Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based, Cajun-influenced zydeco form, both of Acadiana origin. These French Louisiana sounds have influenced American popular music for many decades, especially country music, and have influenced pop culture through mass media, such as television commercials.

Aural Analysis[link]

Cajun music is relatively harsh with an infectious beat and a lot of forward drive, placing the accordion at the center. Besides the voices, only two melodic instruments are heard, the accordion and fiddle, but usually in the background can also be heard the high, clear tones of a metal triangle. The harmonies of Cajun music are simple, basically I, IV, and V, tonic, sub-dominant, and dominant with many tunes just using I and V. The melodic range is just one octave, rising a fifth above the tonic and descending a fourth below. Because the Cajun accordion is a diatonic instrument, i.e., do-re-mi or natural major scale, it can only play tunes in a few keys. For example, a "C" accordion is tuned such that the entire C scale is available on the ten buttons (over two octaves) and it can play a tune in the key of C with all the notes of the C scale available (C-D-E-F-G-A-B). A "C" accordion can also play a tune in the key of "G" however one note of the G scale will be missing which is F#. So tunes played in the key of G will not have an F# note. A "C" accordion can also play a few Cajun songs in the key of "F" however the Bb note will be missing. Also it can play in the key of "D" with a bluesy sound since the "F" natural note becomes a flat third or "minor" third in the key of D. However a skilled acccordion player can play in these other keys and still make good music whereby the notes missing (because of the limitations of the diatonic tuning) are not needed by the melody. Since an instrument must match the singer's range, much Cajun singing is sung in the singer's upper range. The accordionist gives the vocal melody greater energy by repeating most notes.^[1]

Subgenres of Cajun Music[link]

See also the History of Cajun Music

Traditional Cajun[link]

	Balfa Brothers - J'ai Passé Devant Ta Porte noicon An example of a popular Cajun Waltz.
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This style comprises the roots of Cajun dance music, involving only a few instruments such as the Cajun accordion, fiddle, and triangle. This form holds firm to a basic rhythm with staccato style notes, including lots of fiddle double stops. Each fiddle solo is composed of a major scale riff, repeated between verses. This form has existed since the early 1900s and the waltz and two-step are the most common dances of this Cajun music genre. Many songs that became standards in the Cajun music repertoire were first recorded in this period of the 1920s and 30s. A number of the most prominent traditional Cajun musicians are featured in the 1989 documentary J'Ai Ete Au Bal.

Country/Texas Swing Cajun[link]

This style involves heavy elements of Texas country music influence and a move away from the traditional accordion. This music has more of a "swing" style popularized by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. Instead of the music being dominated by the accordion, Cajun swing relies heavily on the fiddle and piano with a swinging tempo. Bands in the 1940s began using the steel guitar, an instrument which also found use in Dancehall Cajun music. Dances such as "the jig" are common among this genre of Cajun music. Harry Choates and the Hackberry Ramblers are early examples of this style, The Red Stick Ramblers and The Lost Bayou Ramblers are contemporary bands playing in this style.

Dancehall Cajun[link]

This style is similar to traditional Cajun music with added accompaniment such as the bass guitar, drum kit, steel guitar, and rhythm guitar, electric or acoustic. The same abrupt, staccato feel can be felt as in traditional Cajun. This style originated in the post-War era of the late 1940s and continues up until the present in small town dancehalls. Electrification of the dance venues allowed the fiddle to be played in a smoother style, alternating leads with the accordion. The steel guitar also adds remarks. Typically in dancehall Cajun performances the melody is played by the accordion followed by a bridge, a vocal verse, a leading line by the steel guitar, a leading line by the fiddle, then a leading line by the accordion player again followed by a bridge. This is followed by the next vocal verse, and so on. The characteristics of dancehall Cajun can be seen in artists such as Jesse Légé, and The Basin Brothers Band.

Cajun "Renaissance"[link]

Drawing on elements of the earlier Traditional, Texas Swing, and Dancehall periods, the Cajun "Renaissance" also incorporates more modern elements of Folk, blues, jazz and swamp pop, and bluegrass styles. The fiddle players relax, involving a more legato feel to the solos. The quick fiddle action and double stops are missing, replaced by dominant blues chords and jazz slides.

Pioneers such as Beausoleil with Michael Doucet, Zachary Richard, Jambalaya Cajun Band, Bruce Daigrepont, and others broke new ground, while other musicians such as Eddie LeJeune, Robert Jardell, Les Frères Michot, The Pine Leaf Boys, and others brought energy to older, more traditional forms.

Contemporary Cajun Music[link]

This style involves Cajun music with a heavy influence of rock, R&B, blues, soul, and zydeco, producing a less traditional, more contemporary sound. Although led by the accordion, you can find the electric guitar, washboard, and keyboard present in this form. Since the 1980s, musicians such as Wayne Toups, Roddie Romero and the Hub City Allstars, Lee Benoit, Damon Troy, Kevin Naquin, and Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys have popularized this modern form of Cajun music.^[2][3]

Doug Kershaw recorded "Louisiana Man", an autobiographical song that he had written while in the Army. The song sold millions of copies ; over the years it has come to be considered a standard of modern Cajun music.^[4] The song was eventually covered by more than 800 artists.

Lyrics[link]

The unaccompanied ballad was the earliest form of Cajun music. The narrative songs often had passionate themes of death, solitude or ill-fated love — a reaction to their harsh exile and rough frontier experience, as well as celebrations of love and humorous tales. Ballads were ritually sung at weddings and funerals, and sung informally for small groups of people at house parties as the food cooked and young children played.

