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Re: Anyone in Metro Atlanta want to play Zydeco

ronald, do i know you?

do you ever go to atlanta zydeco dances?

leeroy thomas is coming, march 7 i think.

my band

www.zydecot.com

is playing at the alpharetta pappadeaux
feb 24 25 27 and 28

wle.

Re: Larry's website

Hey Larry,

Thanks for the website link. I enjoyed listening to the sound clips of your band. I have a question for you. I've noticed previously that you seem to frown on wet tuning (or at least heavy wet tuning); and so I'm assuming your accordion is dry tuned. Is that true? I especially like the sound of H Club.
Thanks, Scott

Re: Re: Larry's website

my one rows are dry tuned

my cheap chinese 3 rows are however wet they
make them, which is fairly wet

i don;t mind the change of sound when going
to a 3 row, from dry to wet

anything for variety is fine

i just think too wet in a one row starts to
sound like a calliope.

wle.

tuning

one thing about dry tuning.
if you play through a p.a. system, it;s fairly
easy to add electronic detuning effects
that can simulate wet tuning, for the few times
you might want it.

you can wetten it but you can never dry it out..!

i use a bunch of different effects, all in the same
boss se-50 stereo multieffects unit.
wet
octave
chorus
flange
phase
doubling
kind of a short echo
distortion
couple of reverbs
fake hammond organ
crescendo delay feedback
[dramatic ending, sounds like a flock
of flying saucers taking off]
even a key changer but that doesn;t work
well if you can still hear the original sound

wle.

Re: Re: Anyone in Metro Atlanta want to play Zydeco

Hello Larry,
No, we've never met. I did not know you were apart of Zydecot. I do know Anthony though. I saw your group last Sunday at Jakes Toadhouse. You guys were great. I'm trying to find some people who I can practice some Zydeco with. I play guitar in a band. The band is not into Zydeco. I want to play accordion now. I bought two accordions and am practicing alone.

Re: Re: Re: Anyone in Metro Atlanta want to play Zydeco

I'm in the same boat here in NJ/NY trying to find a drummer and guitar player. Once you get an internal mic you can plug in to an amp and use a drum machine. That will get you practicing and used to the amplified Zydeco sound of the box. Lately I've been searching the want ads on the net at harmony- central.com looking for blues oriented musicians who might be interested in a Zydeco project. so far no luck but I'm not giving up. the bluegrass band has been very tolerant and lets me play some accordion on our shows with the right audience but it's not the same as having a rockin' zydeco outfit that can play out. Keep at it and good luck in putting a band together.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Anyone in Metro Atlanta want to play Zydeco

I know some Blues and R & B musicians. I've actually played my single row with some of them at a jam session and they really got into it. I'm going to make contact with them again and see if I can come up with a gig that they can help me with with.

Instead of blues musicians, try reggae or ska musicians.

I have done so many gigs in which we have filled out the band with blues guys (on guitar or bass), and I have finally decided that it doesn't work out so well. I am putting my toe in the water with Reggae and Ska musicians now, and I am hopeful that something good will emerge in the end.

The problem with blues guys is that very often, they just don't get it that in zydeco the groove is ALL. From the guitar players, I get the same boring blues shuffle rhythm, when what I want is some funky chop instead. Also, they seem to expect that they will be the star of the show and be playing many extended solos. No!

But with Reggae and Ska guys, they are totally used to the idea that the groove is all, and that the overall sound is the result of melding simple parts into a funky whole. Yes!

-David

Re: Instead of blues musicians, try reggae or ska musicians.

Hey David,
Looking for Raggae and Ska musicians is probably not a bad idea. I'll give that a try too. Thanks

it;s definitely a challenge to find a band.

No, we've never met. I did not know you were apart of Zydecot. I do know Anthony though. I saw your group last Sunday at Jakes Toadhouse. You guys were great.

--oh. come say howdy some time..

> I'm trying to find some people who I can practice some Zydeco with. I play guitar in a band. The band is not into Zydeco. I want to play accordion now. I bought two accordions and am practicing alone.

