Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week &
other Great Stuff
(April 21, 2003) March and April have been great fun here
in Lafayette, LA. Lots of music going on, some of which I
have been able to capture on video and will eventually edit
down and put on my website. Perhaps the most unusual event
during this period was seeing Steve Riley & the Mamou
Playboys perform Cajun music accompanied by the Acadiana
Symphony Orchestra at the River Ranch Music Festival (they
were headliners, and followed the pops & opera
segments!). It worked, sort of. But it was lots of fun
listening to the orchestra swelling up dramatically at the
end of each of the 4 songs in their set. I've also attended
other small festivals including the Rice & Gravy
Festival at Acadian Village (with Geno Delafose) & the
Catfish Festival in Washington (Keith Frank, Hadley
Castille, Steve Riley, among others), plus made the rounds
at Whiskey River, Pat's Atchafalaya Club, Hamilton's, El
Sido's, Downtown Alive (<--Little Band of Gold ),
Randol's, Blue Moon Saloon, Mulate's, the Third Thursday
program in Opelousas & Vermillionville to name a few.
Also fun were jams at the Savoy Music Center & Mitch
& Lisa Reed's Louisiana Heritage & Gifts. Plus I
have been working my way through the menu at Cafe des Amis
using the Saturday zydeco breakfast or Wednesday night
music programs as the excuse to eat there yet again.
The highlight of the past several months, by a long shot,
has been spending time at Louisiana Folk Roots Dewey Balfa
Cajun & Creole Heritage Week, and their "Stompin' at
the Swamp"event. Held at beautiful Lake Fausse Point on the
Atchafalaya near St. Martinville, LA., this is a truly
special event. If you love Louisiana French Cajun, Creole
or zydeco music and want to learn to play or sing it, or
gain a closer understanding of the culture and people it
comes from, here is your opportunity to learn personally
from the folks whose names are synonymous with it: the
musical staff included Christine Balfa & Courtney
Granger who are descendants of Dewey Balfa, Preston &
Keith Frank, Adam Hebert, Edward Poullard, Al Berard, Dirk
Powell, Kevin Wimmer, Mitch Reed, Jesse Lege, Goldman
Thibodeaux, & Wilson Savoy. Food was provided by Cajun
celebrity chef Pat Mould; desserts by Linda Handelsman.
Also available were nature walks & canoe rides,
instruction in Cajun language & songs. Cajun &
zydeco dance lessons, and classes in Cajun cooking &
crafts. The program is intimate and varied, and the setting
is idyllic.
You can stay for the week in lovely cabins on the bayou, or
attend, as I did, the Local Lagniappe program, which
included afternoon classes, dinner, an evening dance, plus
after dance jam sessions. I took triangle lessons with
Christine Balfa, instruction in Cajun language & song
by Helena Putney & Courtney Granger, attended a session
on Dennis McGee fiddle tunes with Mitch Reed, Al Berard
& Ferren Serrette. I also went on a night hike through
the park trails with Ranger Larry Dugas, attended several
jam sessions and attended dances with The Basin Brothers,
and The Frank family (with Preston & Keith Frank taking
turns playing accordion). Saturday was "Roots Heritage
Day". You could dance from 10am thru 11pm to such bands as
Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie, Charivari,
Willis Prudhomme, Veillee, Steve Riley and the Mamou
Playboys & the Huval Family Band. In the Heritage
Pavilion, D.L. Menard, Feufollet, Bois Sec Ardoin, &
Jeremy & the Zydeco Hot Boys were interviewed and
performed. (My favorite story was from D.L.'s session: he
said that when he got married, he wanted to do so at
Wal-Mart because, if you kept the receipt, you could return
your spouse.... and it didn't matter if you got married in
Breaux Bridge... you could make the return in the Lafayette
store). I also enjoyed the Roots Pavilion sessions
immensely: Ed Poullard and Mitch Reed discussed and
demonstrated Creole & Cajun fiddle styles, Preston
Frank & Jesse Lege doing the same for Creole &
Cajon accordion styles, Courtney Granger & Kevin Wimmer
showcasing Balfa fiddle styles, & finally Al Berard
& Ferren Serrette highlighting twin fiddles. There were
also sessions going in the Jam Pavilion and Youth Pavilion.