The early songs were mixtures of la la, contredanses, reels and jigs and other folk influences from black, white and Native American traditions. Early song lyrics were entirely in Cajun French. Though French language is still common, some Cajun music today is sung in English with younger singers and audiences.

Instruments[link]

Traditional Cajun instruments: tit-fer, Cajun accordion, and a fiddle.

'Cajun Red Stars', Vienna, 2010

In earlier years, the fiddle was the predominant instrument. Usually two fiddles were common, one playing the melody while the other provided the séconde, or back-up part. Twin fiddling traditions represent the music in its purest form, as it was brought to Louisiana with the early immigrants and before popular American tunes mingled with it.

Gradually, the Cajun accordion emerged to share the limelight.

In the early 1930s, the accordion was pushed into the background by the popular string sounds of the time. Piano and other string instruments joined fiddle to create a jazzy swing beat strongly influenced by Western Swing of neighboring Texas. The Cajun fiddle was a well established instrument which had been somewhat eclipsed by the German accordion fad, which had similar effect in French Canada. But in the Depression era the tide turned, and, according to Stricklin et al., it had never been eclipsed.^[5]

After World War II, the accordion regained its popularity in Cajun music. Also, in the late 1930s and 1940s, country music became the dominant influence on Cajun music, and bass and steel guitars were used.

Modern Cajun music began taking on the influence of jazz and modern country music, resulting in a more polished sound. The acoustic guitar was added, mostly as a rhythm instrument, and the triangle provided a traditional percussion. Modern groups sometimes include drums, electric bass, electric guitars and amplified accordion and fiddles.

Dance and festivals[link]

Cajun music, born from ballads, has transformed to dance music—with or without words. The music was essential for small get-togethers on the front porch, an all night house dance known as a "bal de maison", or a public dance in a dance hall called a fais do-dos.

There are several variations of Cajun dance: a Cajun One Step, also called a Cajun Jig, a Cajun Two Step or related Cajun Jitterbug, and a Cajun Waltz. In mild contrast, zydeco dancing is a syncopated two-step or jitterbug. A Cajun dancer will cover the dance floor while the zydeco dancer will primarily dance in a smaller area.

Cajun music can be found predominantly at Louisiana festivals and dance halls, in addition to weddings in Acadiana.

See also[link]

• Cajun French Music Association
• List of festivals in Louisiana
• List of Notable People Related to Cajun Music
• History of Cajun Music
• Swamp pop music
• Tintamarre, an Acadian sound celebration

References[link]

External links[link]

• Field Recorders Collective CDs of Dewey Balfa, Dennis McGee and Sady Courville from private collections now made public
• Cajun Music essays
• Cajun Music Hall of Fame and Museum
• The Cajun French Music Association
• CajunZydeco Net
• Radio Louisiane
• Cajun Music mp3: samples of Cajun music: "Hadacol it Something"
• Jolie Blonde : Lyrics and song history of the traditional Cajun waltz, often referred to as "the Cajun National Anthem".
• A Brief History of Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco Music
• NPR story about a band named Feufollet
• Cajunlyrics.com - Cajun, Swamp-Pop & Zydeco Lyrics

Academic

• Cajun and Creole Music Collection at Edith Garland Dupré Library, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
• Contemporary Louisiana Cajun, Creole and Zydeco Musicians

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Cajuns

Total population
2–5 million[citation needed]
Regions with significant populations
United States
Louisiana 432,549 Texas 56,000
Languages
Cajun French Cajun English, American English, Standard French, Acadian French
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
French, Québécois, Métis, Acadians, Louisiana Creoles

Cajuns ( /ˈkeɪdʒən/; French: les Cadiens or les Acadiens, [le kadjɛ̃, lez‿akadjɛ̃]) are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles (French-speakers from Acadia in what are now the Canadian Maritimes). Today, the Cajuns make up a significant portion of south Louisiana's population, and have exerted an enormous impact on the state's culture.^[1]

While Lower Louisiana had been settled by French colonists since the late 18th century, the Cajuns trace their roots to the influx of Acadian settlers after the Great Expulsion from their homeland during the French and Indian War (1754 to 1763). The Acadia region to which modern Cajuns trace their origin consisted largely of what are now Nova Scotia and the other Maritime provinces, plus parts of eastern Quebec and northern Maine. Since their establishment in Louisiana the Cajuns have developed their own dialect, Cajun French, and developed a vibrant culture including folkways, music, and cuisine.

Acadia[link]

The origin of the designation Acadia is credited to the explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, who on his 16th century map applied the ancient Greek name "Arcadia" to the entire Atlantic coast north of Virginia. "Arcadia" derives from the Arcadia district in Greece which since Classical antiquity had the extended meanings of "refuge" or "idyllic place". The Dictionary of Canadian Biography says: "In the 17th century Champlain fixed its present orthography, with the 'r' omitted, and (the Canadian historian) W.F.Ganong has shown its gradual progress northwards, in a succession of maps, to its resting place in the Atlantic Provinces."^[2]

Ethnic group of national origin[link]

The Cajuns retain a unique dialect of the French language and numerous other cultural traits that distinguish them as an ethnic group. Cajuns were officially recognized by the U.S. government as a national ethnic group in 1980 per a discrimination lawsuit filed in federal district court. Presided over by Judge Edwin Hunter, the case, known as Roach v. Dresser Industries Valve and Instrument Division (494 F.Supp. 215, D.C. La., 1980), hinged on the issue of the Cajuns' ethnicity. Significantly, Judge Hunter held in his ruling that:

History of Acadian ancestors[link]

Joseph Broussard ("Beausoleil"). Artist Herb Roe

The British Conquest of Acadia happened in 1710. Over the next forty-five years, the Acadians refused to sign an unconditional oath of allegiance to Britain. During this time period Acadians participated in various militia operations against the British and maintained vital supply lines to the French Fortress of Louisbourg and Fort Beausejour.^[3] During the French and Indian War (part of the Seven Years War and known by that name in Canada and Europe), the British sought to neutralize the Acadian military threat and to interrupt their vital supply lines to Louisbourg by deporting Acadians from Acadia.^[4] During 1755-1763 Acadia consisted of parts of present-day Canada: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. The deportation of the Acadians has become known as the Great Upheaval or Le Grand Dérangement.

