Cajun Country Revival, Tall Boys
Tickets $12 advance, $15 at the door.
Cajun music is like country music; it’s the kind of music that has to be happy to keep from crying. Pouring out of dancehalls in Southwest Louisiana, the brash sounds of the Cajun accordion, the sweet drones of the fiddle and the piercing, eerie call of the Cajun singer are the hallmarks of this music. The lyrics, however, hint at the sadness behind the beats. In their debut release, The Right Combination, Jesse LÉge, Joel Savoy & The Cajun Country Revival dig into the deep roots of Cajun music, looking not only for beautiful, rare songs, but also for a commonality between the rural dancehalls of Louisiana and the honky-tonks of East Texas. As Cajuns poured out of the South in the 1930s and 40s looking for work on Gulf Coast oil rigs, Texas honky-tonk became a newfound passion. Led by elder Cajun musician, Jesse Lege, the Cajun Country Revival also features Cajun fiddle wunderkind Joel Savoy and young roots country masters the Caleb Klauder Country Band, which includes Sammy Lind and Nadine Landry of the Foghorn Trio. It’s no exaggeration to say that this is a super-group of American roots musicians.
The Tallboys are well-versed in traditional fiddle tunes and mountain songs, and over the years have added a fine repetoire of early country songs, hokum-tunes, and country blues. They stay honest to their traditional inspirations, yet charge up their sound with a raw edge of gritty enthusiasm conjured from their years of street performing. The Tallboys consistently deliver exciting stage performances and hard-driving dances.
