Louisiana Crossroads 2011-2012 Season Catalog

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Greetings and welcome to the 12th season of Louisiana Crossroads! We thank you for supporting the series and helping it to step closer to its enormous potential.

This season, we’re building on the original model by reaching out to some new artists who fit the series’ concept like a glove; we’re increasing the number of performances from six to eight, with most featuring two-night runs in the world-class James D. Moncus Theater at the AcA; we’re continuing our performance relationship with the great city of Lake Charles, with 4 shows to be held at the Central School Theater; we’re producing an hour-long, superbly shot television pilot, which is poised to reach a vast national and international audience, with additional filming planned for many of the concerts this season; and we’re continuing to broadcast live on KRVS, reaching hundreds of thousands of listeners in Southwest Louisiana, and untold numbers on the Internet, while jumping up a level in audio quality.

All in all, we feel very excited about the growth of the series – and the fact that you’re reading these words means you probably feel that way as well! We invite you to sit back and enjoy the show… or to get up and holler, or to break out in a two-step if the mood strikes. We have a feeling it just might.

Dirk Powell, Louisiana Crossroads Director

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By Dirk Powell

I sit listening to Charles Brown in my recording studio, rich tones wafting out from

the speakers and filling the space around me with a honeyed blue sweetness. A few

yards away Bayou Teche, the most important waterway to the Chitimacha who gave

it its name, flows along slowly as it has for ages. It was on these flower-filled banks of

the Teche that Acadian refugees first settled in the 1760s, calling the area “La Pointe de

Repos,” or The Point of Rest. They still call this stretch of bayou La Pointe at the True

Friend Hall, just across the water. Some nights I sit on my porch and listen to the music

coming from the club; full-on Creole sounds, pumping all night. When they’re really

cranking, I can even hear the bass drum through the heavily treated walls of my studio. I

smile when I hear it. It’s a good problem to have. Like every other place in Louisiana,

this particular crossroads offers a cultural bounty that makes me feel lucky and blessed.

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Pondering the words “Louisiana Crossroads” brings to mind images of people coming together with connections that tie to the rest of the world. To explore them all would be a life’s work, but touching on just a few gives a sense of the depth of the mix – people of Francophone heritage who might have roots in Haiti, L’Acadie, Africa, or a hundred different parts of France itself; Lebanese heritage that may stretch back to some of the most important community builders in Lafayette or may be a story only a few years old; names like Romero and Ortego that may imply Spanish heritage from centuries past or may be tied to recent populations coming from Mexico, Central America, or other locales; heritage from Asia that includes, for example, one of the largest Laotian communities outside of Laos; and an abundance of Native cultures without which none could have learned what it takes to survive and flourish in an environment that teems with so many other forms of life.

This coming together has happened throughout history and continues to happen today. It is a beautiful circle of influence and human connection, like a flower with a thousand petals instead of a dozen, with everything arriving at a center where things mix in a

swirl of color, pulse, and flavor in a way that they have nowhere else in the world.

How many people have brought their story to the mix that exists here in Louisiana? How many people walk into that colorful center, expecting to walk out the other side unchanged, only to end up on a new tangent, sprung off in a

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new direction, with a new song, a new step, a new belle or beau? That path could be an old dirt road under live oaks draped with Spanish moss. Or it could be an urban street radiating a heat that seems to draw feet to it, making them linger a little longer in their step. It could be a horse trail

through prairies or red clay hills, or an intersection of waterways cut loosely into a swamp that only the most seasoned guide can detect.

We all have a story. It may be sitting at a grandparent’s knee; it may be hearing a band or a record; it may be tasting a special dish. It may be something that makes you laugh or something that makes you cry – or, more often than you might think, something that makes you do both at the same time.

Here’s one that makes me laugh: once, when

we succumbed to a fast food drive-thru, my daughter Sophie, after hearing her mother offered a “combo,” piped up excitedly from the back seat, saying “I want some gumbo too!” That kind of mistake makes you realize that, even when we end up dipping into mainstream American culture,

something’s still going right! Here’s another: one

friend told me about some relations who named their son Keet instead of Keith because they knew Paw-paw would just pronounce it that way regardless. Why not just go with it, they thought, and let Paw-paw be right from the start?

Keet, of course, had to explain for the rest of his life that his name really was Keet, but Paw-paw had it right from day one!

And here’s one that brings tears: I remember my father-in-law Dewey Balfa sitting at the kitchen table, listening to a recording of the last concert he would ever give. During the beautiful waltz “Chère Bébé Créole,” Dewey put his head down on his left arm and began to rack with sobs – he was saying goodbye to music forever. Even as his body shook, however, his right hand

My real louisiana crossroaD, the one

where My life took a new Direction,

was the corner of saint antoine street

anD Martin luther king Jr. BoulevarD in

lafayette. in a single MoMent i was on a

new Path, one where i woulD never count

My Dance stePs again.