The Acadians' migration from Canada was spurred by the Treaty of Paris (1763) which ended the war. The treaty terms provided 18 months for unrestrained emigration. Many Acadians moved to the region of the Atakapa in present-day Louisiana, often travelling via the French Colony of Saint-Domingue (present day Haiti).^[5] Joseph Broussard led the first group of 200 Acadians to arrive in Louisiana on February 27, 1765 aboard the Santo Domingo.^[6] On April 8, 1765, he was appointed militia captain and commander of the "Acadians of the Atakapas" region in St. Martinville.^[7] Some of the settlers wrote to their family scattered around the Atlantic to encourage them to join them at New Orleans. For example, Jean-Baptiste Semer, wrote to his father in France:

The Acadians were scattered throughout the eastern seaboard. Families were split and put on ships with different destinations.^[9] Many ended up west of the Mississippi River in what was then French-colonized Louisiana, including territory as far north as Dakota territory. France had ceded the colony to Spain in 1762, prior to their defeat by Britain and two years before the first Acadians began settling in Louisiana. The interim French officials provided land and supplies to the new settlers. The Spanish governor, Bernardo de Gálvez, later proved to be hospitable, permitting the Acadians to continue to speak their language, practice their native religion (Roman Catholicism – which was also the official religion of Spain), and otherwise pursue their livelihoods with minimal interference. Some families and individuals did travel north through the Louisiana territory to set up homes as far north as Wisconsin. Cajuns fought in the American Revolution. Although they fought for Spanish General Galvez, their contribution to the winning of the war has been recognized.^[10]

"Galvez leaves New Orleans with an army of Spanish regulars and the Louisiana militia made up of 600 Cajun volunteers and captures the British strongholds of Fort Bute at Bayou Manchac, across from the Acadian settlement at St. Gabriel. And on September 21, they attack and capture Baton Rouge."^{[citation needed]}

A review of participating soldiers shows many common Cajun names among those who fought in the battles of Baton Rouge and West Florida. The Galvez Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was formed in memory of those soldiers.^[11] The Acadians' joining the fight against the British was partially a reaction to the British having evicted them from Acadia.

The Spanish colonial government settled the earliest group of Acadian exiles west of New Orleans, in what is now south-central Louisiana—an area known at the time as Attakapas, and later the center of the Acadiana region. As Brasseaux wrote, "The oldest of the pioneer communities . . . Fausse Point, was established near present-day Loreauville by late June 1765."^[12] The Acadians shared the swamps, bayous and prairies with the Attakapa and Chitimacha Native American tribes.

After the end of the American Revolutionary War, about 1,500 more Acadians arrived in New Orleans. About 3,000 Acadians had been deported to France during the Great Upheaval. In 1785 about 1,500 were authorized to emigrate to Louisiana, often to be reunited with their families, or because they could not settle in France.^[13] Living in a relatively isolated region until the early 20th century, Cajuns today are largely assimilated into the mainstream society and culture. Some Cajuns live in communities outside of Louisiana. Also, some people identify themselves as Cajun culturally despite lacking Acadian ancestry.

Ethnic mixing and alternate origins[link]

Not all Cajuns descend solely from Acadian exiles who settled in south Louisiana in the 18th century, as many have intermarried with other groups. Their members now include people with ancestry of British, Spanish, German, Italian, Native American, Métis and French Creole settlers. Historian Carl A. Brasseaux asserted that it was this process of intermarriage that created the Cajuns in the first place.^[1]

Non-Acadian French Creoles in rural areas were absorbed into Cajun communities. Some Cajun parishes, such as Evangeline and Avoyelles, possess relatively few inhabitants of Acadian origin. Their populations descend in many cases from settlers who migrated to the region from Quebec, Mobile, or directly from France. Theirs is regarded as the purest dialect of French spoken within Acadiana. Regardless, it is generally acknowledged that Acadian influences have prevailed in most sections of south Louisiana.

Many Cajuns also have ancestors who were not French. Many of the original settlers in French Acadia were English, for example the Melansons (originally Mallinson). Irish, German, Greek, Spanish Canary Islanders, and Italian colonists began to settle in Louisiana before and after the Louisiana Purchase, particularly on the German Coast along the Mississippi River north of New Orleans. People of Latin American origin, a number of early Filipino settlers (notably in Saint Malo, Louisiana), known as "Manilamen," from the annual cross-Pacific Galleon or Manila Galleon trade with neighboring Acapulco, Mexico, descendants of African American slaves, and some Cuban Americans have also settled along the Gulf Coast and, in some cases, intermarried into Cajun families. Anglo-American settlers in the region often were assimilated into Cajun communities, especially those who arrived before the English language became predominant in southern Louisiana.

