News - #19 MAY, 2000

Our touring season was longer than usual last year. We continued rambling all the way through November, starting with a swing through Florida. From Pensacola all the way down to the beach at Ft. Lauderdale , up to W. Palm Beach and then to St. Augustine to see our old buddy Zeke and his wife, Doris. Then we spent two days at the Wings and Strings festival in Polk City. Balfa Toujours were there so it felt even more like home. The attendance was way up and the weather was perfect. The line-up of talent was incredible with Asleep at the Wheel and Ricky Skaggs with Kentucky Thunder. We paid a visit to winter in Minneapolis where Millie Ortego organized a big dance at the Medina Hall. The Swamp Sextet played first and had David sit in on saxophone, then a Mamou Playboys reunion with Peter Schwarz commenced to cookin'. We borrowed Lee Tedrow from the Sextet and he gave out ferocious guitar all evening. We spent New Years Eve in Lafayette with Balfa Toujours at Grant St. dance hall. It was the best way to ignore scary rumors of "balemium" bugs and it felt so good to be with family and close friends that we may just have to try it again next year. Hibernation? Our winter vacation was long and lazy except for getting geared up for recording the next album. David set up a room of his own at his house for writing in hopes that all the cool ideas floating around could gel into real songs. It seems to have worked. Faced with a deadline and a long list of rough cut melodies we managed with the help of good old CC Adcock to record our most interesting album ever. It's a combination of danceability and listenability (if that's a word) that has surprised us pleasantly. Antipodian Acadians (antipodian: referring to the southern hemisphere) Immediately after the doing the biggest part of the tracking for our record we embarked on the longest journey of our career to Perth, Australia. It took 49 hours door to door. No plane ride in the U.S. is going to seem long after that. We hopped from Lafayette to Houston, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur then to Perth, which is the most isolated city on earth. We were greeted and treated to an arts festival that has been in operation for 50 years and that brings in amazing acts from all over the world. Our good friend Lucky Oceans, of Asleep at the Wheel fame, is now a famous radio DJ on the Australia Broadcasting Company and is still a monster steel guitarist. He sat in with us in Perth to the delight of his many fans. A short flight brought us to Albany, on the Southern Ocean, where our host lined up a great concert with a full house. After only 3 days it was time to go home, yes, another two-day trip. Just plain cold We went from mid-summer in Australia to 10 below zero in Winnipeg, Manitoba in less than a week. The Festival du Voyageur invited us back for another chance to be with our French-speaking cousins with their cold noses and warm hearts. We were well received, well treated, and well beered. No hurling Climate shock set in once again with a trip to Florida where we played at City Jazz in Orlando. Roddy, Kyle and David rode on the front seat of the Incredible Hulk rollercoaster at Universal Studios and lost no hats, keys or lunches. Then a Sunday evening at Skippers in Tampa with the largest and best crowd ever wound up the trip. Mardi Gras We were too busy to get into trouble at Mardi Gras this year. At Cowboys in Lake Charles we had live go-go dancers on stage. At the Liberty Theater in Eunice the house was packed and that night at Grant St. in Lafayette with Little Band o' Gold was a kick, too. At Mardi Gras time we get to see friends from all over the country who converge on LA for the courirs. The street dance in Mamou was huge and Mardi Gras day in Eunice with warm weather and clear skies couldn't be beat. If it's Saturday this must be Utrecht Steve, David and CC returned to the studio for some more singing and mixing, then we all flew to Utrecht, Holland to play for one hour. Jaap Hendrix and the Blue Highways Festival made it a very cool trip, though short. David went for a walk along the foggy canals of Utrecht to hear the Sunday morning church bells and almost missed the bus to the airport. March came to a close with some more studio work on the new album. Steve, David and C.C. have spent nearly every spare day this winter and spring in American Sector Studio recording and mixing our next record. In early April we shared the stage in Austin with Filé, Terence Simien, and Lil Band o Gold at the Swamp Romp. We'd like to get to Austin a lot more often. The audiences there are some of the best in the world- full of serious music lovers. They don't care if it rains or freezes. Au Festival The Playboys were in the Louisiana triple crown this year- Festival International in Lafayette, Jazz Fest in New Orleans, and Crawfish Festival in Breaux Bridge. Jazz Fest gave us our first appearance at the main stage and the perfect spot to debut our newest songs. There's just something about playing for over 10,000 people at once. That night at in Breaux Bridge the police pulled our plug at exactly midnight. Just when we thought we were special... Playboy Posse In Asheville NC Bill MacCurdy and his daughter Kate organized a trail ride on horseback in the mountains for most of the guys. Meanwhile David and his girlfriend, Linda, hiked to a mountaintop (allergic to horses). Christmas in May in New England Our visit to Johnny D's in Boston was the first in a long, long time. It was a treat to find the place (we got lost looking for a non-existent exit) and to find the place full of people. It was wall-to-wall in there. We brought along our own special gift to that fine crowd, C.C. Adcock. Roddy had to serve in a wedding in Lafayette that night so we tagged our producer to contribute his meaningfully goofball guitar style and a hot Bobby Charles tune. The next day turned out rainy and cold as we pulled into deepest Connecticut for the Strawberry Park Festival. A surprising number of truly addicted Cajun and Zydeco fans were there to hear Balfa Toujours, D.L. Menard, Geno and French Rockin' Boogie and us. By now we have learned all the songs from our fresh record and have been very happy with the response. There's nothing like hearing a shout when you finish your new song. David apologizes for eating Natalie McMaster's catfish dinner backstage. He thought it was his. We weren't late for our King of Prussia PA concert. We had ten minutes to spare. Steve Forbert held the crowd spellbound until we slid across the muddy lawn and piled out of the van after exceeding the speed limits of three states in a row. Two gigs in one day ain't bad, especially when they're six hours apart. Our new recording will be called "Happytown" and is scheduled to be released in January. Evidently the summer season is in full swing with even more exciting gigs coming in every day. We hope to see you soon. -Sincerely, The Mamou Playboys back to news