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echoed the movement of the bow, never breaking the motion, full of smoothness, beauty and love. Watching Dewey say goodbye to music was heartbreaking, like watching lovers being pulled apart. But even in that moment, the power of what music is, and what life should be, was so evident that everyone present felt their own lives

deepened and affirmed. I never played that song, or perhaps any song, the same way again. There’s no doubt that he lives on in those notes.

Sometimes crossroads appear and lead us down new and irresistible paths. When it happens to enough people in a similar way at a similar time, cultures shift; but the story is still made up

of individual transitions. Someone mixed French roux with African okra for the first time, then a lot of people followed suit. It was someone’s new path; and then, before long, it became a comfortable and well-traveled road for many. Perhaps, for some, it eventually became filled with ruts that were too confining to stay in for long.

To take an example of this process from another classic of Louisiana cuisine, you may find, as one local artist/chef did, that crawfish étouffée is irresistibly good when made with coconut milk. Maybe that works better for you than your grandmother’s homemade roux. It might well be better than your mother’s cream of mushroom soup. If you want to try it, you can find coconut milk at the Vietnamese grocery where the older generation calls you “sir” in an accent from Southeast Asia – and the younger one simply calls you

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“bruh” in an accent straight from Lafayette High.I’ll leave you with one more story: the first

night I ever spent in Southwest Louisiana, I went to El Sido’s to hear Nathan & The Zydeco Cha-Chas. I was 21 years old. It was a Friday night. I learned, for the first time, what it really means to leave your cares at the door. I’d experienced leaving other things

behind, but never cares.

Everyone was dressed to the nines. The jubilant tension of humans coming together in a

setting where anything might happen floated on the music like steam above a simmering pot. I was at a point of transition, beginning to define myself as an adult for the first time and wondering what that meant. I felt like my mind had crept up somehow and become the dominant factor in my existence, whereas I wanted it to be, and had always strived for it

to be, only one part of something that was not merely intellectual but also sensual, emotional,

El Sido’s Zydeco & Blues Club

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and physical. Even my music had suffered as I went through this transitional phase – I would look down at my hands in the middle of a solo and question how my fingers knew where to go.

Walking into El Sido’s, I saw how I’d been viewing the world: me over here, my problems right in front of my face, and the rest of the world obscured somewhere else over there. As I felt the energy of the club, my real self started to surface. Before I knew it, I was asking one of the lovely Creole belles sitting at the tables to dance.

As we stepped onto the floor, the intellectual in me tried to reclaim its place. I didn’t know the steps. I was trying to learn. I needed to count it out. I shouted these things over the music into the ears of my partner. My mind was waging a battle, but the war was won. As I shouted these incomprehensible words, my partner looked up at me, straight in the eyes, and said, simply, “My name’s Angie.”

With those few words, my state of confusion and suffering was destroyed. Where had I been? Wherever it was, I would never go back. I was free! To say I’m grateful would be an understatement. In truth, she was like an angel to me – and Angie couldn’t have been a more perfect name.

My real Louisiana crossroad, the one where my life took a new direction, was the corner of Saint Antoine Street and Martin Luther King

Jr. Boulevard in Lafayette. In a single moment I was on a new path, one where I would never count my dance steps again.

I hope the Louisiana Crossroads performances we bring you this season will carry you to a new place. I hope

you walk in going one direction and out going another. We have so much to celebrate. And I know that, in true Louisiana style, the celebration will not only honor what is past but strengthen immeasurably what is to come.

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Nathan Williams & The Zydeco Cha-Chas

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LouIsIana Is a specIaL pLace,where the line between stage and audience exists

not as a strict barrier but as one piece of a loosely

defined frame that is easily reached across in both

directions. We thank all of you for continuing to

make Louisiana audiences the best in the world! Stay

connected to Louisiana Crossroads, and to other

programing at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, by

checking us out at www.louisianacrossroads.org or

www.acadianacenterforthearts.org. We look forward

to continuing to grow together.

