News - #2 MARCH, 1996

European Tour a Big Success While we don't recommend January as the best time to visit Northern Europe, we did enjoy our tour. We started with a festival in Glasgow, Scotland which featured many types of music with celtic roots, so there were plenty of late night dee- de-la dee-de-la jams going on in the hotel. And best of all, our sold-out performance was enthusiastically received (and recorded by the BBC, too). Then Onto England Lucky for us, Tim Zielonko (a British Cajun accordionist) took care of the driving, so we had five fun days with a gig each night. Perhaps the best was the Gloucester Cajun Festival (again sold out) where three encores still didn't quiet the crowd ( it could have been that strong English beer...). Thanks Tim and John 6 Chris at Swamp Agency! Belgium and Holland...Klas took Tim's place once we got to the mainland, picking us up in a van with airplane seats and a sky light AND a trailer. At first we couldn't get used to the crowds sitting there motionless (except to smoke more cigarettes) while we played. But they sure listening and enjoying the music. We in Amsterdam, trying to sightsee in sub-zero windchills! The coffee- were froze shops and window-shopping were...a...unique, shall we say? Thanks Klas and all the guys at 3WF Concerts! So, What is the Deal with the Drummers? We finally conned someone into going to Europe with us, Tracy Broussard. But he didn't wanna join the band full-time. So, we talked Kevin into returning full-time in February and we thank Tracy for joining us...Actually we feel sorry for him havina to endure us...Jimmy's bad jokes, Peter's rambling diatribes, Kelly's luggage, Steve's bad hair days, David's sensitive ears...One has to be a born traveler to hang with this gang and Tracy did just great. More Awards and Rave Reviews Thanks to Of fBeat Magazine's Best of the Beat Awards and the readers who chose La Toussaint as Best Cajun Album! Also, Musician Magazine called the origi- nal compositions "instant classics" and the re- cording "...the best of the genre's past, present and future." Just at press time, we also learned of another nomination (our 3rd in 3 years) for the Big Easy Entertainment Awards, to be held April 22. Mardi Gras! We lived through two storms in the northeast, and a showcase for The Folk Alliance before heading home for a balmy Mardi Gras. Monday night in Mamou was full o' people. We had a good time! -Sincerely, The Mamou Playboys back to news