Well, I guess I am just going to have to go see you and da crew. For some reason I cant pull up your schedule right now from home, but I will tomorrow and see when I can make it. Big D definately needs some culture.

Hi Rick,

I know exactly what you mean. Here in S. Cal., what are there, maybe 6 or 8 million people? Anyway, I can honestly say that I am in the top 5 of Cajun accordion players who are gigging here - that's all there are!!!


I did go to your website and played some of the sound clips - nice job!

-David

Thanks Braves, really...

I consider myself an accordion "hack" with zero formal training. It wasn't until last year (after 13 years of copying Beau Jocque riffs) that I decided it was time to learn some "real" Cajun music and put aside the repetitious zydeco licks. It was about that same time I stumbled on to this incredible forum, which spurred me on even more.

That said, I've found the repetitive "predictable" grooves in zydeco easier for Dallas area musicians to adopt; rather than the "trickiness" of Cajun 3-beat/6-beat measures with turnarounds, et al, to reproduce. Plus, the critical standard country bass-stylings knock the personality out of many a bass player. Overall, zydeco works better in Big D than Cajun, so that's the route I chose with the Stingrays.

This forum has been a tremendous inspiration and resource for me (thanks Joanie!). Not only are there great Louisiana artists on here, i.e., Aaron C., Chris M., Jude M. & Roland, (just to name 4 right off the top of my head), but there are a lot of other guys just like me, that live outside of the triangle that have C&Z in the fabric of their souls -- folks like me that live their lives everyday as step-sons and daughters of the beloved Pelican State. I'm fortunate to live close enough, and to have adopted family in SWLA, that affords me the opportunity to visit several times a year.

Music is a hobby for me. I ain't gonna get rich and famous playing zydeco in bars and restaurants in Dallas, TX. But it is a great creative outlet like many on this forum can attest; and it's great to be doing something other than blues, country or metal in a city that squirts out one band after another in those well-worn grooves.

Playing zydeco may paint me into a corner as a specialty act, but perhaps that's the beauty of it in [this] part of the country. Generally when people stumble on our band, they embrace it because it IS different -- and they've been unconsciously looking for something to talk about 'round the water cooler. Nine times outta ten, they show up at the next gig with their neighbors and co-workers in tow. That's the beauty of "joie de vie" dontcha know! And that's the beauty of Louisiana culture... it's infectious; and once you get it in your blood, it changes your life forever. There's nothing better than that.

Rouler rouler,

"T-Richard"

Rick,

First impression from a very quick listen of the clips on your site:

I really like y'all's sound, Rick. It is very much "party" music and y'all should do well anywhere in the US with that kind of sound. I really like what sometimes seemed to me to sound a little Tex Mex influence...not necessarily the accordion licks but the way the guitar sounds on some songs and there seems at times to be that little 10% influence of Texasness in there, which I think is very cool. Maybe it was the vocal on a couple of songs or the harmonies at times...probably just a combination of factors that y'all have never intentionally set out to do...but it has a unique and dare I say "authentic" Texas sound.

What I mean is that, the original tunes especially, do not sound to be a group from Texas trying to sound like they are from south Louisiana...it sounds like a group from Texas doing a great job doing Zydeco and putting their own unique and authentic-from-their-experience twist to it. I like it and think this is the kind of thing that other bands should not be afraid to do...be themselves and still play Zydeco and Cajun in a way that is true to their own life experience. To me the English tunes fit that "true to the band's experience" even more than the ones with the French vocals, although I really do admire and appreciate bands like yours that care enough to learn at least a few tunes in French.

Very cool stuff! Keep me posted! (pun intended)