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Introduction: Framing Cajun Music

Ryan André Brasseaux

in Cajun Breakdown: The Emergence of an American Made Music

This Introduction situates historically the Cajun community’s position within the broader cultural currents of the United States. The evolution of Cajun instrumentation, the earliest influences ... More

This Introduction situates historically the Cajun community’s position within the broader cultural currents of the United States. The evolution of Cajun instrumentation, the earliest influences acting on the genre—including minstrelsy, showboats, and travelling entertainment—frame this Introduction to Cajun music’s pre-commercial history. This chapter argues that interaction, not isolation, attributed to the vibrancy of Cajun musicLess

Early Commercial Era

Ryan André Brasseaux

in Cajun Breakdown: The Emergence of an American Made Music

This chapter examines the dawn of Cajun recording. The Cajun community’s relationship to recording technology, the evolving nature of America’s recording industry, and Cajun music’s relationship to ... More

This chapter examines the dawn of Cajun recording. The Cajun community’s relationship to recording technology, the evolving nature of America’s recording industry, and Cajun music’s relationship to the ethnic, race, and hillbilly markets, are examined to illustrate the cultural intersections between the Bayou Country and America writ large. The pioneering recording careers of Joe Falcon, Cleoma Breaux Falcon, and Leo Soileau are also offered as further examples of the recording industry’s impact on local traditions and perceptions of Cajun music.Less

Social Music

Ryan André Brasseaux

in Cajun Breakdown: The Emergence of an American Made Music

Dance culture and the social contexts that shaped Cajun musical traditions through 1950 constitute the primary focus of this study. Cajun musical expression is considered here, in relation to the ... More

Dance culture and the social contexts that shaped Cajun musical traditions through 1950 constitute the primary focus of this study. Cajun musical expression is considered here, in relation to the varied social dynamics acting on the genre, through an analytical lens categorizing musical expression into one of three distinct, but complementary roles within its host community: home music, sung a cappella for pleasure in a domestic setting for friends, family, or personal enjoyment; ritualistic ballad recitations at significant events straddling secular and religious social spheres; and dance music performed at bals de maison (house dances) and later dance halls—a distinctive style that would be exploited commercially in the early 20th century. The contexts surrounding this vernacular American music satisfied the group’s basic needs for self-expression, social interaction, courtship, and entertainment. This chapter concludes that social context is a crucial factor in the Cajun musical equation that ultimately shapes and defines this brand of ethnic cultural expression.Less

A Heterogeneous Tradition

Ryan André Brasseaux

in Cajun Breakdown: The Emergence of an American Made Music

Bayou Country’s musical terrain and the cultural and historical undercurrents that expanded the genre’s repertoire, stylistic range, and instrumental conventions are outlined in this chapter. Three ... More

Bayou Country’s musical terrain and the cultural and historical undercurrents that expanded the genre’s repertoire, stylistic range, and instrumental conventions are outlined in this chapter. Three factors encouraged heterogeneity in the Louisiana’s musical traditions: a musical network that stimulated exchange between musicians, thereby diversifying Louisiana’s soundscape; the historical idiosyncrasies and ethnic variation shaping cultural production in rural enclaves; and the tension between traditional and innovative tendencies within the genre. Residual colonial song structures performed by guitarist Blind Uncle Gaspard, Dennis McGee’s enigmatic fiddling that crossed stylistic and racial boundaries, the friction between conservative and progressive inclinations in regional Cajun popular culture, as performed by Leo Soileau and Moïse Robin, and Cajun readings of American popular culture as interpreted by accordionists Lawrence Walker and Nathan Abshire are used as points of departure in this discussion of heterogeneous musical expression on 78 rpm record.Less

Later Gulf Coast Arrivals

Mark F. DeWitt

in Cajun and Zydeco Dance Music in Northern California: Modern Pleasures in a Postmodern World

This chapter discusses the Cajun music and zydeco scene in northern California as it expanded beyond its original Creole basis and took on a life of its own. It describes the rise of all things Cajun ... More

This chapter discusses the Cajun music and zydeco scene in northern California as it expanded beyond its original Creole basis and took on a life of its own. It describes the rise of all things Cajun in popular culture and profiles the following individuals: Freida Fusilier, Susan Appe Ramon, Ralph “Bobby” Gradney, and Richard Domingue. The chapter details the development of the northern California scene from 1985—2005 and concludes with some final reflections from the author.Less

From Chanky-Chank to Yankee Chanks: The Cajun Accordion as Identity Symbol

Mark F. Dewitt

in The Accordion in the Americas: Klezmer, Polka, Tango, Zydeco, and More!

The diatonic button accordion has been played by musicians the world over, but it has attained a uniquely prominent status in Louisiana Cajun culture. Over the decades, this one particular type of ... More

The diatonic button accordion has been played by musicians the world over, but it has attained a uniquely prominent status in Louisiana Cajun culture. Over the decades, this one particular type of accordion has served as a tabula rasa onto which have been projected changing views of Cajun music and the status of Cajun ethnic identity. This chapter shows how the changing politics of identity in post-civil rights America has enabled Cajuns to turn the accordion's (and their own) “chanky-chank” (low-class) stigma into a powerful symbol of ethnic identity and pride. Cajuns' renewed interest in and valuation of accordion music has also spilled over to a young generation of musicians, including non-Cajun “Yankee chank” accordion players.Less

Prelude: Down At The Twist And Shout

Mark F. DeWitt

in Cajun and Zydeco Dance Music in Northern California: Modern Pleasures in a Postmodern World

This book focuses on a vibrant Cajun and zydeco music and dance scene in the San Francisco Bay Area and nearby regions of northern California. This chapter describes the themes central to the book, ... More

This book focuses on a vibrant Cajun and zydeco music and dance scene in the San Francisco Bay Area and nearby regions of northern California. This chapter describes the themes central to the book, including the wide dissemination of symbols of Cajun culture, tourism, and the meeting of cultural insiders and outsiders on the dance floor. It examines Mary Chapin Carpenter’s song “Down At The Twist And Shout” as a starting point for a discussion of themes that will resurface in other chapters. The romance of travel is a central theme of the song, and the coupling of its lyrical content with its commercial success as a pop song makes it ripe for an analysis of what its success says about its audience(s). In this case, “Down At The Twist And Shout” embodies a larger trend in popular culture to rehabilitate the image of Cajuns and to treat aspects of their culture as objects of touristic desire.Less

“Wondering”: Riverside Ramblers Bluebird B-6926

Tony Russell

in Rural Rhythm: The Story of Old-Time Country Music in 78 Records

This chapter discusses Riverside Ramblers, “Wondering”, Hackberry Ramblers, stringband, Louisiana Cajun music, and Bluebird Records