One obvious result of this cultural mixture is the variety of surnames that are common among the Cajun population. Surnames of the original Acadian settlers (which are documented) have been augmented by French and non-French family names that have become part of Cajun communities. The spelling of many family names has changed over time. (See, for example, Eaux).^{[citation needed]}

Modern preservation and renewed connections[link]

During the early part of the 20th century, attempts were made to suppress Cajun culture by measures such as forbidding the use of the Cajun French language in schools. After the Compulsory Education Act forced Cajun children to attend formal schools, American teachers threatened, punished, and sometimes beat their Cajun students in an attempt to force them to use English (a language many of them had not been exposed to before). During World War II, Cajuns often served as French interpreters for American forces in France; this helped to overcome prejudice.^[14]

In 1968 the organization of Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) was founded to preserve the French language in Louisiana. Besides advocating for their legal rights, Cajuns also recovered for themselves a sense of ethnic pride and appreciation for their ancestry. Since the mid-1950s, relations between the Cajuns of the U.S. Gulf Coast and Acadians in the Maritimes and New England have been renewed, forming an Acadian identity common to Louisiana, New England, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

State Senator Dudley LeBlanc ("Coozan Dud", a Cajun slang nickname for "Cousin Dudley") took a group of Cajuns to Nova Scotia in 1955 for the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the expulsion. The Congrès Mondial Acadien, a large gathering of Acadians and Cajuns held every five years since 1994, is another example of continued unity.

Sociologists Jacques Henry and Carl L. Bankston III have maintained that the preservation of Cajun ethnic identity is a result of the social class of Cajuns. During the 18th and 19th century, "Cajuns" came to be identified as the French-speaking rural people of Southwestern Louisiana. Over the course of the 20th century, the descendants of these rural people became the working class of their region. This change in the social and economic circumstances of families in Southwestern Louisiana created nostalgia for an idealized version of the past. Henry and Bankston point out that "Cajun", which was formerly considered an insulting term, became a term of pride among Louisianans by the beginning of the 21st-century.^[15]

Culture[link]

The 22 parishes of Acadiana. The Cajun heartland of Louisiana is highlighted in darker red.

Geography[link]

Geography had a strong correlation to Cajun lifestyles. Most Cajuns resided in Acadiana, where their descendants are still predominant. Cajun populations today are found also in the area southwest of New Orleans and scattered in areas adjacent to the French Louisiana region, such as to the north in Alexandria, Louisiana. Over the years, many Cajuns and Creoles also migrated to the Beaumont and Port Arthur area of Southeast Texas, in especially large numbers as they followed oil-related jobs in the 1970s and 1980s, when oil companies moved jobs from Louisiana to Texas. However, the city of Lafayette is referred to as "The Heart of Acadiana" because of its location, and it is a major center of Cajun-Creole culture.

Music[link]

Cajun music is evolved from its roots in the music of the French-speaking Catholics of Canada. In earlier years the fiddle was the predominant instrument, but gradually the accordion has come to share the limelight. Cajun music gained national attention in 2007, when the Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album category was created.^[16]

Cuisine[link]

Cajun boudin rolled into a ball and deep fried

Outside Louisiana, and even within, some food writers wish to distinguish between Cajun and Louisiana Creole cuisine, maintaining that Creole dishes tend to be more sophisticated and continental while Cajun food is rural, more seasoned, sometimes spicy, and tends to be heartier. This distinction is based mostly on encounters with the cuisines as encountered in eateries in New Orleans. Outside the city, Cajuns and Creoles often intermingle socially and culturally, and chances are that the cooking of Cajuns and Creoles living in Lawtell for example, have more in common with each other than the Creole dishes of a Lawtell resident and one from Isle Brevelle. Both cuisines tend to focus on local ingredients like locally available wild game (e.g., duck, rabbit), vegetables (e.g., okra, mirlitons), and grain (e.g., rice), which is where they remain distinctive, since many of these ingredients have never truly entered American mainstream cuisine and thus were available to displace local traditions.

Since many Cajuns and Creoles were farmers and not especially wealthy, they were known for not wasting any part of a butchered animal. Cracklins are a popular snack made by frying pork skins or fat and boudin is created from the ground-up leftover parts of a hog after the best meat is taken, which is mixed with cooked rice. It is usually formed into a sausage, but can also be rolled in a ball and deep-fried called a boudin ball.^[17]

Language[link]

Cajun French is a variety or dialect of the French language spoken primarily in the Acadiana region of Louisiana. At one time there were as many as seven dialects spread across the Cajun Heartland.

Recent documentation has been made of Cajun English, a French-influenced dialect of English spoken by Cajuns, either as a second language, in the case of the older members of the community, or as a first language by younger Cajuns.

Religious traditions[link]

Cajuns are predominantly Roman Catholic. However, Protestant and Evangelical Christian denominations have made inroads among Cajuns, but not without controversy—many Cajuns will shun family members if they convert to any form of Protestantism because of the extreme persecution the Cajuns were subjected to by Protestants during the Great Expulsion of 1755, and throughout their history for maintaining their Catholicism.^{[citation needed]}

The 1992 cookbook, Who's Your Mama, Are You Catholic and Can You Make a Roux by Cajun Chef Marcelle Bienvenue outlines long-standing beliefs that Cajun identity was rooted in community, cuisine, and very specifically, devout Roman Catholicism. Traditional Catholic religious observances such as Mardi Gras, Lent, and Holy Week are integral to many Cajun communities. Likewise, these Traditional Catholic religious observances may further be understood from Cultural Catholicism in Cajun-Creole Louisiana by Marcia Gaudet^[18] which tells us that such traditional religious observances, although they may not be "strictly theological and liturgical forms", are still integral and necessary to many and remain religiously valid as "unofficial religious customs and traditions are certainly a part of Roman Catholicism as it is practiced".^[19]

Mardi Gras[link]

Musicians playing at a traditional Courir de Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras, (French for "Fat Tuesday", also known as Shrove Tuesday), is the day before Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent, a 40 day period of fasting and reflection in preparation for Easter Sunday. Mardi Gras was historically a time to use up the foods that were not to be used during Lent, including fat, eggs, and meat.

