The Louisiana Division of the Arts announced this week that Jeffery Broussard has been awarded a grant for 2007-2008. This is a tremendous honor. Jeffery will be making further announcements about the projects that he will be working on that will be funded by the grant. Of course, he is extremely excited about this!

The Louisiana Division of the Arts offers grants to artists, nonprofit arts organizations, and other types of nonprofit and government entities across the state and in all 64 parishes. The Division awards grants in seven strategic areas: Stabilization, Capacity Building, Arts-In Education, Folklife Initiative Fund, Artist Fellowships, State-Local Partnerships, and Special Initiatives.

Mission Statement of the Louisiana Division of the Arts:
The arts are an essential and unique part of life in Louisiana to which each citizen has a right. The Louisiana Division of the Arts in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council is the catalyst for participation, education, development and promotion of excellence in the arts. It is the responsibility of the Division to support established arts institutions, nurture both emerging arts organizations and our overall cultural economy, assist individual artists, encourage the expansion of audiences and stimulate public participation in the arts in Louisiana.

That's a tremendous honor, Saanen! Thanks for sharing that with us. Quite honestly, he should be crowned the King of Zydeco. He pioneered what we know as "today's modern sound." Congrats to you and Jeffery!

R!CK

Thanks for being so happy for us, Rick! I haven't figured out who's more excited about the grant, me or Jeffery, but anyway...
It's been a BIG WEEK, so the grant has been one of many wonderful things happening. As I mentioned in the subject line, Jeffery finished his new CD last night. It's on Floyd's record label, Maison de Soul. I'll post here for sure when it's available - probably within the next couple of weeks. It's gonna be great! This is his first CD ever with complete artistic influence over the sound, the arrangements, etc. Scott Ardoin, who works with Steve Riley, is the sound engineer and he's doing an awesome job! Scott and Jeffery work very well together. So... stay tuned. Oh, and for you accordion buffs, Jeffery has a brand new Acadian in A that he's used on some of the songs, so there'll be triple row BFE, Single row in C, Bb, and A, and of course fiddle - a little something for everyone. Beyond that, I'm not saying a word, other than check it out!

Hi Saanen,

Congratulation to Jeffery on receiving the grant!

Is the new Acadian A stained a hot RED by any chance? I played one in Marc's workshop a few weeks ago that he had recently finished, and was wondering if Jeffery is now its lucky owner.

Look forward to hearing the new CD when it's released!

Dale

Probably is the same accordion. From my understanding, it's the only A Marc has had available recently. I have only seen a picture of it taken on a cell phone, so I can't say exactly what it looks like, but I think it's yellow inside the bellows, some kind of a red stain on curley maple, purple or maroon ribs on the bellows, plastic buttons. Does that sound like the same one?
Jeffery went in to Marc's shop a couple of weeks ago to get his Bb repaired - it's 16 years old and has been played to death! Marc suggested that he start thinking about getting a new one and Jeffery said what he really wanted next was an A - Marc went in back and came out with this one and Jeffery bought it on the spot. It was just a really lucky coincidence that Marc had it there that day! He's also fixing the Bb, but J knows that it's close to the end of its useful life.

That's IT...it's a beauty! If my voice were lower I would have gotten it, but it is now in the hands it was meant for!

Dale

Thanks for the story, Dale! I'll be sure to tell Jeffery. He's absolutely in love with this accordion, so you can be sure it's being appreciated - and PLAYED!

Saanen - all great news. Really looking forward to the concert at the Opera House!

If they can get those CD's boxed up in time, I'm sure they'll sell a bunch in Buffalo, Earlville, and Rochester. I've been playing the 2006 live album often.

Steve Blais

This should teach you to lower your voice in order to get what you want! ;-)

How you doing back there? Find any decent work?

Dwight