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This website is created and maintained by Andrea Rubinstein.
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Will Play for Cheese... A Visit to The SF Bay Area
(June
3 2006) I visited the Bay Area for the first time in over 18 months in
mid-May. Also in town were some friends from Lafayette, LA. We
brought our instruments to play Cajun music for family and friends and took to
calling ourselves the "Will Play For .... " band... as in: will play for goat
cheese (yum), lodging, wine, supper, free. It was
great fun, and we all got a kick out of the reaction we got from folks who'd
never heard us play music before.
It was a great week to be in town. Although rain washed out the CFLFM jam in San Jose, which I was looking forward to, after that it was smooth sailing weather-wise. I still got to visit with a lot of friends: jammed at Blair & Steve's in Berkeley, visited Agi Ban in Oakland, had wonderful dinners with Karen Thompson & Susan Mahoney up in Novato, toured "Lucasland" (and hugged Yoda) in the Presidio (THANKS MarK!), got to both the new De Young Museum and the SFMOMA, ate a LOT of sushi and salads. I also got to see Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie at Eagle's Hall, who were in fine form. There was a huge crowd there that evening (no surprise), including many friends I hadn't seen for a long time, plus folks I'd just seen in Louisiana during the annual April Balfa Camp/Festival International/Jazz Fest/Breaux Bridge Festival marathon.
It was odd to be a tourist in the place I still think of as home. When folks visit SW Louisiana, I see them immersed in that frenzy of trying to pack in as many music and dance events as possible during their short visits. Well, the tables were turned as I traipsed up and down the Pennisula, East Bay, San Francisco and Marin trying to visit friends and see the places I'd been missing. After about 4 years in Lafayette, I almost forgot how much of my time in the Bay Area was spent in cars and stuck in traffic. In Lafayette, most things I want to do are less than 15 minutes away. The trade-off of course are 6 months of brutal Louisiana summers [aka hurricane season]. I'd swap the 3.4 quake that occurred while I was in the Bay Area for the next Tropical Storm or Category 1 Hurricane any time you want.
Still, I was happy to get back. In less than a week, I've been to 2 parties/jams, tonight Bonsoir Catin plays for free at Downtown Alive, followed by a benefit at the Blue Moon for the French Immersion school programs (with Bonsoir Catin, Pine Leaf Boys and Feu Follet) or Curley Taylor at 307. Tomorrow, some of the choices include The Cajun Heartland State Fair in Lafayette (Geno & Lil Nathan, not to mention the Pig Races), the Spice & Music Festival in Opelousas (Step Rideau, Keith Frank) or the Daylily Festival in Abbeville, plus the normal events: zydeco breakfast in Breaux Bridge, Cajun jams at the Savoy Music Center AND Louisiana Heritage & Gifts, the Liberty Theater. Sunday morning the Mello Joy Boys (a spin off of the Lost Bayou Ramblers) play at (where else) the Mello Joy Cafe. Sunday afternoon if you time it right, you can catch Terry & the Bad Boys at Vermillionville and Geno at Whiskey River, and then finish up with dinner shows featuring the Basin Brothers at Mulates or Corey "Lil Pop" Ledet at Randol's (And that's just a partial list ). Welcome to my world!