Mardi Gras celebrations in rural Acadiana are distinct from the more widely known celebrations in New Orleans and other metropolitan areas. A distinct feature of the Cajun celebration centers on the Courir de Mardi Gras (translated: fat Tuesday run).^[20] A group of people, usually on horseback and wearing capuchons (a cone-shaped ceremonial hat) and traditional costumes, will approach a farmhouse and ask for something for the community gumbo pot. Often, the farmer or his wife will allow the riders to have a chicken, if they can catch it. The group then puts on a show, comically attempting to catch the chicken set out in a large open area. Songs are sung, jokes are told, and skits are acted out. When the chicken is caught, it is added to the pot at the end of the day.^[20] The courir held in the small town of Mamou has become well known. This tradition has much in common with the observance of La Chandeleur, or Candlemas (February 2), by Acadians in Nova Scotia.

Easter[link]

On Pâques (French for Easter), a game called pâquer, or pâque-pâque was played. Contestants selected hard-boiled eggs, paired off, and tapped the eggs together — the player whose egg did not crack was declared the winner. This is an old European tradition that has survived in Acadia until today. Today Easter is still celebrated by Cajuns with the traditional game of 'paque', but is now also celebrated in the same fashion as Christians throughout the United States with candy-filled baskets, "Easter bunny" stories, dyed eggs, and Easter Egg hunts.

Folk beliefs[link]

One folk custom is belief in a traiteur, or Cajun healer, whose primary method of treatment involves the laying on of hands and of prayers. An important part of Cajun folk religion, the traiteur is a faith healer who combines Catholic prayer and medicinal remedies to treat a variety of ailments, including earaches, toothaches, warts, tumors, angina, and bleeding. Another is in the Rougarou, a version of a Loup Garou (French for werewolf), that will hunt down and kill Catholics that do not follow the rules of Lent. In some Cajun communities the Loup Garou of legend have taken on an almost protective role. Children are warned that Loup Garou can read souls, and that they only hunt and kill evil men and women and misbehaved horses.

Celebrations and gatherings[link]

Cajuns, along with other Cajun Country residents, have a reputation for a joie de vivre (French for "joy of living"), in which hard work is appreciated as much as "passing a good time."

Community gatherings[link]

In the culture, a coup de main (French for "to give a hand") is an occasion when the community gathers in order to assist one of their members with time-consuming or arduous tasks. Examples might include a barn raising, harvests, or assistance for the elderly or sick.

Festivals[link]

Cajun fiddler at 1938 National Rice Festival, photographed by Russell Lee.

Laissez les bons temps rouler is a more than a cliché phrase of the local culture, which means "let the good times roll", as nearly every village, town and city of any size has a yearly festival, celebrating an important part of the local culture and economy. The majority of Cajun festivals include a fais do-do ("go to sleep" in French, originating from encouraging children to fall asleep in the rafters of the dance hall as the parents danced late into the night) or street dance, usually to a live local band. Crowds at these festivals can range from a few hundred to more than 100,000.

Other festivals outside of Louisiana[link]

• In Texas, the Winnie Rice Festival and other celebrations often highlight the Cajun influence in Southeast Texas.
• Major Cajun/Zydeco festivals are held annually in Rhode Island, which does not have a sizable Cajun population but is home to many Franco-Americans of Québécois and Acadian descent. It features Cajun culture and food, as well as authentic Louisiana musical acts both famous and unknown, drawing attendance not only from the strong Cajun/Zydeco music scene in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York City and California, but from all over the world. In recent years the festival became so popular that there are now several such large summer festivals near the Connecticut-Rhode Island border: The Great Connecticut Cajun and Zydeco Music & Arts Festival, The Blast From The Bayou Cajun and Zydeco Festival, Rhythm & Roots Festival also in California the Cajun/Zydeco Festival; Bay Area Ardenwood Historic Farm, Fremont, Calif. and The Simi Valley Cajun, Creole Music Festival.

Tributes[link]

A statue of Evangeline—fictional heroine of the poem Evangeline by Longfellow—at St. Martinville, Louisiana. The statue was donated by actress Dolores del Río (who also posed for it), who portrayed Evangeline in a 1929 silent film by director Edwin Carewe.

Documentary films

• Spend it All (1971, color) director: Les Blank with Skip Gerson
• Hot Pepper (1973, color) director: Les Blank
• J'ai Été Au Bal (English: I Have Been To the Ball), by Les Blank, Chris Strachwitz & Maureen Gosling; narrated by Barry Jean Ancelet and Michael Doucet (Brazos Films). Louisiana French and Zydeco music documentary.
• Louisiana Story (1948, black and white) director: Robert Flaherty. Further addressed in 2006 documentary Revisiting Flaherty's Louisiana Story, by a group at Louisiana State University.

Film

• Southern Comfort (film) (1981, color) director: Walter Hill, starring Powers Boothe
• Belizaire the Cajun (1986, color) director: Glen Pitre, starring Armand Assante
• Little Chenier (2006, color) director: Bethany Ashton, starring Johnathon Schaech

Literature

• Evangeline (1847), an epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow loosely based on the events surrounding the 1755 deportation. It became an American classic, and also contributed to a rebirth of Acadian identity in both Maritime Canada and in Louisiana.
• Bayou Folk (1894) by Kate Chopin who wrote about the Creoles and Cajuns (Acadiens).
• Children's book author Mary Alice Fontenot wrote several volumes on Cajun culture and history.

