Posted by Sam Murray on January 31, 2007, 10:39 am Just got back from an amazing weekend at the Gloucester Cajun Festival. I’ve been living the quiet life here in the Netherlands, so I guess the Universe made sure I was kept busy with lots of music making and Gob Shite to make up for all my recent reclusive domesticity. As it turned out I managed about 8 hours sleep in 3 nights - I just couldn’t stop the party! I’ve been performing with 3 bands over the course of the weekend; “Leon Chavis and the Zydeco Flames” (USA) on Guitar; “Breaux” (U.S.A./UK) on Drums; and “Lil’ Jim and Deepzone Zydeco” (U.K.) on percussion and backing vocals.
82.157.104.236
Gloucester Cajun & Zydeco Festival 26-28th Jan 2007
Thursday I met up with the other members of ‘Breaux’ at the Swamp Music HQ in Derby for an afternoon rehearsal. It was great to see Louisiana singer & guitarist Randy Vidrine again and to meet new fiddle player Chris Segura, only 23, also from Louisiana, and already almost as good as his long time mentor and original Breaux fiddler, Mitch Reed. In the evening we enjoyed a ‘proper’ Burns night with all the trimmings, courtesy of Hazel Scott, (the partner of the 4th member of Breaux, Chris Hall), who was also playing at the festival with her own band, the Hazel Scott Playboys. After Haggis and Tatties and Auld Lang Syne we had no stomach for beer so we started on whiskey that always seems like a good idea at the time, but not the best drink for a party as it goes down too easily for strong drink. At 4:30 am. After much whiskey and gobshite, I wobbled back to where I was staying and had to be up early to see my accountant and assess my liabilities (which are sadly manifold it would appear!), still smelling of whiskey I was told!
Friday and we Breaux boys headed for Gloucester and dropped our gear off at the Guildhall and went back to the hotel to get keys and freshen up. It’s great to be staying at the Edward Hotel again, which is a friendly old funky place with a maze of corridors that take a bit of getting used to especially when inebriated. We head for the soundcheck and meet up with all the fantastic Guildhall staff and crew for yet another year (I think it’s about the 15th festival and I’ve played most of them in some band or other). I’m using Andy Watson’s kit, (Joe Le Taxi - Lil’ Jim - Leon Chavis), for the Breaux gig and I’m surprised to see what looked like an old snare drum attached to the front of the Bass Drum; turns out it’s called a Yamaha ‘Subkick’ and it turns the Bass Drum into a Liver shaking beast of a thing! I already feel better about using someone else’s kit and I end up getting on with Andy’s posh Pearl kit very well on the night. The monitors sound fantastic as usual, courtesy of ace soundman Nick Worms and when young Chris kicks in on the fiddle I know it’s going to be a good one. It turns out to be probably the best gig we’ve ever done. Randy’s voice was in great shape and reaching high notes that only hound dogs could hear (we played in the high key for the whole gig). The near capacity crowd seemed to enjoy our sound and we ended up playing well beyond the time we should have finished. Soon it was time to head back and see if we could get a session going. For me the late night session can be the best part of the festival, and the landlord of the Edward hotel is very hospitable, even at 2 am when we stagger back. Sure enough despite being tired, we soon get some music going, and we get some fine tunes from Leon Chavis, Phil Underwood, and Chris Hall et al. We end up with a 45 minute spontaneous version of ‘Uncle Budd’ where we each had to make verses up, many of which involved the alleged sexual prowess of Leon’s dad Joe ‘Chopper’ Chavis; (well he didn’t get that name for nothing did he!) I eventually get to my bed at 6:30 am - quite drunk.
