Manchester UK Cajun music band "The Cajun Specials" information plus origins of Cajun music

The chequered (or should that be liquored?) history of the Cajun Specials The roots of the Cajun Specials go back to 1993 when, in a run-down shack (terraced house) in Salford, not far from the rat-infested banks of the River Irwell, a happy band of itinerant musicians formed the Manchester Acadians ( Acadia being the place of origin of the Cajun people).
Armed with two albums by Eddie LeJeune and Marc Savoy respectively, and an Aly Bain meets the Cajuns tape, the band soon had enough material to start gigging. They survived for a couple of years with a few gigs, notably the Eagles Wing Festival in Groomsport, Ireland in July 1994, before career and life changes reduced the band to a partnership of two, namely Stan Williams and Dave Eatock. New band, new name and Swamp Thing was born in 1995. Over the next few years Swamp Thing underwent numerous personnel changes, including Stan emigrating to Holland. But they lived on with a membership of more than a dozen musicians forming several different line-ups, the only ever-present being accordionist Dave Eatock (which was just as well since he did most of the vocals too).
	WhenSwamp Thing called it a day towards the end of the nineties, Dave went back to participating in jam sessions for a while. But the lure of gigs eventually brought about the formation of the Cajun Specials, the name being chosen on the assumption that line-ups would vary from gig to gig. Not only has this proved to be the case, but observers may notice a striking resemblance between members of the Cajun Specials and the Eunice Bobcats
To play or listen, come to our monthly jam sessions (last Tuesday of the month) at: The Lloyds Hotel 617 Wilbraham Rd Chorlton Manchester M21 9AN For more details, or to book the band, Tel. Dave Eatock on 0161 973 8701

The origins of Cajun music
The original Cajuns were French people who had settled in Acadia, now Nova Scotia, but were expelled by the British in 1755 for refusing to swear allegiance to the crown. Some made their way down the Atlantic coast and settled in the swamps and prairies of SW Louisiana, where they existed as an obscure and oppressed minority group. In contrast they are today a celebrated culture attracting interest and recognition from around the world. There are almost one million French-speaking descendants of the Acadians now living in Louisiana, whose language and customs have been influenced and enriched by years spent living alongside Native Americans, Africans, and settlers from many European countries. They have shed their image of drunken, work-shy, unintelligent clods (which the majority never were of course), to become highly respected in the US as a talented, versatile, hard-working and cheerful people.	Cajun music is a blend of many influences and styles and yet it maintains a distinctive and traditional sound. "Fiddles were joined or replaced by accordions and it is the accordion-led ensemble playing waltzes and two-steps, with searing vocals in French, that define the Cajun sound. Zydeco is the music of the black population, also accordion-led,often with rhythmic accompaniment on rub-board.While Cajun music borrows from rock and country in its more mainstream forms, zydeco tends to blues and latterly hiphop, but they're both at their best in their raw,rootsier forms."(Simon Broughton) Cajun music and dancing is about "passing a good time" as the Cajuns say; it's about enjoying the music, joining in the dancing, being sociable, helping new-comers in the dancing and making new friends. Laissez les bons temps rouler! (Let the good times roll.)

Read: Ye Yaille Chere - Raymond E Francois (Thunderstone Press 1990) South To Louisiana: The Music of The Cajun Bayous - John Broven (Pelican Publishing Co 1983)
Links Encyclopedia of Cajun Culture http://www.cajunculture.com/ Cajun French Music Association http://www.cajunfrenchmusic.org/ Floyds Record Shop http://www.floydsrecords.com/ Steve Riley & The Mamou Playboys http://www.mamouplayboys.com Balfa Toujours http://balfatoujours.com Cajun UK http://www.cajunuk.co.uk
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The chequered (or should that be liquored?) history of the Cajun Specials

The origins of Cajun music