Songs

• Jambalaya (On the Bayou), (1952), a song credited to Hank Williams. Jambalaya is about life, parties and stereotypical food of Cajun cuisine. The music is taken from the Cajun song "Grand Texas".
• Acadian Driftwood (1975), a popular song based on the Acadian Expulsion by Robbie Robertson that appeared on The Band's album, Northern Lights - Southern Cross.
• Louisiana Man, an autobiographical song written and performed by Doug Kershaw. It became the first song broadcast back to Earth from the Moon by the astronauts of Apollo 12. The song not only sold millions of copies but over the years has become the symbol of Cajun music.
• Jolie Blonde: lyrics & song history of the traditional Cajun waltz (aka Jolie Blon, Jole Blon or Joli Blon) often referred to as "the Cajun National Anthem".
• Mississippi Queen, 1970 song by Mountain about a Cajun woman visiting from Mississippi
• Elvis Presley was a Cajun, a song from the 1991 Irish film The Commitments in which a 2-piece band plays along to the lyric "Elvis was a Cajun, he had a Cajun Heart"
• Amos Moses, a song by Jerry Reed about a fictional one-armed alligator-hunting Cajun man.
• Perfect Day, a song by Lady Antebellum starts off with the singer seeing "a Cajun man with a red guitar singing on the side of the street" and throwing "a handful of change in his beat up case and [saying] play me a country beat".

See also[link]

Acadia portal

• Cajun cuisine
• French American
• French Canadians
• Great Upheaval
• List of Cajuns

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Maria Hebert-Leiter "Becoming Cajun, Becoming American: The Acadian in American Literature from Longfellow to James Lee Burke". Baton Rouge,LA. :Louisiana State University Press, 2009 ISBN 978-0-8071-3435-1
• Dean Jobb, The Cajuns: A People's Story of Exile and Triumph, John Wiley & Sons, 2005 (published in Canada as The Acadians: A People's Story of Exile and Triumph)

Footnotes[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (November 2011)

• "St. Martinville, Louisiana", Acadian Memorial
• "Erath, Louisiana", Acadian Museum
• "Living history museum, Lafayette, Louisiana", Vermilionville Website
• "The Silence of the Gators: Cajun Ethnicity and Intergenerational Transmission of Louisiana French", Multilingual Matters
• Margaret D. Bauer, "An Interview with Tim Gautreaux: 'Cartographer of Louisiana Back Roads'", Southern Spaces, 28 May 2009. http://southernspaces.org/2009/interview-tim-gautreaux-cartographer-louisiana-back-roads
• Chandeleur
• The Simi Valley Cajun, Creole Music Festival
• Jolie Blonde : lyrics & song history
• J'ai Été Au Bal
• Cajun/Zydeco Festival; Bay Area Ardenwood Historic Farm, Fremont, Calif.
• The Great Connecticut Cajun and Zydeco Music & Arts Festival
• Rhythm & Roots Festival
• The Blast From The Bayou Cajun and Zydeco Festival
• Cajun Culture
• Patricia A. Suchy and James V. Catano, "Revisiting Flaherty's Louisiana Story," Southern Spaces, 27 April 2010.
• "Cajun South Louisiana", Southern Spaces, 12 March 2004.

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Dewey Balfa
Dewey Balfa performing in 1977.
Background information
Born	(1927-03-20)March 20, 1927
Origin	Grand Louis, Louisiana, USA
Died	June 17, 1992(1992-06-17) (aged 65)
Genres	Folk, Cajun
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Fiddle
Years active	1948–1992
Associated acts	The Balfa Brothers

Dewey Balfa (March 20, 1927 – June 17, 1992) was an American Cajun fiddler and singer who contributed significantly to the popularity of Cajun music. Balfa was born near Mamou, Louisiana. He is perhaps best known for his 1964 performance at the Newport Folk Festival with Gladius Thibodeaux and Vinus LeJeune, where the group received an enthusiastic response from over seventeen thousand audience members. He sang the song "Parlez Nous à Boire" in the 1981 cult film Southern Comfort, in which he had a small role.

Early life[link]

Dewey Balfa was born in Grand Louis, Louisiana, a small community west of Mamou.^[1][2] He was the son of Amay (née Ardoin) and Charles Balfa who were sharecroppers.^[3] Dewey had learned most of his songs from his grandmother and father who was a fiddle player.^[1]

Musical career[link]

During World War II, Dewey worked in a shipyard in Orange, Texas.^[4] After returning in 1948, he and his brothers Will and Rodney formed the Musical Brothers.^[4] In 1965, he formed The Balfa Brothers after an enthusiastic response from a performance at the Newport Folk Festival. This led to their first LP, produced by Swallow Records.

Family[link]

Dewey Balfa married Hilda Frugé when he was 22 in 1949. They had five children together: Nelda, Roberta, Norma, Dewey Jr., and Christine.^[5] Many of whom became musicians. Christine founded the band Balfa Toujours to continue the family tradition.

Popularization of Cajun Music[link]

Dewey Balfa appears in a documentary file entitled "Les Blues de Balfa" produced by Yasha Aginsky. In one scene, Balfa is shown with Nathan Abshire entertaining a group of school children. Balfa gives a short lecture concerning the origins of Cajun music:

"We are here to tell you a little bit about what a Cajun is. A Cajun is a person who his homeland was France. Went into Nova Scotia, at the time Acadia, and settled there and was there for about a hundred years, and afterwards the British took over the territory and then the French-speaking people, the French descendants, known as the Acadians, came down to the South-Western part of Louisiana, and that was back in 1755. So over all of these years, your language, and your music has been preserved from daddy to son or daddy to daughter or momma to daughter."

