Yes there are folks outside of Louisiana soil attempting french -- man, check out Cleoma's Ghost from NY. Roger visits this board from time-to-time and he's got a great grasp on the language.

As for me, I throw in just a little French that I've learned via the aural process. I'm not Cajun nor have ever claimed to be, but I think Cajun French is a beautiful language. My band is currently recording and I have written (with the help of a Cajun friend of mine) a traditional Cajun waltz which will be included on the disc. Of course the rest of the disc will feature a healthy dose of whiteboy zydeco pop-rockin' zydehop. Should be enough variety to make it an interesting release and a chronicle of my sweat and blood. Still got a ways to go before the shrinkwrap.

R!CK

I believe several do. I got to hear Rick Reid from the Dallas area sing in French a couple of weeks ago. Pretty convincing for a Texan, and pretty darn good on the box too.

I have been occasionally busking for over 15 years, but it's not just Cajun music. I live in Redlands, CA. which has a weekly street event called Market Night. They close off the main street and Farmers sell their produce and there are other vendors, plus there the "bands" at each intersection. On a good summer night several thousand people attend.

When I do Cajun or Zydeco while busking, the songs are mostly in French. I made a large investment in time to be able to do that.

The most we ever made was $75. Some have asked whether we pay taxes on our tips. I reply that after we play, we support the local economy by going to a local restaurant for dinner and drinks. Afterwards, I pay taxes on every dime I bring home.

-David

I have learned a few songs in Cajun French, though I am no where near to being able to converse in the language. Thanks to Ann Savoy and Jane Vidrine at Balfa Camp, I now pronounce some of the words in a more Cajun way.

My busking in Halifax was so sucessful that I was able to pay the $.65 needed by the parking meter!

Steve Blais

Yes, it seems Philadelphia is very unfriendly to street musicians, at least in the Rittenhouse Square area. I think college towns are more open to busking than other cities. My one busking experience was pretty positive all told. People loved the Cajun music, I mean how could they not love music that makes you want to tap your foot. Its not like we were were playing some sleepy folk tunes, we played only two steps. We got alot of positive feedback from the people in the park as we were being escorted out by the police.

Ha! That sounds like Dallas.

Luckily I've never busked here. I would suspect the city has an ordinance against it (as they have laws that restrict a lot of fun things in public) and even if they don't have said laws, the chance of getting robbed is probably pretty high. If you didn't get robbed and your accordion taken from your shoulder, you'd be so busy splitting your tips with the relentless homeless that you wouldn't have enough time to spend playing music to pay for the parking meter (which always runs out 10 minutes before it is supposed to) by which the city parking control has already tucked a $50 ticket under your wiper blade, which you accidentally toss at the curbside since you inadvertently mistook it for one of several flyers for tattoo and piercing discounts for the boutique around the corner. By this time you can't go anywhere anyway -- since this isn't the first time this has happened while you busked in Dallas -- your tire is booted.... and someone has pinned you in with their nip-and-tuck parallel parking job. Taking a cab wouldn't be a better option since there are so few cabs here -- and everyone drives their own cars since most people live nowhere near the entertainment districts. Busking in suburbia tract-home subdevelopments (where the people are) would attract a lot of kids on bikes, joggers and people walking dogs -- none of which have any hard cash on them. Word would spread fast about the weird people on the corner talking to kids and scaring dogs. Someone would call the cops and you'd be carted away on an attempted child abduction charge.

But hey, that's just Dallas.

R!CK

Now I remember why I moved away from Dallas, lol. Rick, that almost sounds like personal experience, you didnt really throw the ad's for piercings and tattoos did you?

Ha ha! Heck no. Why would I litter?

I've got a working folder of 'em -- a catalog of sorts. Trying to figure out where I want that tattoo of the squeeze at. The arm would be best. I want folks to see it but I'm just unsure of what key I want it to look like it's in -- and whether or not it will look dry-tuned or wet-tuned. And then the corners...

