News - #9 AUGUST, 1997

The Little Easy Wins Big! If you're trying to cancel a festival, do it earlier than just 2 weeks beforehand. So learned our old friend Franklin Zawacki. He pulled the plug on the Big Easy Bash in Escoheag, RI for fear of losses, but the weekend was not to be denied. The new ranch owner, scores of volunteers and devoted fans pulled together to reconstruct what they could of the event. And indeed it was a hugely successful afternoon of music, dancing and cool sunny weather. Steve took the opportunity to invite all our musician friends onstage for a collossal jam. And then, as if that wasn't enough, he invited onstage any and all youngsters who could handle an implement of percussion. The house (or the field) rocked! It was a jam which will not soon be forgotten. A big hurrah for all those who pulled together and made our performance possible! See you back at Escoheag on Labor Day weekend! Playboys Hitching Season! First Geoff, the band's sound technician, and Michelle Fontenot, also of Opelousas, were married on June 12th, in a lovely backyard ceremony with David and Peter presiding on fiddles. Then on June 29th, in Massachusetts, Peter and Dianne (Borges) enjoyed a perfect New England wedding, highlighted by an eight-fiddle ceremony, gorgeous weather, incredibly huge crawfish, and Jimmy Domengeaux's superb drumming (amongst other musical highlights too numerous to mention). Peter's wedding trip was Geoff & Michelle's honeymoon, while the band's Northern California trip interrupted Peter & Dianne's. Ah, that's life with musicians! Welcome to the musical family, ladies! KBON is Cool! How about that new radio station, KBON 101.1? Broadcasting from Eunice, they play Louisiana music around the clock! We're impressed! Recent Highlights! Singing the National Anthem in the Cajun Dome for an IceGators playoff game May 7. Talk about some 3-part harmony! Look for a repeat, this time for the SwampCats game August 1. Another memorable Cajun Dome moment was the SLEMCO meeting June 7. We hit our first notes at 6:30A! We've never seen so little dancing in Lafayette! For the first hour, people just sat there, drank their coffee and blinked (all in perfect time with the music of course). The June Birthdays Party at the Tamarack Lodge in Connecticut, after the festival June 8. What happens to a sleepy New England lodge when 5 Cajun bands have the evening off? A lotta meat gets grilled, that's for sure! Just ask Dirk Powell the birthday chef. Hanging with the "you dig" Lil' Rascals Brass Band at the Lake Eden Arts Festival in North Carolina...filling in for Beau Jocque at the Jam on the River in Philadelphia...Jamming with 'Lil Buck at the festival in Norfolk, Virginia...getting that old guy out of a jam in the bar on Solomon's Island...not parking under the tree where the limb came down in that storm in Maryland...Bois Sec Ardoin AND Burkeman Balfa sitting in at the Mamou Cajun Music Festival. back to news