Musical Samples[link]

• J'ai Passé devant ta Porte Listen
• Jolie Blonde Listen

Selected discography[link]

• 1976: Traditional Cajun Fiddle: Instruction (Smithsonian Folkways)
• 1977: Cajun Fiddle, Old and New: Instruction (Smithsonian Folkways)
• 1984: Les Quatre Vieux Garçons (Smithsonian Folkways)
• 1993: Folk Masters: Great Performances Recorded Live at the Barns of Wolf Trap (Smithsonian Folkways)

Selected Filmography

• 1972: "Dedans le sud de la Louisiane" by Jean-Pierre Bruneau
• 1983: "Les Blues de Balfa" by Yasha Aginsky

See also[link]

• The Balfa Brothers
• List of Cajun musicians
• History of Cajun music

References[link]

Savoy, Ann (1986) [1984]. Cajun Music a Reflection of a People. Eunice, Louisiana: Bluebird Press. ISBN 978-0-930169-00-8. 

External links[link]

• Biography, Balfa Toujours website
• VH1.com profile
• Balfa Discography at Smithsonian Folkways
• Documentary film about Dewey and Cajun music

Aldus Roger (February 10, 1915 – April 4, 1999) was a Cajun accordion player in southwest Louisiana, best known for his accordion skills, and television music program.

Early life[link]

Aldus Roger was born in Carencro, Louisiana and learned to play the Cajun accordion at age eight.^[1] His father, Francis Roger, didn't want him to play accordion; however, he would borrow it and play in the barn.^[1]

Lafayette Playboys[link]

Roger led the Lafayette Playboys for over twenty years.^[1] During the late 1950s and 1960s, he hosted his own music program on KLFY-TV 10 in Lafayette. Among his many recordings are “KLFY Waltz,” “Channel 10 Two Step,” “Mardi Gras Dance,” and “Lafayette Two Step.”^[1] He also recorded a Cajun French version of Hank Williams country-and- western hit “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” (which Williams in turn had based on the Cajun tune “Grand Texas”).^[2]

He recorded several albums, one with Rounder Records entitled "Aldus Roger & the Lafayette Playboys - Legend Series" in 1998 and another with La Louisiane Records entitled "Plays the French Music of South Louisiana" in 1993.^[3]

• Duson Waltz Listen

See also[link]

• List of Notable People Related to Cajun Music
• History of Cajun Music

References[link]

• Savoy, Ann (1986) [1984]. Cajun Music a Reflection of a People. Eunice, Louisiana: Bluebird Press. ISBN 978-0-930169-00-8. 

He was also named king of the cajun accordion.

Rod Bernard (born August 12, 1940) is an American singer who helped to pioneer the musical genre known as "swamp pop", which combined New Orleans-style rhythm and blues, country and western, and Cajun and black Creole music. He is generally considered one of the foremost musicians of this south Louisiana-east Texas idiom, along with such notables as Bobby Charles, Johnnie Allan, Tommy McLain, and Warren Storm.

Life and career[link]

Bernard was born on August 12, 1940, in Opelousas, Louisiana. His parents were French-speaking Cajuns from working-class backgrounds, and as a child he imbibed the traditional Cajun French music performed in his grandfather's dancehall, the Courtableu Inn, located in nearby Port Barre, Louisiana. There he heard the music of noted Cajun musicians Aldus Roger, Papa Cairo, and Jimmy C. Newman, as well as zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier, all of whom would exert a strong influence on Bernard's music.

Around age eight Bernard obtained his first guitar (an acoustic Gene Autry model) and around 1950 he began to perform with the Blue Room Gang, a Cajun-country troupe sponsored by local Red Bird brand sweet potatoes. During this period Bernard also hosted his own live music radio program on KSLO in Opelousas, singing Cajun and country tunes while strumming his guitar in emulation of his musical hero, Hank Williams, Sr.

In the mid-1950s, however, Bernard came under the influence of rock and roll and rhythm and blues music, especially the sounds of Fats Domino and Elvis Presley. Around 1957 he helped to form a rock 'n' roll band made up of fellow Opelousas teenagers. Calling themselves The Twisters, they recorded two singles for the obscure Carl label of Opelousas. The next year Bernard and his group recorded the sultry ballad "This Should Go On Forever" for recordman Floyd Soileau’s Jin label of Ville Platte, Louisiana. Leased to Argo Records of Chicago, the song became a national hit in 1959, propelling Bernard onto Dick Clark's American Bandstand, The Dick Clark Saturday Night Beechnut Show, and The Alan Freed Show, as well as onto tours with Jerry Lee Lewis, Frankie Avalon, Chuck Berry, and B. B. King, among others.

A follow-up single for Argo, "You're On My Mind," backed with "My Life Is A Mystery," failed to achieve the success of his initial national release. In late 1959 Bernard signed with producer Bill Hall of Beaumont, Texas, who switched the artist to Mercury Records, which unwisely replaced Bernard’s earthy swamp pop style with lush violin sections and female choruses. Only one minor hit, "One More Chance," emerged from these overproduced Nashville sessions.

