I wasn't suggesting it wasn't a Cajun related band name.. but a name that would encompass more than 1 genre hence more venues wider audience


Don't worry...there's a very slim chance the Leafs will be called the greatest Cajun band in the world...

It seems the players with the most feel do something else for a living. Their playing comes from inside. They play because it feels good and puts some balance between work and family. Home cooking always tastes best.

Ok, I just went out and found two cd's by the Lost Bayou Rambers....!!!!! I have to tell you they got my foot tapping faster than the PLBs ever have. **** Good Band! The rythmns are tight, the fiddle sounds fabulous, the vocals "authentic", the guitar downright perfect(acoustic), and most of all the accordion is very well played as a true part of the band. I'm going to hunt down all their recordings.

Both bands were in Europe this year and I like them both. We can not see every day a real LA Cajun band, so we are really happy if there's coming a band playing some real stuff.
They have a different style, but my opinion is that they don't forget the playing traditions of Cajun, Creole, Zydeco, .....
It's very good that young people keeping this music alive !!!

Craig I completely agree

Some of the best music I have heard is never "performed" or recorded..

Specifically as relates to "ethnic" music to which Cajun could be classified

To me it's like "folk art"

I make a part of my living making "folk art"

And the reason it is only part of my living is that you cannot fake it

Folk Art by definition is in spired works made from materials at hand

So making folk art from craft goods bought at Michaels and then planning it out and or making it from patterns bought on line is contrary to the definition.. it isn't folk art.. it's craft at its worst and the kind of crap you see at most craft shows


So it is with an inspired music and PLB to me was
less than inspiring way too slick and way too much planning from the instruments to the players to the "look" to the music itself...it did not work

All music that makes money isn't necessarily good

look at Nashville Country Western.. it's neither.. it ain't country and it ain't western it is contrived with buzz words and elements of style ...it's made to a formula that sucks up clueless devotees and makes music producers and writers and "stars" rich

Stars.... just like the movies these days

we have stars, and few actors...

That's why I always say Cajun music sounds best on a porch than on a cd.

You like the PLBs, you don't like the PLBs. Whatever.

But if you don't like 'em, why are you spending so much of your free time complaining about 'em.

Don't like 'em? Don't waste your time with 'em. Life's too short. Besides, if you're gonna go on and on (and on and on) about 'em, I'm gonna start to think there's something else going on...

like sour grapes.

I do "like" the PLBs. A whole lot better than much of what I hear. Not the best, but far from the worst out there. And yes, there are many many wonderful musicians out there playing with no recognition at all, playing in little bars, on back porches, in Sunday afternoon jam sessions. Austin is full of them. Austin is a terrible place for a musician to make a full-time living or any living at all. Most venues pay almost nothing, so you have to play for the love of it or get gigs out of town. Probably why we see so few Cajun bands here. They can't afford to come. Ask Charles Thibodeaux (see link above). They just pass the tip jar during his regular Monday night gig at Evangeline Cafe. They play for the love of it, certainly not the money.

I don't see sour grapes

I see a balance of opinions


This seems like an old propagnada method that states that the more you convince other people to believe what you believe, the less you have to defend your beliefs

Tatse is subjective

The original poster set him self up as THE definitive opinion and that is the core of the discussion

I and others did not think it was awesome

I thought it was yawnsome

I don't disrespect the original posters opinion, I just don't agree

Amen

Thanks A LOT MAZ! Look at all the bandwidth we wasted on this ping-pong game!



R!CK

I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.

I am very impressed with the cool heads and thoughtful postings that have dominated this thread.

Thanks for all the good input...

I don't dislike the PLB at all... I was just getting a bit peeved with all the hype.

Maybe it will make us think twice before helping to perpetuate some "spin."

Truly amazing... the mere fact that the boys generated all blather this means they are doing something for cajun music. But what was all that girl-on guy stuff in the last post- you promotin' some kinda weirdo heterosexual agenda?

"doing something for Cajun music" could go more than one way

Kinda .like the Monkees and Rock and roll

Dam straight! Ha! ~R!CK

Great publicity for PLB.. and well deserved. They are talented, they are tongue in cheek, they are **** takers, they are in-yo-face, they are orthodox and unorthodox..they know the music ( they perform it ..they don't LIVE it )..and they are an ACT. Best Cajun style Music College Bar Band around.. they are a Party Band..they are Roots( that rock ) and satisfy on that level. They make few pretenses and do pay honour to their roots....they are here for the beer, and more power to them... as for Grammy awards,I have my doubts anything they are doing warrants that kind of attention.. perhaps they are gigging and recording out of the same spirit ( not necessarily the same music ) as their Cajun Creole forefathers.

I agree on all the other comments made on other groups.. but.. Pine Leaf Boys will be Pine Leaf Boys..and more power to them.

G.

Y a bien dit tout ce qu'y avait à dire cil-là.
Les Pine Leafs rock la maison!

These are young guys who are still coming into their own. They have received a lot of press and hype, but I believe this is tied more to their connections to past masters (Marc S et al), increasingly obscured Creole tradition, and a resurgent young audience.

It's always tough to live up to hype - just ask the Strokes.

I highly recommend the Pine Leaf Two Step. In my opinion it's their best song. It has an oustanding groove, and the fiddle and accordion solos are beyond reproach.

I'm saying you won't find better bands or awesome obscure musicians -- they're all over the area -- but bear in mind that this is a young band of talented guys who are still evolving.

This is a situation where a rising tide lifts all boats.

"... rising tide lifts all boats...." man that's huge, Nick! Right fn on! Well put -- and extremely applicable. That sums it up!

R!CK

Pine leaf 2-step-

Thanks, I found one at a Christmas Party at Blue moon on Youtube.

Great Recommendation! They were really laying into it! Wilson was cooking... they should go for that kind of energy on their records.

As good as they were, I still think that Cedric needs to listen to some creole music! He is playing in the wrong register, and his timbre makes my teeth hurt.
I think, now hearing these guys really hit the mark, that his playing is my main objection to their sound.

Wow, I can't believe some of the elitist bullsh*t I have read in this thread. I'm a big fan of the PLBs, and I'll explain alittle bit about why that is. I'm 28 and I started dancing to cajun and zydeco regularly when I was about 19 yrs old mostly to Steve Riley, Geno Delafose and Keith Frank at places such as Whiskey River Landing, Grant Street and the Hamilton's Club. One thing I love about the PLBs is that their shows are exciting and they are getting ALOT of the younger generations out of the night club scene and getting them interested in and dancing to roots music on a Saturday night, getting them interested in participating, exploring and preserving our unique culture.

Cajun and zydeco is 1st and foremost dance music, and as a dancer I know good dance music. The Pine Leaf Boys put on some of the best live performances you'll ever find, atleast when you get to see them in their "natural" setting, I'm talkin The Blue Moon, GrantStreet, ect... The PLBs are my favorite band to see live and dance to, next would be Geno.

You want perfect musicianship, go listen to Beethoven. You want an action packed South Louisiana Saturday night that you won't soon forget, come see the Pine Leaf Boys live at the Blue Moon in Lafayette.