Crossing the Tracks
When local music fans walk into this year's Louisiana Crossroads series, they may notice a couple of slight differences from past seasons. For starters, instead of entering the series' usual home - the Vermilionville Performance Center - they might just be entering New Iberia's Sliman Theater for Performing Arts - the series' new second home. Secondly, they can take some of the series' hottest performers home with them.
A new CD and a new venue are in store for this year's Louisiana Crossroads fans.
For the first time, the Crossroads will be held in both cities - Lafayette on Wednesday nights and New Iberia on Thursday nights. This move was done to help expand the Crossroads audience, something that the organizers hope to do more of, and to offer another night for area musicians to showcase their talents. Crossroads came to fruition in 2001 to provide an Austin City Limits-esque setting for performances by combinations of artists that were not available on Saturday night.
Because the performances were held in a small auditorium, Crossroads became an intimate experience with a very listener-friendly feel. Between sets there are interviews, allowing the audience to get to know the entertainers.
For the first time, patrons can bring this experience into their own homes via a CD containing 13 tracks by eight performers recorded live at past Crossroads shows.
The Louisiana Crossroads Volume 1 will soon be available for sale at series' performances. The disc was originally slated to be ready for the series opener, on Wednesday, Oct. 16, but has been pushed back thanks to Hurricane Lili. It will also be available at the offices of the Acadiana Arts Council, as a thank you gift for donating to KRVS and as a promotional device for Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission to entice outsiders to write, visit and just experience the sound of South Louisiana. The disc features tracks spanning the gamut from traditional Cajun music, piano blues, spoken word and some of the best guitar picking this area has to offer. It was recorded by KRVS Engineer Karl Fontenot, the series' production director, Curtis Darrah, an Arts Council volunteer, and Ivan Klisanin. From there, it met with the golden ears of Tony Daigle, who mixed and mastered the project at Electric Comoland.
"I think we tried to get as broad a spectrum of artists and styles as we could. We looked for great performances, but also ones that people would want to hear again and again," says Todd Mouton, development director at the Acadiana Arts Council and Crossroads organizer.
Among the highlights - not that there are lowlights - is an unforgettable half poetry-backed-by-acoustic-guitar piece, half rendition of Van Morrison's classic "Crazy Love" by Glenis Redmond and Scott Ainslie that leaves one wondering why these two don't partner up more often.
There are also two a cappella French songs, one sung by the duo of Helen Boudreaux and Kirby Jamon and the other by Marce Lacouture. Both are jovial in nature, dealing with two peculiar situations in marriages. Surely to the delight of Francophiles, there are four more songs sung in French.
Another track worth mentioning is "Little Satchel," performed by Dirk Powell of Balfa Toujours and Jim Miller of Donna the Buffalo. The liner notes state that this was Powell's attempt to bring the sounds of old-time Appalachia to the bayou. The song features what you might expect from Bayou Appalachia - a slightly slowed, more relaxed fiddle. It's not the fast fiddle of the Clinch Mountain Boys, but it is a nice taste of Cajun music's kissing cousin.
What sets the disc apart from any you will find at Best Buy or Wal-Mart is that it contains songs and combos that are unattainable anywhere else.
"There is no CD you can buy with Sam Broussard (and) David Greely, David Egan (and) Buddy Flett. There is no David Egan solo CD. There is no David Greely CD. There is no Scott (Ainslie) and Glenis (Redmond) CD," says Mouton.
Broussard and Greely perform on "Vini Jillie," a song containing lyrics from a poem Greely found written by a French-speaking house slave. He discovered the poem while researching the Creole language in the Breaux Bridge Public Library. Flett and Egan grace two bluesy tracks titled "After This Time" and "Run for the Levee."
The disc closes with two tracks by Spencer Bohren. The first is a man's sad tale of despair as he heads out of the Natchez Trace and into Mobile, Ala. The second is a beautiful acoustic guitar rendition of Amazing Grace by Bohren.
If your favorite Crossroads performance is not on the disc, don't despair. Asked if the Volume 1 tag was an indicator of more recordings waiting for future release, Mouton says, "We definitely hope so."