Category Music
HOME GROWN: From a cozy Cajun kitchen, Linda Ronstadt and Ann Savoy reach for Grammy gold
It started in the kitchen, like so many good things do in Louisiana. There might have been biscuits in the oven, or gumbo on the stove, or a pot of coffee or tea on the countertop. Children would float in and out, or a telephone might ring, but that was OK. This was informal, natural, […]
SMOKEY ROBINSON: The Way He Does the Things He Does
Have you ever belted out a heartfelt rendition of “The Way You Do the Things You Do” to your sweetie when that Motown chestnut popped up on the radio? Did you dance to “My Girl” with your daughter at her wedding? Whenever you watch “The Big Chill,” do you sing along to “The Tracks of […]
KENNY LOGGINS & JIM MESSINA: Together Again
The early 1970s were the conflicted teenage years for American rock ‘n’ roll. While the Who, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones were hitting their creative peaks in England, stateside radio was force-feeding us two Tony Orlandos for every Allman Brothers Band, offsetting rugged Grand Funk Railroad with smarmy Seals & Crofts and deflating the […]
JAMES TAYLOR: At Home on the Road
He tours almost constantly, across the country and around the world. He plays benefits for environmental causes. He does cable and public television specials. Every so often, he cuts another album. For a star of his magnitude in the galaxy of rock ‘n’ roll heroes, he is surprisingly averse to taking it easy. Meet James […]
STILL IN ROTATION: “The Big Easy” soundtrack
[Guest post on California-based blog Midlife Mixtape (“For the years between being hip and breaking one”), March 4, 2014.] Still in Rotation is a feature that lets talented writers tell Midlife Mixtape readers about an album they discovered years ago that’s still in heavy rotation, and why it has such staying power. Ron Thibodeaux has been one […]
KRIS KRISTOFFERSON: Back on tour, singing hits he wrote in the Louisiana oil fields
Mention Kris Kristofferson to women of a certain generation and they’ll still swoon over his performance as the bare-chested, bad-boy rocker opposite Barbra Streisand in “A Star Is Born” 30 years ago. Their kids know him best as Whistler, the grizzled mentor to vampire Wesley Snipes in the “Blade” trilogy. Those are notable bookends for […]
THE FIDDLER’S FAREWELL: David Greely prepares to bid The Mamou Playboys adieu
Imagine going to a Rolling Stones show, making your way to the stage and ordering up your favorite tune from “Exile on Main Street.” Good luck with that; Mick and the boys aren’t exactly in the habit of taking requests. It’s different with Cajun music. The two-step and the waltz are cornerstones of the Cajun […]
BOOK REVIEW, “‘ACCORDIONS, FIDDLES, TWO STEP & SWING”: Behind the Musique
Cajun music used to be one of the great hidden treasures of Louisiana. As a linchpin of the state’s once-isolated Acadian culture, it was relegated to house parties and dance halls for local enjoyment but virtually unknown to the outside world. Modernization finally caught up with south Louisiana after World War II, but it threatened […]
RON THIBODEAUX 