally supposed to be regular guitarist at the festival but he ended up being a last minute replacement playing with famous Cajun musicians. He and the musicians assumed that their urban audience would not accept their Cajun music, but the audience thoroughly enjoyed their performance and responded with wild cheers and applause.

D.L. Menard is sometimes called the "Cajun Hank Williams." He made multiple hits and he recorded with other greats like himself including Dewey Balfa. Mr. Menard is from Erath, LA representing Vermilion Parish. He attributes his style to Hank Williams for he grew listening to a great deal of country music. The Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time placed the Cajun musician at No. 72 in 2014. He recently passed away this past July and nationally known media outlets such as the New York Times, The Guardian, and Rolling Stone paid tribute the iconic Cajun artist.

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