It is hard to fully describe what a wonderful event the
Balfa camp is. It is not just about the classes. If you
love this music, there is an extraordinary sense of
connectedness you get from being in the environment where
it developed and among the folks whose culture it sprang
from. The Balfa camp is the best way I know of to touch and
be touched by the heart of this amazing place.
There's going to be another Balfa camp this fall, with a
full time dance instruction program, as well as the other
classes. More info can be found at www.lafolkroots.org.
The Bay Area was well represented at this year's camp, and
Linda Castle, who is learning to play the fiddle, shares
her impressions below:
Dewey Balfa Cajun and Creole Heritage Week:
What’s in it for you?
(by Linda Castle)
The Dewey Balfa Cajun and Creole Heritage Week was held
April 13-19 at Lake Fausse Pointe State Park outside of St.
Martinville, Louisiana. My firsthand observation is that
the Balfa camp offers something that other camps do not.
First of all, the setting is truly Louisiana. Think swamp,
bayou, cypress trees, alligators and unusual nighttime
wildlife noises (animal and otherwise). Think excellent
Louisiana cuisine. Think Bon Temps Roulez to the max.
Balfa camp is much smaller and therefore more intimate than
other camps I’ve attended, (Augusta for example). You can
easily spend time getting to know interesting people from
all over the country and world. And there are a multitude
of opportunities to interact with attendees and staff from
the local area. Talk about a refreshing human experience.
These people are the real thing!
Additionally, the individual attention and interaction with
staff is incomparable. As an aspiring fiddle player, I was
more than pleasantly surprised to get small group
instruction from Kevin Wimmer, Faren Serrette, and Courtney
Granger in addition to my daily scheduled class with Mitch
Reed. Ed Poullard was on staff to teach fiddle but found
time to give Agi Ban and Bruce Veldhuizen private lessons
on accordion. All of this was a true demonstration of
lagniappe. And the spirit in which these people gave their
instruction was from the heart: authentic and generous.
Balfa camp also has a strong program for the non-musician.
An extensive nature class run by local outdoor experts
takes you into the swamps to learn first hand about birds,
reptiles, mammals and flora of the area. A canoe trip and a
night hike were fascinating and fun. This year there was
also a French lyrics class, rubboard and triangle seminars,
and sessions with local Chitmacha tribe members on
traditional fishing and basket weaving methods. And for
those of you who are dance-oriented, the next camp
scheduled for early November will include both Cajun and
Zydeco dance as main classes.
Speaking of dance, the nightly outdoor dances on a spacious
wooden dance floor provided a variety of Cajun and Creole
music from the best of the best. This year’s bands included
Balfa Toujours, Preston and Keith Frank, Lawrence “Black”
Ardoin and Ed Poullard, Chris Ardoin, Jesse Lege, Geno
Delafose, Steve Riley, Charivari, and the Basin Brothers,
among others. The late night jam sessions held lots of
surprises and provided a unique opportunity to listen to,
play, and party with great musicians and people.
The Dewey Balfa Cajun Creole Heritage Week offers a chance
to become fully immersed in one of our country’s most
distinctive cultures. It’s a great way to learn more about
the origins and influences of the music and dance so many
of us have grown to love, in an atmosphere of openness,
camaraderie, and just plain fun. If you’re looking for that
next great high in your exploration of the Cajun/Creole
dance, music, or culture, try this one. I guarantee you
won’t be disappointed.
For more information on the Fall Dewey Balfa Cajun and
Creole Heritage Week at Chicot State Park (outside Ville
Platte), check out the website at www.lafolkroots.org or
ask any of us who attended this year*. We’d be glad to fill
you in on the details.
* Linda Castle, Christy Leichty, Jim Phillips, Agi Ban,
Bruce Veldhuizen
Link to original
article & photo gallery