Concert to benefit UL Lafayette’s Archives of Cajun and Creole Folklore

UL Lafayette’s Center for Louisiana Studies is holding a house concert at Avery Island with local musicians David Greely, founding fiddler of Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, currently performing solo and in GreelySavoyDuo and GumboJet, and Blake Miller, founding member of Pine Leaf Boys, current member of the Revelers and Lafayette Rhythm Devils, at 7 p.m. May 6.
Music selections will include a wide representation of holdings in the Center’s Archives of Cajun and Creole Folklore, as well as pieces from Greely’s solo career and fellowship at Shadows-on-the-Teche.
Proceeds from the event will be used to further the preservation mission of the Center’s Archives of Cajun and Creole Folklore.
Archivist Chris Segura notes, “We are thrilled to be continuing our collaboration with David Greely. He has done so much great work for the archive over the years. He’s recycled and given new life to forgotten songs and has also produced a CD of archival recordings of the great fiddler Varise Conner.”
The Archives of Cajun and Creole Folklore is the world’s largest collection of Cajun and Creole folklore, field recordings, oral histories, and other folklife materials.
“I was introduced to the Archives of Cajun and Creole Folklore [of the Center for Louisiana Studies at UL Lafayette] in the early 90s, and found the voices of my teachers there,” says David Greely. “The Louisiana French dance hall sound, with its joyful two-steps, crooning waltzes and major keys, has long been the medicine that dancers crave after a long workweek grind. Its loud and ebullient mood creates an atmosphere of celebration - a mood that dominates Cajun and Creole recordings and performances in South Louisiana and throughout the world. However, shortly after the birth of recording technology folklorists have sought the deeper and more varied creativity this rich culture has to offer - music and stories that were performed in the home in the evenings. There were quieter moods, richer modes, deeper lyrical meaning and cherished stories told that touched the heart’s deeper needs. Those recordings are now available to the modern musical world thanks to the hard work and diligence of archivists at the Center for Louisiana Studies - treasures to satisfy and inspire artists and students who need deeper roots and broader horizons in Louisiana French culture. Grandmère’s stew is great, but they’ve got her whole recipe book.”
Tickets are $20 and are available for purchase through ACCFislandhouseconcert.eventbrite.com. The concert is hosted on Avery Island, and details and directions to the event will be emailed to paid ticket holders on May 4.
For more information, contact the Center at 337-482-1320 or clspresents@louisiana.edu.