Music Makes the Festival

After a walk around the grounds at the 52nd Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival (see yesterday's entry), I found the Festival Stage--one of the three stages--to hear the four-time Grammy-Nominated Pine Leaf Boys. They "play the old fashion dance hall standards, while making a priority to bring many of the more obscure songs of past masters into their repertoire and play them with gusto."

We first ran across Wilson Savoy (below) at the weekly Saturday morning jam session at his father's (Marc) music store in Eunice, LA.

The Pine Leaf Boys have been invited on two occasions by the U.S. State Department to tour the world and present true music to Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Jerusalem in 2009 and again to Latvia, Denmark, and Slovenia is 2010.

Courtney Granger

"His impeccable thoughtful fiddling and soulful singing have made him one of the most sought-after Cajun fiddlers in the world."

Thomas David

Jon Bertrand

Like so many of the musicians in Cajun Country, Wilson plays the fiddle and keyboard (shown here) and probably others.

Wilson Savoy

And then there's Roddie Romero and the Hub City All-Stars.

"Considered one of America’s most talented musicians. At age nine, Roddie was introduced to the accordion by his grandfather. By the time he graduated high school, Roddie had already recorded three albums, toured the U.S. and Canada three times,

and changed the Louisiana law books! The Roddie Romero Bill, passed into law by the Louisiana legislature, gives underage performers the right to perform in a bar while accompanied by a parent or legal guardian." (Roddie is shown in the background in the photo above and also in the one below.)

Wherever this is Cajun music, there is dancing. The two photos below show some of these dancers.

One unusual feature of the opening evening of the Crawfish Festival was the temperature. The low for the first Friday May evening was predicted to be 45 degrees. As sunset approached, folks prepared for the approaching cold.

I thought it was interesting that some people seemed to have anticipated the temperature and wore the prediction on their clothing.

But the performers continued on, warmed by the energy of the music.

Jambalaya

Before leaving for the evening, we took a walk around the midway for a look at the lighted rides.

And in the smallest venue, we found Ray Abshire and friends playing some of the classics.

The attendance was down due to the cold. I'll bet tomorrow will be quite different.