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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

Zydeco Music

Many consider Clifton Chenier as the King and creator of the Zydeco we know today and in some picture you can actually see him wearing a crown. Clifton Chenier has influenced many and has been praised for his musical creativity by many greats across the United States. Nationally known individuals such as Paul Simon, Rory Gallagher, and John Mellencamp have praised Chenier for his musical contributions. He was recognized for his ability to smoothly transition into and out of different key signatures of music. He will forever be remembered as a Louisiana legend and musical genius both in Louisiana and in the United States.
"We went on to and recorded ["Ay-Te Te Fe"] and I've been going ever since...New York, Chicago, Florida, but they had me with a fellow named Lowell Fulson. He had some hit records out. Mine was hit, too, but mostly down here. His was a hit in New York, Chicago...so he was carrying me in New York, but I was carrying him down here. That man showed me how to stand up on the bandstand."

"I've been on the road with pretty near all the artists you can call: Lowell Fulson, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, Jim McCracklin, Pee Wee Crayton, T-Bone Walker, Five Royals, The Midnighters, [Etta] 'Eddie' James, Bill Doggett, Ray Charles, Little Richard, me and Jimmy Reed and Chuck Berry. I met everyone you could call, mostly...'Eddie' James? Her name is Etta but I call her Eddie...
I met Etta James in 1955...Went all over Florida, New York, Chicago, everywhere me and Etta James. She stayed with me about a year and something on the road. One time they pulled us over, thought Etta James was a white woman, and wanted to kill us..."
"That blew my mind man," said Multi-Grammy winner David Hidalgo of Los Lobos while he was in east Los Angeles after hearing Clifton Chenier for the first time.~

It was said that Mr. Buckwheat Zydeco was known as the leader of the world's most successful zydeco band. Buckwheat Zydeco and the Ils Sont Partis Band has recorded with Eric Clapton, Dwight Yoakam, Willie Nelson, and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos. Mavis staples of the Staple singers was featured on Buckwheat's album and his ensemble opened gigs for U2. Mr. Buckwheat was also featured on Rolling Stone Keith Richard's solo debut.
Buckwheat performing with the Neville Brothers of New Orleans.~

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