Saturday, I wake up at 9:30am and decide to go and have breakfast before crashing for another hour or so. Fortunately I’ve got no daytime workshops so I stay in the hotel and chill and practice my licks for the Leon Chavis gig. I arrive at the venue at 4:30 and we manage to get an hour rehearsal in the dressing room with the rest of the band comprising of ‘Chopper’ on vocals and percussion, Tommy Mills on 6 string Bass, and Andy Watson on Subkick drums. Tommy is looking pale and it turns out he has a heavy dose of Flu and is in much need of healing. It’s all a bit of a rush for me as I am also playing with Lil’ Jim and so I do both soundchecks, a bit of healing, (that inadvertently affects Leon more than Tommy!), and then I go straight on with the Deepzone crew. We seem to go down well and Jim is in good form and the way he performs reminds me of Kurt Cobain in his hey day, (just as long as he doesn’t trash Andy’s posh Pearl kit), and in his excitement he even introduces drummer Andy Watson as former drummer Andy McAllister! Jim needs an adoring crowd however to really take off, (like the crowd we had in Baasem Germany last year), and the crowd here seem more interested in dancing than watching Jims stage antics. Also many of the audience have seen Jim perform the same set a few times now and so it’s good to know that Jim’s new band should be up and running soon with some new material and a few surprises in store one would hope. Not many in the crowd were familiar with Leon Chavis however, though they had seen the U.K. Zydeco Flames, (Tommy, Andy and I), in various line-ups over the years. I am feeling a deep sense of responsibility as we walk on stage; people have travelled from Holland, Germany,France, and beyond to be here and paid good folding money to be entertained this weekend, especially by the headlining band. I played with Leon and his dad at the Raamsdonksveer festival in Holland in June last year and I had no doubt in his ability to please the crowd; but with only a short rehearsal under our belt the potential for the rest of us to #### up on stage was quite high. I needn’t have worried though as we soon were off playing a two and a half hour set as if we had been playing together for years and although the dancers seemed happy with the music there were a good many who stood at the front and watched and free styled the night away. Andy’s drumming was well ‘in the pocket’, Tommy, despite (or perhaps because of) having Flu laid down some feverish Bass runs, and I guess I managed to strum along passionately enough without making too many mistakes! Up on stage it all seemed very tight and full of energy and Leon seemed genuinely pleased with his new band and we also got a great reaction from the punters. After the gig it was back to the hotel for another session and some fine tunes from the likes of Gavin Lewery, Hartmut Hedgewald, Leon Chavis, and Dan Eldon, (who does a mean performance of Ska & reggae classics on the single row accordion). Again I wonder why I am always among the last ones standing at these sessions as Dan, Leon, and I put the world to rights into the wee small hours of the morning, and Dan & I explain to Leon how Reggae and Ska can combine very successfully with Zydeco as Keith Frank has already demonstrated. After breakfast I go back to my room and find fiddle player Ian Tothill up and about and we chat about our solo projects and it turns out he is working in a similar genre to me and hopefully he will accept my ‘add’ and you can check out his site ‘A Tribe of One’ via my top friends before long, he makes some awesome music by the way!
I manage to have a 30 minute cat nap before having to get ready for my trip back to Holland. Fortunately the station is nearby and on the train I meet the gorgeous Isabelle from France, who helps to organise the Saulieu Cajun festival in Burgundy, who is on her way back to Paris so we share the train and bus journey. Her English is almost as bad as my French, (which is non existent), but we pass the time trying to converse with the help of a French/English dictionary and singing ‘Les Flammes D’Enfer’. At the airport we meet up with Bobby Michot, Michel Lemare, and Jock Tyldesley from ‘Les Advocats Du Plantain’ also playing at the festival. Bobby and Michel were on their way back to Paris so the Cajun travel fairies were certainly looking after Isabelle and I’m sure she had good company all the way back to France. Jock is waiting to meet his partner Vera who is flying in from Holland as they are both playing with Hazel on Sunday night so we have chance to catch up over a coffee after Bobby and co have gone. I slept for most of the journey back on the plane and train, tired but very happy with the weekend, which was probably one of the best ever Gloucester festivals.
Sam Murray
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