Wayne's last cd is one of his best. it is completely cajun. It is called Reflections of the past.

well now them boys is tryin to play and eat too me i dont keer for all that bootie stuff nasty too me yea i thank they are preety good boys but they get to drankin and start showin out a bunch of them was drunk on that fm dial the other night lawd you should have herd them was they having them selfs a big time my old woman and me lauhfed all night about that yea me and raymond my bob caught a pile of shad for crawfish bate i sold them this morning and got 25 dollars i need to fix my big cast net it caught a big hole in it lets alot of the shad out--------teebooger

IMHO Travis Matte has found the better way. He is bringing cajun/zydeco/zydecajun music to all the young people who are dancing and having fun with it. My band, here in NYC does "Vibrator." I always introduce it by saying it is the number 1 song down in La. I tell them about Travis Matte and encourage them to go on line and check it out and buy the CD. And I have got to tell you the crowd goes crazy. They are all having fun dancing to an Accordion! They can't believe it. So I think it is all good. As far as Wayne Toups goes, and I have said this a number of times, he is the man. Nobody, and I mean nobody can get a crowd going like Mr. Wayne. And he always fronts a killer band. He invented the Zydecajun sound and has influenced a whole generation or two of new players and new music. JMHO. I can't wait until he is back on stage where he belongs.

If Travis Matte and his band was no good, the people who put on the Crawdad Festival in Breaux Bridge would have not scheduled him for the 7:15PM to 9:15PM gig on Saturday night at the Festival Stage. I have done bookings for festivals before, and believe me, the 7PM to 9PM slot is critical. If you schedule a boring, albeit "traditional", group in that slot, everybody under 30 goes somewhere else, and there go your beer and food sales. Most of the people over 50 have already gone home, so you are left with a few die-hards. Got to keep it moving. Barbeque and drink a few.
JB

When I see tee booger I think of somethng you blow out of your nose. ???

i liked travis's first 2 cd's...but his last one that was just released "booty train" is absolutely terrible...EVERY song on it sounds like the vibrator song lol can't believe they released that crap...i guess they was trying alil too hard to ride the success of vibrator...and mix "booty" music into zydeco.

I like Wayne's music..have only heard soundbites of Travis'.. but cast my vote for Jimmy Thibodeux.. !

Travis has been discussed in this forum before (almost verbatim). There's a lot of music fans that like Travis... there's a lot that don't. The irony is, Wayne Toups thinks Travis is finally doing something different -- other than "cookie cutter" music. These are Travis' words, not mine. But I do agree. Toups showed up at one of Travis' gigs a couple of years ago to tell him "thanks for doing something different."

Retrospective:
Travis Matte and Jason Frey -- great traditional duo that cut an awesome CD. But if Travis and Jason were still kickin' the same way today (had Travis not deviated from the standard recipe), do you *really* think he'd be breaking attendance records at every venue that books him? Doubt it.

Travis is smart -- yeah he takes some chances with music AND lyrics; but that is why he's reached the white 20-something crowd. A lot of them wouldn't have even considered going to see a band led by an accordion, much less any band with the word "zydeco" in it. They'd be listening to their Green Day, Rascal Flatts or Mariah Carey CDs. Nothing wrong with those artists, mind you -- hey I happen to really like Akon, Eminem, Nelly, 50 Cent and Beyonce -- check their lyrics -- you might think Travis is pretty mild.

But that's what I'm getting at. Travis is sticking a wedge into the regional S.LA music playlist -- and that's smart. It's also good for pop music.

Now many traditional Cajun music fans will roll their eyes and sneer at what Travis is doing. Fine. Let them. He's not after *their* admiration. Likewise, many Keith Frank, J.Paul and Chris Ardoin fans that know what is really going on with the Creole zydeco scene isn't going to think Travis is a contender.

Only time will tell. When Toups hit the scene, there were a lot of Cajuns and Creoles alike that thought he was from another planet. But history shows that the artists that break away from the cookie mold have a way of changing -- or at least making a mark on the genres they are pigeon-holed into. Travis is not an amazing accordionist -- not the virtuoso that Toups is/was, but Travis can surely invent a hook.

You don't have to like Travis Matte's music. But one thing is for certain, there's no escaping it.

R!CK

First heard Travis Matte last year, blasting out of a pickup truck, while waiting for the Mardi Gras parade in Church Point (his home town). Didn't even hear Vibrator or Booty Call till I bought the CDs. I know those two songs drew a lot of people to the band, but the newest CD seems to be filled with challengers. Remember Happy Days? Everybody liked the Fronz, and the audience went nuts when he entered a scene. But they started overusing him and it just wasn't that big a deal anymore. There's a lot to be said for the idea of wait for it... wait for it... wait for it. Not a prude by any means, but I hope the next CD covers more territory like the first two did. And if there's a contender or two for Vibrator on there, more power to him. It is interesting, though, that people seem to either really love him or really hate him. That in itself is not a bad thing.
Steve

Yeah,

I think Rick's right. I don't care for the songwriting at all, but Travis isn't after traditionalists like me.

This scene needs the kids to survive. Sure his songs are basically Cajun pop, but sometimes that's the best intro to the hard core Cajun and Zydeco stuff.

Nick B.

I agree. There is a guy who visits this forum from time to time who makes hip hop in Cajun. Not my bag anymore than Travis is, but if it keeps the young ones interested, I hope there are more just like them to. Might cause more to be interested in saving the language. Maybe those young ones will later learn to appreciate traditional Cajun.

Besides all that, a musicians gotta make what he wants to, and those who like it will listen, the rest of us will listen to something else. I couldnt imagine playing music I didnt want to just to make a listener happy.

Listened to Travis's website bump of 'Vibrator' for the first time last night, and laughted out loud! Great images! The guy does have a way with lyric writing and a very calm singing voice delivery that does not put you on the defensive. He also, at least in my estimation, did a good job taking 'Tes Parents Veulent Plus Me Voir' and converting it into English (Your Daddy Don't Like Me). Not an exact translation and not as much drive as the Mamou Playboys version, but the motive is the same.
JB