--it;s hard to find someone interested. most
people here have never heard of it.

--and if you want to play zydeco, you really need
a band.

because if you play the accordion part to
90% of zydeco songs alone, it doesn;t sound like
much.

--it;s easy to find people who know zydeco but don;t
play music, or vice versa, but not both.

--bill,
our guitar player was a fan and a good guitarist,
plus he used to live in lafayette, used to
dance to beau, boo, john delafose, keith, etc.

--anthony, the rubboardist, is of course
a fan and he has studied the greats.

--doug, the drummer, is just a great drummer.
he was in the cajun band i was in, and
made several trips to LA, he knew what
zydeco could be.

--joe, the bassist, we had to bring him along.
he thought he had heard zydeco but it was mostly
the 12 bar blues based stuff.
he needed a lot of familiarizing but he does
like it and he is a great musician and easily
able to understand other styles and relate
to what he already knows in music.


--other things you will run into is the
problem that you can find
good players, but they like to make money,
they don;t want to rehearse unless there
is some money in it.

--or they want to also play a bunch of junk that
isn;t zydeco, just because they know it already.


--or the guitarist wants to solo all the time
because he thinks accordion is boring.


--as far as money goes, the fun gigs are not well
paid usually, and vice versa. so to keep your
good players interested, you have to play
some money gigs that may not be fun. then you
have to spend time doing songs that are not
as close to zydeco as you might want. or figuring
out how to take a classic song and graft
it onto a zydeco band. which all takes time
and rehearsing. which bores really good players,
if they need to make money to eat..


--it;s definitely a challenge to find a band.

--wle.

Re: it;s definitely a challenge to find a band.

Thanks for that info Larry. I guess when I learn more songs, I can maybe find a paying gig and get some musicians to help me out.

Re: Re: it;s definitely a challenge to find a band.

Ronald - if you are trying to find folks to jam with, I would think the best place to find folks who are interested in Zydeco music, and hopefully also interested in playing Zydeco Music , would be of course at Zydeco Dances and music events. Go to them, start talking to folks and put the word out at these events that you are learning Zydeco Accordion and looking for others interested in learning and jamming around on the music. You might eventually find some folks of like mind. Once people really like the music, its not a big leap to want to play it, especially if they have played other music in the past.

Re: Re: Re: it;s definitely a challenge to find a band.

Hey John,
That's a good idea. The next event I go to I'll ask some people and see if I can find some interest.

Re: Re: Re: Re: it;s definitely a challenge to find a band.

good luck

usually you can find someone interested,
but they 'have always wanted to start'
drums, or guitar, or whatever..

wle.

Re: Re: Re: Re: it;s definitely a challenge to find a band.

Well, there's a well-founded myth that good musicians are terrible dancers.

I'm proof of that, since I'm an excellent dancer.

If you're dancing, and you get kicked or stepped on by the guy next to you, ask him what kind of instrument he plays.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: it;s definitely a challenge to find a band.

Dana is an exception to the rule.

Cajun/Zydeco "band minus one" practice CDs in various keys

I have a Mel Bay type cd in the works featuring Cajun and Zydeco rythm section "minus one" to enable accordion players and fiddlers to practice or try their hand at the one-man/woman band scene, using these tracks free of performance rights.
The Cajun section features traditionals in C, D, A, G wth upright bass, ti=fer and accoustic guitar and "rythm" fiddle on some of the tracks. Zydeco emphasizes jamming in above keys plus Bb and F with double kick a la Beau Jocque and Keith Frank, aggressive bass and ska rythm guitar found in Wayne Toups as well as more traditional Clifton blues shuffle and straight ahead 4/4. This cd is for all types of Louisiana-style accordion, fiddle. Also comes in handy when trying to get bass players, guitarists and drummers familiar with Zydeco and ZydeCajun.
projected availability is Christmas 2006. If anyone is interested, drop me a line at standremusic@yahoo.ca
Bonne semaine a tous
Jean-Pierre



Jamey Hall's most excellent Cajun Accordion Music Theory

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