​I like Bruce Daigrepont’s singing voice a lot. When I played this recently acquired vinyl record from 35 years ago, I was blown away.  

Reviewer Ron Wynn wrote in 1989 Bruce Daigrepont’s second album for Rounder was even more traditionally Cajun than his award-winning first effort (Stir Up the Roux released in 1987). The title track and other works such as “Les Mains du Bon Dieu,” “Acadie a la Louisiane” and “Laissez Moi Tranquille” presented tales of Cajun life and times ranging from struggles to triumphs, and were sung with power, earnestness and verve. His accordion playing was equally assertive. Artists such as Bruce Daigrepont indicate that the future is bright for Cajun music. Indeed it has been. 

LINER NOTES 

Louisiana is unique in producing musical talents because we have seen in every generation musicians that stand far above the rest. Bruce Daigrepont is one of those musicians.

Stir Up the Roux, Bruce’s first album, was winner of the Cajun French Music Association’s 1988 Le Cajun Award for Album of the Year.

Born and raised in an area where Cajun is not the most popular style of music, he brought to the Crescent City a growing number of devoted fans. They have been listening and dancing to his music for years. Bruce’s Sunday fais do-do at Tipitina’s has become a tradition.

I first met Bruce Daigrepont in 1981 when he visited me at KRVS (Lafayette, LA), shortly after his 45 r.p.m. release of “Bayou Pon Pon” on the Bourre label. 

Bruce is a young, intelligent, talented musician and composer who impressed me with his knowledge of his French American (Cajun) heritage and history. There is evidence of this in his song “D’Acadie, a la Louisiane,” where he sings of the forced exile of the Acadians from Acadie (Nova Scotia), Canada.  Bruce Daigrepont’s talent excels in his composition of “Arc en Ciel” (Rainbow), where he sings of true love being as difficult to find as a four leaf clover. 

Story songs based on fact are not new to Cajun composers, but had been ignored for many years in Louisiana French music. Bruce tells us a true story (“Les Mains du Bon Dieu,” The Hands of the Good God),  about a woman he knew who loved his music. He learned that she was dying of cancer. He and his band visited her to play a few songs and cheer her up, but it was she who impressed them with her great courage and love of life. From this experience came the words, “She touched my heart with her courage. She was not afraid. She was so brave. Don’t weep for me, but come and sing. It’s contentment you can give me, and on that day she waltzed into paradise.”

On a lighter note, in “Coeur des Cajuns”  he sings that the joy of life is in the accordion, the beautiful songs, and the hearts of every Cajun.

The most impressive thing about Bruce is that he composes most of his music in our Cajun French language, and that, for me, is a good definition of Cajun. 

— Pete Bergeron, Director of French Programs, 
KRVS, Lafayette, Louisiana 

I have a new publication called "Dancing on the 1" at dancingonthe1.substack.com. This is an introduction to what I intend to post there.

You find a loose little rhythm
Then you lock in tight
Yes you roll on it over and over
'Til it sounds just exactly right
You can learn to sing lead if you need to be a star
But the only way to groove is on a bass guitar
I said it fills out the bottom, dirty and mean
It's down right greasy when the soundman's clean
You know the eyes in the room they all lookin' at the star
The butts are all shakin' to the bass guitar.

— Todd Snider, "Joe's Blues"


If you are a swing dancer, you know what Todd means. You could be dancing to a drum beat, but often it's a groove in the music carved out by the bass guitar. Or a saxophone, or a trumpet, or a keyboardist. You find your groove somewhere in the music, and if it's a jazz tune the drummer just might be taking an extended break. What happened to the drummer? You keep dancing on.

Not true on the zydeco dance floor. The accordionist might start to introduce the tune. Some dancers recognize the melody and wander onto the dance floor. They stand on the dance floor and wait for the drummer. Twenty seconds later, the drum beat begins and the dancers are on it. The count of "1" starts each 8-count set of beats and the whole dance floor has found its tempo, and everyone in the dance hall rocks as one to the same tempo. Halfway through the song and you could swap dance partners with anyone on the dance floor and we would all still be dancing to the same tempo: the drum beat.

A friend of mine who leads a zydeco band swears that the music begins on "1" but the downbeat is a half count later. We're actually dancing to "and-1", he says. But as a dancer, I don't hear anything in the music but the drum beat. That's my 1 and that's where I land my weight change. Zydeco is a "street dance" without many rules, and dancing on the 1 might be the only one. Watch the dance floor. We're all moving in time with the drummer even though some dancers might look like their doing completely different dances. "If you're smiling, you’re doing it right," we say. But we're all on the 1…or someone is off beat.

So this is my little newsletter for Cajun and zydeco dancers everywhere, and "Dancing On The 1" is something most of us can agree on. The title is kind of poking fun at a dance we all love that isn't technical at all. I will share stories of Cajun and zydeco artists. Most of the stories I have found on the web or on the backs of album covers. I'm not claiming orginality, but trying to honor the people who make the music. It's my way of keeping the music genres alive through the stories I publish.

And I often stray off the topic and post a story of an artist we may have all heard of but maybe don't know much about. The story on Chris Hillman is a case in point. Surrounding himself with other artists that steal the spotlight like David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, and Stephen Stills, Chris Hillman is credited with creating the genre of country rock music that might not have happened on its own. I didn't write this story: it's 100% wikipedia, with some photos from Hillman's website and a book review from Amazon. It's an interesting story that has nothing to do with dancing. But it's about music that has been with us for half a century, and I found it interesting.

I always post a list of upcoming dance festivals. Dance festivals throughout the United States and in Europe bring people together to celebrate Cajun and zydeco music. Because of dance and music festivals, people all over the world know and love Cajun and zydeco music. Cajun and zydeco music originate from the 22 parishes of Acadiana in Southwest Louisiana. That's a great place to visit and be absorbed in the area's rich culture. But dance festivals thousands of miles outside of Louisiana continue to bring people together and to keep the spirit of Louisiana alive in music and dance, and create special times for people who love to dance. Come and enjoy the music of Louisiana at a festival near you, or where you want to be.

See you on the dance floor. — Jim Hance, August 2023