I grew up in New England and after I moved back here (Maine) after college and became involved in the trad music scene as a musician and dancer and dance caller, I found myself surrounded by northern music and dance. Yeah, there was a southern Old Time scene, but we often played the tunes like northern tunes, even straightening out the “crooked” parts so they would work for 32 bar contra dances. The contra dance world was very orderly, “chem-free”, “politically correct” (most of the time) and we were having a lot of fun. Around 1995, my band mates Pam and Jim decided to attend a Cajun music and dance week at Augusta Heritage center in Elkins, WV. They had been exposed to Cajun music in part by the playing of the late Al Berard and the Basin Brothers who toured through New England, including Maine, quite often back in those days. Al even said playing up here helped put his daughter through college! Anyway, things were about to change. Pam and Jim came back and wanted to start a Cajun band! They asked me to join but I wasn’t interested at that time. I think I was pretty heavily into contra dance calling and dance choreography at that point. But when their guitar player quit the band, I finally decided to help out and quickly discovered the allure of Cajun music and dance. The BIG CHANGE for me came when we decided to attend the premier “Dewey Balfa Cajun Creole Heritage Week” in southwest Louisiana in April of 2001. The week-long camp was held at Lake Fausse Pointe State Park in Iberia Parish, and St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, adjacent to the Atchafalaya River Basin (yep same “basin” as the Basin Brothers). This is real Cajun country, with bayous and levees and swamps and alligators and cypress trees. Lots of colorful birds, armadillos, really not like Maine at ALL, hah hah. We flew down to Lafayette and rented a car. We brought tents and sleeping bags so we could camp out.

BALFA WEEK #1  So the format was that there was a “host band” (this was Balfa Toujours, which was Christine Balfa, Dirk Powell, Courtney Granger, Kevin Wimmer, others), and other instructors including members of the Mamou Playboys. During the day there would be classes (fiddle, accordion, guitar, etc) and performances by special guests. This happened inside a park building. This part is not unlike our northern music/dance camps and in fact Jay Unger and Molly Mason (founders of Ashokan), were there as consultants. After dinner (my first real introduction to Cajun cuisine), we went to the very large “main tent” area which was a big deal with stage and dance floor, sound crew, etc. Every evening there would be dancing to two bands, one Cajun and one Zydeco and the public was invited so every night the place was packed! As I walked to the dance area that first evening, though, I saw some things that were quite different from what I was used to up north. The first thing was at the “snack area”, a giant cauldron of boiling oil full of “cracklins”. Cracklins are pieces of deep fried pork fat and skin. They get really crispy and brown and are quite tasty though I admit my first thought was “heart attack”!! Anyway, just another intro to Cajun cooking! Next and most importantly was the small tent right next to the dance tent, “the Beer tent”. whoa.. “Well this is interesting,” I told myself. A glance out on the dance floor showed couples two-stepping or waltzing with cans of beer in hand! No sneaking out behind the hall at the break here!! On stage things seemed to be fueled by alcohol from time to time as well. (I guess this is as good a place as any to give a hand to head chef Pat Mould who played a wicked T-fer (triangle) on stage for a few of the bands. I want to say this delicately – Pat was, let’s say, “having a great time”!!!! Didn’t seem to hurt the music either, these bands were all GREAT!!! I asked the beer vendor what beers they had and the answer was “we got ’em all”, Cool. “What’s that?” “Coors Lite, Miller Lite, Bud Lite and Bud.” Interesting. Also the beer came in these small cans – 10 oz. Seemed weird until you started dancing in 90+ degree temps. Lite beer was a LOT easier to drink while dancing plus the small can ran out before it got too warm.

THE CONTINUING TRADITION Well, that’s the title of this blog and I am quite sure that showing the continuity between the old and new traditions was part of the plan for Balfa Week. Some of the “pioneers” had passed on or were getting pretty old and the organizers didn’t want folks to forget where everything came from. We are certainly trying to do the same at Maine Fiddle Camp, and other  Camps and festivals are doing the same. Of course the Camp’s namesake, Dewey Balfa, was responsible for introducing Cajun music to the world outside of Louisiana, and the host band “Balfa Toujours” (Balfa forever) was made up of Dewey’s daughter, son-in-law, nephew and musicians who had been mentored by Dewey for the most part. Some of the “special guests” helped to bridge that gap too. I want to talk about two of them here.