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t he quintessential Louisiana artist brings

his world-renowned vocal gift to the James D. Moncus Theater for an evening of intimate music, accompanied by a single pianist. Mr. Neville is known for the distinctive and instantly recognizable voice that made “Tell It Like It Is” a million-seller back in 1967, but he has maintained an unassailable musical integrity and unquestionable hipness to audiences of all ages ever since. He is an artist who not only symbolizes but

consistently delivers the very best of what it means to be a musician deeply rooted in the sound and spirit of Louisiana. After all the number one hits and platinum selling albums – and the ups and downs that all residents of his city have weathered during the last few years – Mr. Neville is increasing the role of faith in his music and returning, in the deepest ways, to the roots he absorbed as a child growing up in New Orleans. We look forward to taking those journeys with him.

caPital one Presents louisiana crossroaDs:

an evening with aaron neville

September 28, 2011. 8:00 PM. Acadiana Center for the Arts’ James Devin Moncus Theater

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the vibrant sound of the accordion has always been a key part of Louisiana’s unique musical expression. In

this show, four virtuoso performers and their bands unite in a celebration of one of our most distinctive and spirited instruments. Kristi Guillory and Bonsoir Catin will deliver the hard-driving Cajun music that has made them a favor-ite throughout Acadiana and the world. Elias Lammam, originally of Lebanon but now residing in California, will bring timeless Pan-Arabic sounds, technical mastery, and a

generosity of spirit that have made him not only a charismatic performer but also a world-class teacher. Master accordionist Corey Ledet, whose wide-open style has led him to be called the heir apparent to Clifton Chenier, will hit hard with his full-on Zydeco band. And last but not least, Eva Ybarra, a fiery and passionate performer – and the first woman to play Conjunto in Texas – will treat us to powerful cumbias, polkas, and more. Eva will show us why, after 50 years of performing, she is still called “Queen of the Accordion.”

caPital one Presents louisiana crossroaDs:

accorDion Blowout –

caJun, ZyDeco, leBanese anD conJunto

October 19, 2011. 7:00 PM. Central School Theatre, Lake CharlesOctober 20 and 21, 2011. 8:00 PM. Acadiana Center for the Arts’ James Devin Moncus Theater

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this special event will center around

the premiere of the Louisiana Crossroads TV pilot, shown in high definition in the James D. Moncus Theater, followed by a Q & A with the filmmakers and live performances by Cajun/Creole greats DL Menard and Jeffrey Broussard. The film features Louisiana artists Irma Thomas (filmed at the AcA in June), Sonny Landreth (also filmed at the AcA), Allen Toussaint with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, DL Menard, and others. This

is a rare chance to celebrate a work that encapsulates artistic achievement on multiple levels and in multiple genres. It’s a collaborative effort that we know will resonate with audiences across the board. We’ll also have plenty

of refreshments on hand and, since we’re doing it SWLA style, end with a full-on Zydeco dance.

Joan

Lee

caPital one Presents louisiana crossroaDs:

songs froM the coast

the world Premiere of a louisiana crossroads film,

with live performances by Dl Menard and Jeffrey Broussard

November 25, 2011. 7:30 PM. Acadiana Center for the Arts’ James Devin Moncus TheaterNovember 27, 2011. 4:30 PM. Acadiana Center for the Arts’ James Devin Moncus Theater

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a one-of-a-kind, over-the-top holiday extravaganza featuring Warren

Storm, Tommy McClain, David Egan, Steve Riley, CC Adcock, Richard Comeaux, Dickie Landry, David Ranson and Pat Breaux. Between them, these legends cover every genre of Southwest Louisiana music. In this context, they will rightfully put all that musical energy into the Swamp Pop sound that is already a powerful blend of it all – one that was largely created in the 1950s by members Warren Storm and Tommy McClain. With the final night broadcast live on KRVS by the great Lee Kleinpeter, this specially created show will be full of amazing music, infectious spirit, and surprises better than anything you’ll find in your stocking.

caPital one Presents louisiana crossroaDs:

lil’ BanD o’ golD swaMP PoP christMas Pageant

December 7, 2011. 7:00 PM. Central School Theatre, Lake CharlesDecember 8 and 9, 2011. 8:00 PM. Acadiana Center for the Arts’ James Devin Moncus Theater

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steve Earle is a legendary and multifaceted

performer with long-standing connections to the Gulf Coast and Louisiana. He spent formative time here in his younger years, venturing over from his home state of Texas; more recently he has been featured as an actor and musician in the HBO series Treme, for which he wrote the profoundly moving “This City,” a song about New Orleans after Katrina. The lyrics state: “Doesn’t matter, let come what may I ain’t ever going to leave this town.