Have I told you about my corners today?

R!CK

Well, thanks for asking about my journey in discovering Cajun music. For me, I was sitting home one night about 10 years or so ago, watching PBS and a documentary about Marc and Ann Savoy came on. After about 10 minutes I was hooked. I went out the next day and bought every Cajun CD I could find, which was about 3. Sort of put it on the back burner. Played some Irish accordion for a few years and eventually bought a Hohner HA-114. That collected dust until last year. Ordered a Bon Cajun from Mr. Miller last spring and havent touched the Irish box since it was delivered. I listen to Cajun music constantly, but cant sing in French, although I am hoping my daughter will teach me at least to pronounce the words correctly.

There is a small but growing Cajun music community in the Delaware Valley. Some sessions have as many as 15 musicians show up. I will be making my first trip to LA this summer. Hope to hit a bunch of sessions down there and hopefully meet some of the folks on this message board.
-Bob

The link above is to an article about a test the washington post did...

Joshua Bell is one of the world's greatest violinists. His instrument of choice is a multimillion-dollar Stradivarius. If he played it for spare change, incognito, outside a bustling Metro stop in Washington, would anyone notice?

Mark, thanks for posting the link to the article about Joshua Bell...I was fascinated reading it.

Dale

Yes, that was pretty interesting. I wonder if anything would have been different if there had been a different kind of music being played.

Wish I could play just good enough to go to a corner and get a few smiles and maybe even few folks to shake it up!

Josh, I live in Lafayette, La. born and raised here. Got away from here between 1967-1969 to help my uncle. Worked here, always between Houston and New Orleans and now retired here. Had a few chances to move but didn't take it.
I took violin lessons for a couple of years while living in Houma. Can't play by memory, only reading music and haven't played it for the last 2-3yrs. I did take the violin out, got it tuned (standard) and will start to play again, soon. You know what they say, "skip practice once, you know it. Don't practice twice or more times and everyone knows it". That's where I am now.
Where are you Josh? Tell us about yourself.

I am also from Lafayette. I live in Ga now, but hoping to move back some day. My momma moved back about 5 years ago, so I visit as much as I can. Sounds like you're close to the same age as my step-dad. If you remember Leger's Meat Market, his family owned it.

Josh, I do remember Leger's Meat Market. What is it that you're doing in Ga.? I bet because of your work, right? This state is not very business friendly. Do you play the accordion or any other instrument? Do you plan on moving back at a later time? Good to hear from you. William

You're right. Work is what's keeping me here. I do plan on moving back one day. Actually I am in the Environmental Consulting business, which might be one of the few businesses that do good in La. I visit family every chance I get so I don't get too lonely for it.

I want to start playing the accordion, that's what originally got me interested in this board. I can sing in French, just need to add the accordion element to it.

Ton Amie

Yes,
Every Friday evening, weather permitting I have a regular busking session, corner of 8th & Mssesecutchets St., Lawrence Ks. The response is great, & if I miss a Friday, I have people come up to me on the street & ask where I was. Of late, I've been joined by a buddy on guitar and a percussionist (washboard & bass drum). Sometimes we get dancers, often times we get little kids dancing. We don't try to do too much singing, due to street, & traffic noise, but what we do, about half is in French. I started doing this a few years ago because I knew that if I dident play out alot, I was never going to get to the playing level I was seeking. It has been a very positive experience.

I busk on occasion at a local Farmer's Market (on Saturday mornings). I've played with some friends and when we play Cajun music, we always get a good reaction (tho' some of the vendors don't particularly like the fact that we draw "their" crowd). I played at the Market last year, as a duo with my fiddlin' buddy Matt. He's a college student and can fiddle like a mad man. We played some waltzes and some folks danced..really cool. Another time, we were playing and a guy from Houma was there. He called his sister on his cell phone, and held it so that she sould hear..yes sister, there is Cajun music outside of Louisiana. We all had a good laugh about that.

Rob K.