2023 Festival International de Louisiane: Local Scene

The Blue Moon Saloon is completely full by the time The Lost Bayou Ramblers take the stage, the crowd pulsing to a surge of sound. Brothers Louis and Andre Michot have led the band since 1999 and have been frequent performers at Blue Moon in the evening following Festival International.

Andre’s approach is to play accordion seated, while his brother Louis is an energetic, physical presence on stage with his fiddle and emotive vocals. Andre, focused on his playing, seems barely cognizant the wall of people standing a few feet away, head down concentrating on his instrument and an array of pedals and buttons arranged on the floor. We got a close up view of how he and guitarist Jonny Campos, rapidly hit the devices with their toes, adding layers of loops that distorted the original notes into a whirling vortex of sound. That sound is driven by Kirkland Middelton on drum set and Brian Webre bass and drum pad. Its a sound so ferocious it is easy to forget, at times, that its core is traditionally cajun music.

The night brought together two heavyweight bands with Acadian roots, one local and the other from Rosaireville in New Brunswick. These were opposite poles of Acadian music creating a true fusion while playfully sparring on stage at the Blue Moon Saloon. Following the solo set, The Lost Bayou Ramblers were joined by Lisa Leblanc and her band. Lisa had earlier wowed the Festival crowd with her blend of cabaret disco fused with her “trash folk” drawn from her recent album Chiac Disco.

The “Chiac Disco” project began as a parody developed during Covid where Lisa adopted the role of a fictional character, a waitress, singing “bingo music” that pokes ironic fun at preconceptions of her home town backed by disco beats. She has added this repertoire to her live performances, a departure from her traditional Acadian folk.

As the bands jammed, Louis threw down a improvised challenge to his northern “cousin”. He came out smoking smugly reciting the menu from B-Boys Backyard BBQ - porksteak, barbeque, boudin, rabbit bacon. Leblanc displayimg a self effacing sense of humor, countered by appealing to the audience to join her in call and response, she recited the names of vegetables, and coached the crowd respond boiled after each legume called out, to the delight of all.

Earlier that day, Louis Michot played a much-anticipated set at the Festival International Fais Do Do stage. It premiered, in Lafayette, music written for his first solo album which a decidedly different sensibility compared to his work with The Ramblers. Beginning with an ambient arhythmic feel, with sparse electronic beats melded with guitar, accordion, and percussion, Louis demonstrated his dexterity on a variety of instruments which he swapped between songs, including fiddle, guitar, synth and electronic percussion. Below is a video excerpt from the set which unfolded like a suite of music

As the set progressed the songs moved towards more traditional Cajun music. He was joined by Brian Webre on bass, Kirkland Middleton on drums from the Lost Bayou Ramblers and by accordionist Corey Ledet. Throughout the set, we felt that Louis was pushing boundaries and alternating between sparse and more complex rhythms. His music was acknowledging the roots of Cajun music including Acadian, African, Caribbean roots of the music.

A full day of zydeco performances highlighted our second day of music beginning with Corey Ledet and his Zydeco band. The Houston native with Louisiana roots played in the brisk, no frills, straight ahead yet funky style that has earned the band two Grammy nominations. We were struck by the tightness of the band and in particular the way the bassist often took the lead with melodic interplay that rose above the instruments and captured our attention.

Dancers pinwheeled in the shade of the La Galerie KATC tent, reminiscent of the rural house party origins of the music. Creole Louisianans migrated to Houston and brought their culture with them, a neighborhood in the 5th ward became known as Frenchtown due to their presence. Ledet grew up in Houston in a musical family and was playing the accordion at the age 10. In the years since he gravitated towards  his roots in Parks Louisiana, immersing himself in the Zydeco music of the region.

Moving from stage to stage at Festival International is a stroll down Jefferson Street heading towards Scene Laborde Earls Firm where next up was Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. and the Zydeco twisters with special guests.

Blues is up front in the music of Rockin Dopsie Jr. the band came out with a raw wailing blues with accordion and harmonica trading solos that ushered their front man on stage. Dopsie Jr. electrified the audience with his energy, the lowly washboard, in his hands, is front and center. He scratched it with spoons in both hands while bouncing across the stage. His performance seemed to channel James Brown, he performed splits, danced across the stage with an umbrellas and even crowd surfed. We were in awe of his nonstop energy.