This city won’t wash away. This city won’t ever drown.” During a career that has encompassed Grammy award-winning CDs, self-penned novels and short story collections, major films, and production for other world-class artists, Steve has always provided a voice for the least privileged among us. This intimate solo show will feature collaboration with some of the musicians who have performed in Treme – Joel Savoy and Linzay Young – along with friend Dirk Powell.

caPital one Presents louisiana crossroaDs:

an evening with steve earle

with Joel savoy, linzay young, and Dirk Powell

January 12 and 13, 2012. 8:00 PM. Acadiana Center for the Arts’ James Devin Moncus Theater

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not everyone knows that the man who invented

amplified Blues harmonica, and created the vocabulary that every player of his instrument has used as a foundation ever since, was a French speaking Creole from Marksville, Louisiana. Little Walter Jacobs (pronounced in the French manner – Jya-KOH – in Walter’s family) revolutionized his instrument and changed the musical landscape forever. James Cotton, who began his own recording career at Sun Records in 1953, is Little Walter’s peer in every sense – he replaced Walter on harmonica in Muddy Waters’

Chicago-based band when Walter went out on his own. When they inducted Little Walter into the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame, James Cotton got the call to pay tribute, as he will do for us here. This show will feature Louisiana pianist and National Heritage Fellow Henry Gray, a major blues artist in his own right, who also played with Little Walter back in the day. Henry will treat us to timeless music and stories that only he can tell. A few special surprises are in store as well.

caPital one Presents louisiana crossroaDs:

a triBute to louisiana’s little walter,

featuring JaMes cotton with henry gray

March 7, 2012. 7:00 PM at the Central School Theatre, Lake CharlesMarch 8 and 9, 2012. 8:00 PM. Acadiana Center for the Arts’ James Devin Moncus Theater

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the connections between the

traditional music of Francophone Canada and Louisiana are undeniable but largely unexplored. This show brings together stalwarts on both side of that line – musicians who have unprecedented expertise in their fields but also great stage presence and a desire to create new music based on the commonalities of their heritage. De Temps Antan, all current or former members of the legendary group La Bouttine Souriante, are at the pinnacle of Quebecois music. The group features André Brunet, who performed during the opening of the Vancouver Olympic Games before tens of millions of viewers, Eric Beaudry, who is known not

only as a performer but world-class scholar of Francophone music, and master accordionist/harmonica player Pierre-Luc DuPuis. They will collaborate with Cedric Watson, the great young talent in Louisiana Creole Music, Anna Laura Edmiston, whose stellar vocal work with Feufollet has won her great renown, and David Greely, formerly of the Mamou Playboys, whose expertise in Louisiana fiddle and ballad styles is unmatched.

caPital one Presents louisiana crossroaDs:

De teMPs antan, ceDric watson, anna laura

eDMiston anD DaviD greely – eXPloring

QueBecois, acaDian anD caJun/creole

connections

April 11, 2012. 7:00 PM. Central School Theatre, Lake CharlesApril 12 and 13, 2012. 8:00 PM. Acadiana Center for the Arts’ James Devin Moncus Theater

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i f you haven’t heard Zigaboo’s incredibly tight

and genre-defining drumming on the original New Orleans recordings of The Meters, or the pivotal 1976 Wild Tchoupitoulas release that brought New Orleans Mardi Gras music to the world, you’ve undoubtedly heard it on one of the countless songs on which it’s been sampled over the last several decades. Zigaboo’s personal creation of funk drumming from the sounds he heard growing up in New Orleans has had an unmatched influence on the

music of the world. As a founding member of The Meters, he was part of the circle of musicians that revolved in large part around the Neville Brothers – but his innovative and rock solid drumming led him out of that circle, to tour with Keith Richards and The Rolling Stones, among many others. This show, with Zigaboo’s hard driving seven-piece funk band, featuring his original compositions mixed with Meters classics, will be the perfect closer to the season.

caPital one Presents louisiana crossroaDs:

ZigaBoo MoDeliste, king of the funky DruMs

May 9 and 10, 2012. 8:00 PM. Acadiana Center for the Arts’ James Devin Moncus Theater

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Many peopLe Work year round to Make thIs serIes possIbLe.

Linoleum Cut Blocks Artwork by: PETEr BErCHmAn DEHArT

Program content by: DirK PoWELL

Graphic design by: mEGAn BArrA

Photography by (page 6-7): PHiLiP GouLD

Louisiana Crossroads Director: DirK PoWELL

Louisiana Crossroads Technical Staff: BriAn SCHnEiDEr, TonY DAiGLE, and AAron THomAS

Production support: SuSAn CHAmPAGnE, WiLPro ProDuCTionS

Backdrop designed by mEGAn BArrA and Don BEGnEAuD and produced by BEGnEAuD mAnufACTurinG

Special thanks to the highly dedicated and hard working staff at the ACADiAnA CEnTEr for THE ArTS, whose efforts towards enriching this community make Louisiana Crossroads possible; to the LAfAYETTE EConomiC DEvELoPmEnT

AuTHoriTY, without whose partnership and support Louisiana Crossroads would not exist; and especially to Dr. GErD

WuESTEmAnn, D.m.A. who collaborated in the process every step of the way.

