- The Mamou Playboys -

20 Years of Great Cajun Music! Matching their uncompromising respect for tradition with a forward-looking vision, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys have set the standard for modern Cajun music. Their musicianship, songwriting skills, harmony vocals and irresistible grooves mark them as one of the best bands to come out of South Louisiana. This 2 CD set collects the best of their recordings, along with three exciting new songs. "The Best of Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys" is on sale NOW! Get yours today!

DOMINOS
It's our 10th album, and our ninth release on Rounder Records. Click here to check out the album reviews.

The Mamou Playboys will again be on the Zydeco Cruise along with Geno Delafose on November 2nd-9th 2008. We will be sailing on the Carnival Conquest from Galveston TX to Montego Bay Jamaica, Cozumel Mexico, and Grand Cayman Island.
Prices start as little as $430 per person plus tax and include packages with parties, dances, and workshops. Buses will be available for those who want to really make it easy to get back and forth to Galveston.
Travel Machine will be handling all bookings for this cruise. Those interested should call 337-981-7870, out of area 800-683-9882, or visit www.zydecocruise.com or www.travelmachine.net. Travel Machine is located at the corner of Johnston St. and Westmark Blvd. in Lafayette or 154 Duperier St. in New Iberia.

The Playboys make

The artists who mattered most in
the years that Offbeat has been published
Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys: When Steve Riley started, he was the young upstart accordion player fascinated by Cajun roots music, and at 16, he toured with Dewey Balfa. Throughout his career, he and David Greely have dug deeper and broader into their Louisiana musical roots, and they have served as a model for the current crop of young Cajun talent—the Pine Leaf Boys, the Lost Bayou Ramblers, Feufollet, the Figs (who Riley produced) and many more. And just as Riley’s seniors shared their knowledge with him, he has been not only a producer but a resource and a drinking buddy for the next generation.
click here for the full article

Upcoming Shows

friday, may 16
Monroeville, NJ | Camp Jam in the Pines
(609)206-3787

saturday, may 17
New Holland, PA | Spring Gulch Folk
Festival (4pm)

sunday, may 18
Glen Echo, MD | Glen Echo Park

friday, may 23
Breaux Bridge, LA | La Poussiere | 9pm-12am

friday, may 30
Manor, TX | The Oaks | 9pm
(512) 263-4178

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When Cajuns go out on the weekend looking for a band that will recharge their pride and identity, they find it in Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys.

Steve Riley and David Greely, the founding members of the band, have been working for over eighteen years along with Kevin Dugas on their New Cajun Music.The knowledge of tradition gained from their mentors, such as Dewey Balfa, Belton Richard, and Walter Mouton, has long been second nature. On their first four albums, one of which (Trace of Time) was a Grammy finalist, they extended the Cajun renaissance into the nineties by exploring obscure reaches of archival territory, bringing gems of forgotten lyrics and melodies back to dance hall, local radio, and the lips of Cajun youth.

All this tradition provided the foundation for some later radical unorthodoxy. The albums Bayou Ruler and Happytown set new standards for alternative Cajun music, as down home dance floors would empty, their fans in shock, then slowly refill as they listened and realized that it was Cajun music after all. Just when Steve and David were ready to relax and go trad again, Sam Broussard, the soul of folk heresy, joined the group- ready to immerse himself in the music of his forbears, and to question every status quo for miles. More recently they were joined by young bassist Brazos Huval. This collaboration produced Bon Rêve, their second Grammy nomination, traditional as hell, yet full of innovations that are natural and unforced enough to refresh both worldwide and Cajun audiences, who drank it up like an ice-cold six-pack.

The success of Bon Rêve now seems like just a warm-up. Their latest album, Dominos, perfects and purifies that vision, delving deeper into rich acoustic tonalities and superb songwriting. It even provides a flip side- a dual disc with a DVD video of four performances as well as interviews.