The core of the Zydeco Twisters are the Dopsie brothers, Alton Jr. “Tiger” on drums, and Anthony on accordion, and Dopsie Jr. (David). The Zydeco Twisters backed Rocking Dopsie Sr, continuing the legacy of his music after he suffered a fatal heart attack. Dopsie Sr.’s first interest was R+B which he later blended in with the traditional sound. 

Rocking Dopsie Jr. grew up listening to, his father who gave him an accordion when he was 9 years old. He says:

“I must've inherited my love for the blues from my father 'cause I still listen to BB King, Jimmy Reed, the Vaughn Brothers and Bobby Bland, but when I was growing up, the Jackson Five, Sly Stone and James Brown were really happening." - Rockin’ Dopsie Jr from his website bio.

Nathan Williams who is one of the great musicians currently playing zydeco, jamming with the Zydeco Twisters and later that evening he played a club date with his band The Zydeco Cha-Chas. Born in St Francisville, he moved in with his oldest brother Sid in Lafayette. Nathan’s was introduced to the music by listening to Clifton Chenier perform live as a child. Sid bought him his first accordion.

It was, for us, the opportunity of a lifetime to hear Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas at the legendary El Sido’s club, which is a story in itself. Sid Williams, Nathan’s eldest brother, built the club 38 years ago at a time when zydeco artists were struggling to reach audiences. Sid recognized that the music needed to be heard to survive. Preserving zydeco was on Sid’s mind and his instincts were correct - Zydeco music took off in popularity, and El Sido’s became the go-to spot in Lafayette to hear Zydeco music. The historic success of the club proved that Sid was correct and that the Lafayette public would support their own artists.  Today, the venue provides an authentic and historic location to witness Zydeco legends perform. The musicians who have performed at the club’s intimate stage include Le Beau Jocque, Boo Zoo Chavis, Dennis Paul Williams, Nathan, CJ Chenier, Canray Fontenot, Alphonse “Bois Sec” Ardoin and Stanley “Buckwheat Zydeco” Dural, representing a whose-who of the live Zydeco scene.

Our special evening happened a bit by chance. On our previous year’s  visit to Lafayette, we  had hoped to see an artist perform at El Sido’s  however no one was booked.  This year was different…an  unassuming announcement on a Facebook post alerted us that Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas  would be performing. That post, along with some word of mouth spread by customers at Sid’s One Stop grocery across the street, would have been enough to pack the place a few years ago but it felt as if Sid wanted to be around the people close to him, at a moment of transition, he had just leased the property where the grocery is located, and it has since closed.

We arrived prior to the performance, and found Nathan sitting on a stool quietly playing melodies while the stage was being readied. We relished the contrast of the smaller club atmosphere as compared to his earlier performance in front of a large crowd at the festival stage where Nathan performed with Rockin’ Dopsie. The following day, Nathan would be performing at a private gig in New Orleans and then the following weekend at Jazz Fest.

It was a bittersweet night at El Sido’s, we wondered if we would get this chance again, to hang out with Sid and hear the band in this historic venue, it felt as if history was slipping away and we savored every note from Nathan’s accordion and responses from Dennis Paul’s guitar added poignance to the moment. It was a night of music that will not be forgotten nor will the graciousness of the band and Sid himself.

Bad Bongo (not what we expected and exactly what we needed to hear) came highly recommended  by a musician friend. So we passsed by the Biergarten stage to take in the eleven member collective. Bad Bongo’s genre bending, horn rich sound, was cinematic in scope of material. They kept it funky throughout featuring solos by each of the band members, at times segwaying into jazz with noirish overtones.

Each piece seemed to evolve in a different way, which drew us into the music. The band takes a fluid compositional approach, guitarist Blake Pujol told us afterwards, “As long as it grooves and makes us move our bodies” with a majority of the players contributing writing that is honed collectively during the process into a signature funk fusion with rich, dense tonalities.

Lafayette based, members connected via the UL Lafayette music program (to record music by sax player Dave Lea), which led to forming the band in 2020. They have released their first EP “Worried About Dolphins” recorded live at Studio in the Country in Bogalusa. A second EP from that session will be released later this year after a summer tour June 16th -July 4th with shows in Texas and Louisiana. The Biergarten grove was completely full drawing as many fans as the acts on the major stages. Look forward to hearing more of this group in the future.

Reflecting back, it was Zydeco and Cajun artists, the music of the 22 parish region known as Acadiana that drew our attention at the 2023 Festival International in Lafayette, Louisiana. With each annual visit, our appreciation for the richness and history of these musical traditions has grown. Thanks to all who made it happen.