In addition, our thanks go out to SonnY LAnDrETH, LAKE CHArLES mAYor rAnDY roACH, DEniSE fASSKE,

JoHAnnA DivinE, Ann SAvoY, THE LT. GovErnor’S offiCE and THE DEPArTmEnT of CuLTurE, rECrEATion

AnD TouriSm, BuCHAnAn LofTS, THE HiLTon HoTEL, LAfAYETTE, KrvS 88.7 fm, and THE frEnCH PrESS.

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Louisiana crossroads season 1Henry ButlerDirk Powell & FriendsScott Ainslie & Glenis RedmondScott KirbySpencer BohrenMarce Lacouture & Friends

Louisiana crossroads season 2Doucet, Doucet & ReedPaul “Lil’ Buck” Sinegal & Harry HypoliteSam Broussard, David Greely and FriendsThe Judy Carmichael TrioDavid Egan & Buddy FlettScott Ainslie & Glenis Redmond

Louisiana crossroads season 3 Sonny Landreth & Dave RansonCarol Fran, Davell Crawford & FriendsRob Ickes & Slide CityNathan, Dennis Paul & Mark WilliamsDickie Landry and Austin Sonnier Jr.Karan Casey, Dirk Powell & FriendsBeth Patterson & Kalafka

Louisiana crossroads season 4UlaliDaybreakFrankie & Sean GavinSandip Burman & FriendsJohn MooneyMaurice Brown QuintetZachary Richard

Louisiana crossroads season 5 Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural Jr., Paul “Lil’ Buck” Sinegal

& FriendsSusan Cowsill, Mark Meaux & FriendsA Tribute to Varise Conner featuring David Greely and

members of the Conner Family on a special double bill with Celjun

Scott Ainslie & Glenis RedmondThe Wayfaring Strangers with special guests the UL

Lafayette Wind Ensemble

Louisiana crossroads season 6Steve Conn with special guests Sonny Landreth &

Michael DoucetThe Sue Foley Band30 Years of BeauSoleilAnders Osborne, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Doug Belote

& FriendsMiki Honeycutt sings David Egan and Buddy Flett Doyle Bramhall & C.C. AdcockDirk Powell with The Foghorn Stringband

Louisiana crossroads season 7Dickie LandryChris Thomas KingLa Joie de la Musique concert seriesBruce MacDonald, George Porter Jr. & Friends30 Years of BeauSoleilJerry Douglas, Doug Belote & FriendsThe Marcia Ball BandCrooked Still

Louisiana crossroads season 8Dickie Landry & Jon SmithScott Ainslie & Glenis RedmondDoyle Bramhall, C.C. Adcock & FriendsJo-El Sonnier & FriendsLes Frères Michot & The Lost Bayou RamblersThe Lee Boysthe subdudesBarbara Lynn, Sue Foley, Cindy Cashdollar, Sarah Brown

& Lisa Pankratz

Louisiana crossroads season 9Dickie Landry & Walter ThibeauxTab Benoit & Leon MedicaTerrance Simien, Susan Cowsill & Friends30 Years of The RadiatorsThe Bad Roads with David Egan and Pat Breaux20 Years of Steve Riley & The Mamou PlayboysZachary Richard with David Torkanowsky and Shane

Theriot

Louisiana crossroads season 10 Jimmy Breaux, David Doucet & Mitch ReedGateway to the Grammys FundraiserJohn MooneyRoddie Romero & The Hub City All-Stars with special

guest Joel GuzmanChris Thomas King’s 30th Anniversary Celebration of

Tabby’s Blues BoxTheresa AnderssonZachary Richard & FriendsThe Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Louisiana crossroads season 11The Bluerunners ReunionThe Dylan LeBlanc BandSteve Conn, Sonny Landreth & Friends100 Years of Robert Johson with Scott Ainslie, Sam

Broussard and David EganDash Rip Rock & The Swingin’ HaymakersBuckwheat Zydeco & Ils Sont Partis Band

special Louisiana crossroads concert event, June, 2011Irma Thomas, The Soul Queen of New Orleans

past perforMances

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101 W. Vermilion St.Lafayette, LA 70501

(337) 233-7060

AcadianaCenterfortheArts.org

211 E. Devalcourt St.Lafayette, LA 70506

(337) 593-1400

Lafayette.org

©2011 Acadiana Center for the Arts, Inc.

Musical Journeys

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