Posted by Andy Watson on December 10, 2007, 7:46 pm, in reply to "Re: Cajun UK the future -- personal conclusions"
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I can only speak from my point of view/experiences, which is Zydeco...
When I played for Leon Chavis he told me that "back home" they play mainly R&B and Hip-Hop influenced Zydeco. The reasons for this being that the music the black communities are into is mainly R&B and Hip-Hop. Leon said to Jim and me that the key to creating a scene is to try and do what they did in Louisiana, take a popular style of music and integrate it into Zydeco; some styles fit very well with Zydeco i.e. R&B, Hip-Hop, Funk... he said that they do throw in the occasional Zydeco 'Standard' but even then they funk it up and give it an R&B feel.
People like Keith Frank, Chris Ardoin, Sean Ardoin, J Paul Jnr (who is from Texas by the way), Leon Chavis (who IS from Lawtell), Curley Taylor... the list is almost endless these days... have seen this and have used the popular music infused with Zydeco to reach a wider audience. This did prove very difficult at first and I know from speaking to the likes of Leon Chavis, Joe Chavis, Keith Frank, Curley Taylor, Boss Hogg (a Drummer who has played regularly with the late Beau Jocque, Double Clutchin' and Zydeco Trouble) that there was a time when they weren't taken seriously by their peers... but with a lot of hard work and trying to find the right mix they succeeded. What also helped MASSIVELY for the Zydeco bands has been the 'Trail Ride' scene in Louisiana and Texas. The Zydeco bands have a found a scene that has pretty much adopted them. These guys are playing to hundreds and sometimes thousands of people at Trail Rides. I guess it's like Jim forming a young Zydeco band influenced by Ska Punk and taking it to the extreme sports scene in the UK/Europe... it would probably go down very well (I have been part of the UK extreme sports scene for quite sometime) because they get off on energetic music and I reckon Zydeco/Ska/Punk would be a hit... if the music fused well enough!
I guess that the Zydeco scene has only had a resurgence with a younger scene through A LOT of hard work over a number of years and a bit of luck with the them hitting it off with the trail riders! Also this popularity has meant a spread into more mainstream arenas, such as the casino's. Most of the young Zydeco bands in Louisiana have regular gigs/residences at the Casinos; and I'm sure that this will lead to gigs in other types of venues other than dance halls. As far as I could gather from what Leon was saying, they don't actually play in dance halls too much.
I don't know what the future holds for either Cajun or Zydeco music in the UK.... maybe they need to carve their own paths? Does Cajun appeal more to the folkies... would Zydeco appeal more to the SKA/Punk scene? I don't know the answers to these questions but maybe part of the problem for Cajun music and Zydeco music is that they are always lumped together under one banner 'Cajun & Zydeco' or CZ. I think this may do them both harm. I had a conversation with Sarah Savoy after I met her at Saulieu and she commented on the European fixation of branding both styles music into one package, when they are clearly different styles of music that happen to share a few common threads. I know she is currently working on trying to kick start a Cajun scene in Paris and although she wants to work with Zydeco bands too, she wants to educate people of the differences yet still show how they can still collaborate. She is also trying to fuse Cajun with Rockabilly, as there is a vibrant Rockabilly scene in Paris. She has already started this with her band 'Sarah Savoy & The Francadians'. She been going to Rockabilly clubs and the response she has been gettings is positive from what I hear... so maybe this will work in France. Maybe it could work in the UK??
I know this won't help the current Cajun UK problem, but this debate has been sparked and the more ideas and views that come from it the better.
Cheers
Andy Watson
p.s. Werd.... who are you?? why hide behind a screen name? You aren't supposed to be dead are you... your canoe didn't get washed up on the beach did it?? 
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