CARLTON FRANK was one of the last of the “old style” Creole fiddlers (think Canray Fontenot). He showed up at camp one afternoon with his nephew, Creole accordionist, Preston Frank. Carlton was pulling a small oxygen tank on wheels behind him and looked quite frail. He was very soft-spoken but had a smile a mile wide that showed he really loved doing what he was doing! They sat down and started playing.. Carlton had a very soft scratchy bowing style but we were all quickly mesmerized. Soon the oxygen came off and Preston and he were joking (seriously!) that he was probably going to die soon, and he probably shouldn’t have been working in that chemical plant all those years. We were all holding back tears, but the band played on. It had been a tough life but the music certainly made it bearable. Here’s a video taken by my friend Tim Kness at that actual concert with Dirk Powell accompanying on guitar. Carlton hung on for several more years and died in February 2005

BOOZOO CHAVIS was kind of the opposite in personality (and stature) from Carlton. He was a SHOWMAN!!  Boozoo was an accordion player from the Lake Charles area, specifically a Cajun/Creole settlement called Dog Hill. Also from a musical family, he started playing back in the 1940’s before this style of music was called Zydeco. Some actually attribute the present Zydeco playing style to Boozoo! He certainly was part of the ‘transition” from the early Creole style of Carton Frank to the newer Zydeco style as it took on English lyrics and fused with American Blues! It always seemed like Boozoo was trying to sell you something.. Underwear with his picture on it comes to mind.. His wife Leona would be out in the audience selling stuff too! He performed one evening at Balfa Week wearing an apron that advertised his Creole cookbook and catering business! The picture here is from that weekend. I can’t find any videos from that time but here’s Boozoo in 1996 with the same apron!!:

Boozoo died on tour in Austin TX about a week after Balfa Camp.

BACK IN MAINE  While it would seem I had just been witness to extreme “CULTURE CLASH”, it was less than you might think. It’s true that the original Acadians actually came from up near here and after the Grande Derangement many of them ended up in Maine as well as in Louisiana. A lot of the family names are the same! Nevertheless, these days, there is not much similarity between Cajun music and say, Quebecois music, which is played a LOT here, or downeast (Maritime Canadian) fiddling. BUT the cultures have similarities. There is farming, working in the woods, working on the water (mostly fishing but in LA the “oil biz” which is mostly on the water and we don’t have much of that here). People have to work hard to survive and many many Cajun musicians that I know work “day jobs”. What I took away from the experience the most was the richness of the tradition and how dedicated the local folks were to their culture. Then the music itself is so captivating. It seems so simple at first, sometimes only one or two chords, but they don’t CHANGE where you think they will.. With a Cajun waltz or a two-step, or a Zydeco “swing dance”, it’s all about the pulse of the music. I have been back to southwest Louisiana once more since Balfa week. That was for Cajun Mardi Gras in Church Point, but THAT, my friends, is another story.. Right now there is someone trying to bring Cajun and Zydeco to MAINE. That’s Su Peck and here’s the story:

CAMP ZYDECOW, CHERRYFIELD MAINE. In March 2019, Su Peck decided she wanted a Cajun dance in Cherryfield, Maine, where she has a home. Cherryfield is in “Downeast Maine”, that is to say a LONG ways from anywhere and a couple hours east of Bangor which is also a long ways from anywhere. She hired our Cajun band, Jimmyjo and the Jumbol’Ayuhs to play and invited folks from the local community to experience Cajun music, dance and cooking. It was just an evening in the old “Cherryfield Academy”, a beautiful wooden school building from a bygone era with a stage and nice dance floor, now the local community hall. Many Cajun dance fans came from quite a ways away and the evening was very successful. I guess that got Su thinking. Covid scuttled her plans for 2020, but July 2021 came along and things looked pretty good Covid-wise and Su inaugurated “Camp Zydecow” (she has a “thing” about cows. I didn’t get the whole story.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bands were, Jimmyjo, Magnolia plus Mitch Reed, Planet Zydeco, all from New England and from Louisiana, Bruce Daigrepont and Gina Forsyth!  Here’s a little video of Bruce and Gina:

ONWARD!! Sue is offereing Camp Zydecow 2022 to the public and here’s the info:

Date is July 23/24 for dancing.

Bands will be: Jimmyjo and the Jumbol’Ayuhs (MY band from Maine), Magnolia (from Rhode Island and Mass), Planet Zydeco (New England), The Squeezebox Stompers (Massachusetts), Curley Taylor and Zydeco Trouble (from Louisiana), and Bruce Daigrepont and Gina Forsyth (also from LA).

Preliminary Schedule:

July 22, the friday evening before, there will be a potluck at the community center, maybe a little jamming.

Saturday, July 23rd: Jimmyjo and the Jumbol’Ayuhas, Planet Zydeco, Bruce Daigrepont and Gina Forsyth, dinner, Curley Taylor.
Sunday, July 24th: Magnolia, Squeezebox Stompers, Jimmyjo, Bruce Daigrepont for the finale.
Price for the weekend is $155 for the music and dancing. There’s an extra charge of $25 for the lobster on Saturday.
Food will be available on Sunday for sale, probably pulled pork and burgers and dogs.
Attendance will be limited to 100 vaccinated dancers. Pre-registration only. (no ‘walk-ins”!)
There is room for camping and RV’s PLUS there are still a few rooms left at the Red BarnMotel in Milbridge. 6 miles away.
The FB page is: 2022 Camp Zydecow. Or contact Su at supeck6@gmail.com for more info or to sign up.

FINALLY here’s a little video clip from the Mardi Gras online concert I did with Pam and Jim and our friend Mitch Reed:

See you all next month!