French Quarter Festival

Last weekend was the French Quarter Festival; the largest free music fest in the South! It was Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There were TONS of people in town! The city always feels good when there are a lot of people around.

I had to work during the daytime when most of the action was happening. Fortunately I got off before it got dark and I got to see a few bands play on Saturday and Sunday nights.

Here was J.J. Callier and the Zydeco Knockouts at the Crystal Hot Sauce Zydeco stage:

There were several different stages set up around the Quarter. The biggest one was down by the river. I was amazed to see so many different kinds of people, fashions and food in one place! It was really cool. Here was one of the other stages:

Sunday night I made it just in time to see this band my parents and I discovered while they were here. I love their music!

Zydeco comes from the french words les haricots which are green beans or snap beans. It originated from Creole music and was something you could snap your fingers to. Did you know that it is so popular now that there is a category in the Grammys for Zydeco and Cajun music? Cool!

The zydeco sound is composed of a button or piano accordian and a washboard, more commonly referred to as  a rub-board. These look more like pieces of a

rmor than a washboard! Throw a harmonica in there too and you've got a zydeco band! Plus the name is just fun to say.

Here's some pics of Rockin' Dopsie Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters! PS - Dopsie is pronounced "Doopsie".

Rockin' was available for pictures and autographs afterwards. He has a new cd coming out but I didn't bring money with me, so I settled for the picture! He was really polite with everyone and he was a great performer. A+!

I decided this past weekend that the best souvenir a person can get while out on trips or living in different places is local music. Music that someone has created is their gift to the world (cheesy, yes). It blows my mind when I try to think about how many different types of music there are in the world, past, present and future! Everywhere you go there is something new and different. You may like it or you may not. Surprisingly, I liked this type of folk music. I never thought I would!

I can now add Zydeco to my list of favs!

PS - some video examples of Zydeco! Look how coordinated his hands are!