Around 1962 Bernard left Mercury for Bill Hall's own Hall-Way label of Beaumont. Recording with local artists Johnny Winter and Edgar Winter, he released several notable tunes, including "Fais Do Do," "Who's Gonna Rock My Baby," and a rock 'n' roll version of the Cajun folksong "Allons Danser Colinda," the latter of which achieved national airplay and remains a regional favorite in south Louisiana and east Texas.

A stint in the U.S. Marine Corps boot camp interrupted Bernard's musical career, but after several months he returned to south Louisiana to form The Shondells (not to be confused with Tommy James' group) with fellow swamp pop musicians Warren Storm and Skip Stewart. (Bernard served in the Marine Corps Reserve from 1962 to 1968, reaching the rank of sergeant.) During the mid-1960s the group recorded several singles for the La Louisianne label of Lafayette, Louisiana, and they hosted a live dance program on KLFY-TV called "Saturday Hop." This program inspired their circa 1965 album, The Shondells at the Saturday Hop, issued on La Louisianne.

During this period Bernard recorded singles for Huey Meaux's Teardrop and Copyright labels, and for Soileau's familiar Jin label. Isolated singles appeared on the Scepter and Shelby Singleton's SSS International labels. These sessions included notable releases such as the Chuck Berry-type rocker "Recorded in England," the Cajun two-step inspired "Papa Thibodeaux," and the doleful ballad "Congratulations To You Darling."

Bernard performed infrequently during the 1970s, but returned to his roots by releasing several country and western albums, including Country Lovin’ and Nightlights And Love Songs. He also issued the album Boogie in Black and White with Clifton Chenier, considered a milestone by many because of its raucous blend of Cajun and black Creole elements. One music writer described it as "a wild and woolly rock 'n' roll set with spontaneity one normally only dreams about," while another claimed that "such a masterpiece, no doubt, spawned other 'experiments' like Wayne Toups' 'ZydeCajun' style or, perhaps, a Zachary Richard 'Zach Attack,' a similar fusion of Cajun, zydeco, and R&B."

Around 1980 he recorded an album of Fats Domino favorites for Jin, titled A Lot of Dominoes, but the masters disappeared until around 1991, when the tracks were finally released (albeit only on cassette). In 2003 he recorded his first new album in over two decades. Titled Louisiana Tradition, the compact disk appeared on the CSP label of Forney, Texas, and included several new songs, as well as reworkings of vintage south Louisiana tunes like fellow swamp pop musician Bobby Charles' "Later Alligator."

In June 2006 Bernard re-recorded his spoken-word single "A Tear In The Lady's Eye," which he had originally written and recorded in 1968 as a pro-military response to anti-Vietnam War protestors. (The "Lady" of the song is the Statue of Liberty.) In the revised version, however, Bernard addressed Americans who opposed the ongoing war in Iraq. At his own expense Bernard pressed a handful of CD singles containing the revision, which he distributed for airplay to select radio stations and programs, mainly in south Louisiana.

Bernard performs today only sporadically around south Louisiana, concentrating instead on his career as a disk jockey and radio advertising executive in Lafayette, Louisiana. Many of his songs have been reissued on compact disk both in the U.S. and abroad, and continue to receive much regional airplay. Significantly, younger generations of south Louisiana musicians, including C. C. Adcock and Marc Broussard, have acknowledged him as a strong musical influence.

Selected discography[link]

Singles[link]

"All Night In Jail"/"Set Me Free," Carl track numbers J8OW-1229/J8OW-1230 [issued w/o record number], 1957.
"Linda Gail"/"Little Bitty Mama," Carl track numbers H8OW-2441/H8OW-2442 [issued w/o record number], 1957.
"This Should Go On Forever"/"Pardon Mr. Gordon," Jin 105, 1958/Argo 5327, 1959.
"You're On My Mind," Argo 5338, 1959.
"One More Chance," Mercury 71507, 1959.
"Forgive," Hall 1915, 1962.
"Diggy Liggy Lo," Hall 1917, 1962.
"Colinda," Hall-Way 1902, 1962.
"Fais Do-Do," Hall-Way 1906, 1962.
"Recorded In England," Arbee 101, 1965/Teardrop 3117, 1965/Scepter 12195, 1965.
"These Were Our Songs," Arbee 105, 1965.
"Congratulations To You Darling," Jin 232, 1968.
"New Orleans Jail," Jin 240, 1968.
"Papa Thibodeaux," Copyright 2316, 1968.
"Sometimes I Talk In My Sleep," Jin 325, 1975.

LPs[link]

Rod Bernard, Jin 4007, ca. 1965.
Country Lovin', Jin 9008, 1974.
Night Lights and Love Songs, Jin 9010, 1975.
Boogie in Black and White [with Clifton Chenier], Jin 9014, 1976.
This Should Go On Forever And Other Bayou Classics, Crazy Cajun 1086, 1978.

Cassettes[link]

A Lot of Dominos, Jin 4012, 1991.

CDs[link]

(* = compilation)

Swamp Rock 'n' Roller, Ace [UK] CDCHD 488, 1994.*
The Essential Collection, Jin 9056, 1998.*
Cajun Blue, Edsel 593 [UK], 1999.*
Louisiana Tradition, CSP 1018, 1999.

References[link]

• Shane K. Bernard, Swamp Pop: Cajun and Creole Rhythm and Blues (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1996).
• John Broven, South to Louisiana: The Music of the Cajun Bayous (Gretna, La.: Pelican, 1983).

External links[link]

Biography portal

• That Swamp Pop Sound: Rod Bernard and Cajun Rock 'n' Roll, Part I Video Documentary on YouTube.com
• That Swamp Pop Sound: Rod Bernard and Cajun Rock 'n' Roll, Part II Video Documentary on YouTube.com