Nick Spitzer, host of American Routes on WWNO in Louisiana, sat down with the late and legendary zydeco artist Beau Jocque in this archival interview from 1998. Read more.
Author: Julie Miller
Go behind the scenes of Key of Z Rubboards in Sunset, LA
Sunset, Louisiana is about a twenty-minute drive straight north from Lafayette and it’s the official world capital of rubboards, thanks to Tee Don Landry and his Key of Z Rubboards company. Started by Tee Don’s father, Key of Z has been making the percussive bib by hand since 1946. Read more.
Soul Creole featured in The 78 Project film, currently screening across the country
Inspired by John and Alan Lomax’s field recordings of the 1930s, Alex Steyermark and Lavinia Jones Wright began The 78 Project in 2011 as a way of connecting a thread from those early archival recordings to contemporary musicians. Armed with a 1930s Presto direct-to-acetate recorder and many painstakingly-crafted acetate disks, the Philadelphia area filmmakers travel across the country to encounter musicians of all styles. Read more.
Dikki Du & The Zydeco Krewe at The TK Club
It’ll be another night of zydeco fun at The TK Club in Conshohocken tomorrow when Dikki Du & The Zydeco Krewe roll in from Louisiana. The brother of Chubby, Troy Carrier started his own band over a decade ago after touring with the Carrier family band. Troy’s trademark style repurposes traditional zydeco songs with jazzy arrangements and funky grooves, making his music perfect for a dance floor. Read more.
Watch Rockin’ Dopsie Jr talk about his zydeco experience
Rockin’ Dopsie Jr returned to his hometown of Lafayette and shared some zydeco knowledge with us while the ZC team was exploring the Southwest Louisiana city. In this interview clip Dopsie Jr talks about his decision to move to New Orleans and the subsequent spread of zydeco to the land of brass and jazz, the zydeco artists he grew up listening to and more. Read more.
Watch an interview with Chubby Carrier outside of El Sido’s
Chubby Carrier spent a few minutes with us to film this interview clip outside of El Sido’s in Lafayette, LA last October. The Bayou Swamp bandleader talks about the first time he saw his Grandfather playing the accordion, gets technical with an explanation of diatonic vs. chromatic accordions and explains what it is about zydeco music that makes people feel so good. Read more.
The crossroads of Creole and Cajun musicians
By now we know the difference between Cajun and zydeco music. As Michael Tisserand put it in our interview with him, “The difference between Cajun and zydeco music is zydeco music reflects the Creole origins of its performers, heavily influeced by African Carribean and African music. Cajun music reflects the Acadian white Cajuns coming down from current day Nova Scotia.” Read more.
Watch Soul Creole perform “Madeleine” at Blue Moon Saloon
Soul Creole performs “Madeleine” at Blue Moon Saloon in Lafayette, LA on October 30, 2014, a clip from the forthcoming Zydeco Crossroads documentary film by Robert Mugge.
Watch Rockin’ Dopsie at El Sid O’s Zydeco & Blues Club
Listen to Zydeco Crossroads’ Holiday Mixtape, part 3
We complete the Zydeco Crossroads Holiday Mixtape with this third installment. Check out festive songs from both cajun and creole musicians, like LeeRon Zydeco covering a Christmas classic and La Compagnie Creole singing a beautiful holiday wish. Listen back to parts one and two here and put some southern comfort into your holiday this year! Read more