June is African American Music Appreciation Month. A time to honor, celebrate, and reflect on all the musical accomplishments Black Americans have given throughout the centuries. Louisiana has a strong connection with the musical legacy of this country, from traditional gospel music to the bounce…
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Swamp pop represents, according to its foremost historian, Shane K. Bernard, the cultural collisions of “Cajun and Creole, black and white, French and English, rural and urban, folk and mainstream.” Sharing affinities with rhythm and blues, rock and roll, country and western, and rockabilly, swamp…
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An early 20th-century precursor to zydeco, la-la music melds indigenous American, African, European, blues, nascent rhythm and blues, and Louisiana Creole and Cajun traditions to form a popular genre that is both provincial and unmeasurably influential. Primarily associated with Black Creoles of…
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Zydeco is a continuously evolving Louisiana music genre that blends elements of many Black American folk and pop styles, including blues, rhythm and blues, gospel, jazz, rock and roll, soul, funk, hip-hop, and rap. Though scholars surmise that zydeco contains deeper historical roots in West African…
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Cajun music is a central component and marker of Cajun identity and culture in southwestern Louisiana. Largely accordion and fiddle based, and mostly sung in vernacular French, Cajun music has foundations in Indigenous American, African, German, Irish, Anglo-American as well as Francophone folk…
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So, does all the great music you hear in Lafayette inspire you to play along? Do you have your guitar, fiddle, accordion, or other acoustic instruments --- including your voice--- handy? Or do you enjoy listening to a group of people playing classic Cajun, Zydeco, or old-timey music in a laid-back…
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Immerse yourself in the untouched purity of a cypress and tupelo swamp. Sway your hips to the upbeat tempo of accordions and washboards, or let the seductive flavors of Cajun and Creole cooking dance on your palate. Join in on a colorful Mardi Gras celebration and experience the largest non-ticketed…
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GRAMMY award-winning and nominated musicians from Acadiana Music has been the soul of Acadiana since the area's humble beginnings, with a melting pot of Cajuns, Creoles, European and Native American cultures inspiring fresh new sounds. South Louisiana has fostered folk music, country, rock, and…
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The triangle is a simple, percussive, rhythm instrument central to Cajun music. Consisting of two…
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The frottoir — sometimes spelled froittoir — is a percussive, rhythmic instrument omnipresent in…
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