WXPN and Allons Danser are excited to welcome Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie to the Commodore Barry Club in Mount Airy, Philadelphia this Friday, May 29th. Read more
Month: May 2015
Watch the Trey Anastasio Band cover “Acting the Devil” by Chris Ardoin
While Zydeco musicians have a lot of fun putting their Creole flair on mainstream pop and rock songs (just ask Sean Ardoin, Buckwheat Zydeco or Clifton Chenier) it’s less often that a band outside of Southwest Louisiana covers a zydeco tune. But not only has Phish frontman Trey Anastasio covered Chris Ardoin and Double Clutchin‘s “Acting the Devil,” he and his solo band have played the song in concert thirty times between 2001 and 2014. Read more
Dwayne Dopsie carries on a Lafayette tradition
Dwayne Dopsie remembers that fateful day in 1999. Dospie, then 16, told his mom he was quitting school to play zydeco.
His father, zydeco legend Rockin’ Dopsie, had died six years earlier. Dwayne had a burning desire to follow in his footsteps.
“After he passed away, it seemed like everything changed,” said Dopsie, 36. “My interest for school went out the door. I told my mom that I wanted to play. She said ‘You’re going to need that schooling to fall back on.’ Read more
The Advertiser reports on El Sido’s 30th anniversary
Sid Williams has been running his Lafayette club El Sido’s for thirty years now. The venue has been an integral and joyful part of the town over the last few decades, launching zydeco careers, offering a place for friends and family to gather and lending a hand to the community. But as Herman Fuselier discusses in his profile of the venue for The Advertiser, El Sido’s isn’t experiencing the level of success it once was. Read more
Watch: WURD host Stephanie Renee on zydeco, highlights of Marcus Ardoin and Rockin’ Dopsie in concert
Marcus Ardoin & Da Zydeco Legends traveled to Philadelphia with Rockin’ Dopsie Jr & The Zydeco Twisters last month for another outstanding evening of music and dance. For this event, WXPN partnered with local community radio station WURD to bring the music to a larger audience and introduce XPN’s listeners to another perspective of zydeco’s importance. Watch highlights of the concert below, along with interviews with WURD radio host Stephanie Renee and WURD listener Rob Carter. Listen back to the full audio archive of the concert here. Read more
Watch an interview with zydeco dance instructor Harold Guillory
For the first Zydeco Crossroads concert back in December, we thought it would be important to introduce the dance aspect of the experience along with the music. So Harold Guillory, a dance instructor from Lake Charles, LA traveled up to Philadelphia with Curley Taylor to lead the sold-out Kimmel Center crowd in a dance lesson before the show. We interviewed Guillory about the dance’s ability to draw new people to the music, why it sets zydeco apart and how it allows fans to express themselves in a different way. Read more
Terrance Simien will bring Creole for Kidz to Celebrate Brooklyn! next month
Creole for Kidz & The History of Zydeco is a CD and live show created by musician and educator Terrance Simien. He’s taken the show on the road up and down the eastern seaboard, including a special presentation at the Berklee College of Music for its American Roots Music and African Studies visiting arts program, to educate students about creole culture and music.
On June 6th the program will be presented at a free event in conjunction with Celebrate Brooklyn! at the Prospect Park Bandshell. Read more