The best thing is to play with other musicians, or even better, to play for dancers. When I do get to play for dancers (admittedly not that often, and I should also mention that my main instrument is fiddle, not accordion), style becomes irrelevant. I start to realize "it's not about me," it's about playing good rhythm and making sure people have fun. If I sound like somebody else, so be it. That's better than trying too hard to sound like myself and getting all tied up into knots and losing my rhythm. Just my two cents' worth.

Alec -- You're on the right track with conjunto.

What I mean is this; don't limit yourself to "listening and playing" ONLY C&Z music. Having an open-minded approach to music will surely open the doors to developing your own style.

I've been pullin' the box for 15 years and have written a lot of originals. A lot of those borrow heavily from Caribbean flavors -- I grew up listening to reggae and calypso -- and that was back in the 70's. I still consume a healthy diet of those genres as well as hip-hop, country, cumbia and pop, not to mention my mainstay of C&Z.

Learning traditional Cajun on the box is critical to your chops and dexterity on the fingerboard -- but if you're not "from or living in" South Louisiana, I've found that audiences appreciate stepping outside of [that] realm, whether it's through a popular cover tune or regional style that is common in your geographic location; e.g., throwing in Tex-Mex flavors in Austin, blues in Memphis, or metal in L.A. -- you get the idea.

Many traditionalists would argue that the way someone handles the turn-around in a well-worn tune or modulates key gives them their own style -- that's true to some extent, but a LOT of traditional players do that. Push the envelope.

My biggest challenge in developing a unique style exists with the attitude of avoiding the cookie-cutter template of playing the same 20 songs every other Cajun box player performs. Those top 20 songs are great -- and important to know and learn -- and to throw your audience a Cajun bone; just don't get stuck there if you want to sound like yourself.

That's my 25 centavos and a cup o' joe...

R!CK