Roddie Romero "State of Louisiana"

Today, I found a used copy of a early Roddie Romero CD from 1995. I really like this CD. It's pretty much a ZydeCajun style of music, but it's very danceable, including West Coast Swing. I'm always looking for new and different music from Louisiana, and this was an excellent find. Thanks Roddie, you even signed it.

1. Allons A Lafayette
2. Zydeco Son Pas Sa Les
3. Baton Rouge
4. Went to the Dance
5. Tired of Going Nowhere
   
6. State of Louisiana
7. Big Big Love
8. Don't Sleep Tonight
9. Rock 'N' Roll Wedding
10. Everything To Me
11. Promised Land
12. One More Night
13. Kansas City
14. Talking to this Heart Of Mine

Louisiana Visits the Halftime Rec

HALFTIME REC, 1013 Front St., St Paul, MN (651) 488-8245

HALFTIME CAJUN & ZYDECO MUSIC & DANCE, www.halftimecajun.com
Supported & Sponsored by the Krewe de Walleye, www.krewedewalleye.org
Dance lessons start at 7pm, Dance music 8-11pm, $5

CAJUN HOT SOLES
The Hot Soles are a Cajun/Creole style band from the Twin Cities (and Iowa) that have very solid connections in Louisiana. Recently, one Cajun & one Creole came to the midwest with their wives. They visited John (Hot Soles Fiddler) in Iowa, to help John pick apples. Larry & Jackie Miller, and Goldman & Theresa Thibodeaux came up to visit for a little more than a week, and made it up to the Twin Cities on Sunday Oct 1, to sit in with the band.

CAJUN COWBOY JITTERBUG
To help make this more of an event, I decided to offer a free Cajun Cowboy Jitterbug lesson before the band started. It was a last minute (day before) announcement via email, but there were a few people there to learn a few steps.

GETTING STARTED
The Cajun Hot Soles got things started with the addition of Kevin Anthony (TC Playboys) while I met with Mr. Thibodeaux, and Mr. Miller for interviews.

CAJUN & CREOLE STYLES
Larry Miller sat in with the band first, bringing his style of Cajun accordion to the mix. He also got my attention while he was up, demonstrating the left hand technique I had asked about in the interview just before taking the stage.

After a while, Mr. Thibodeaux took the stage, and brought the Creole style of accordion to the stage. In the interview Mr. Thibodeaux said that the Creole style is a bit more bluesy, than Cajun. And that was very true. I found myself enjoying the tempo of his songs, very much. They were much easier to dance to. When the evening ended, he said that he was just getting started, that he could play for 2 more hours. And that's for sure. That's the way it is in Louisiana. Quite often, artists & bands play continuously for hours, without taking a break. One artists said that "If we take a break, the people will start to leave, and we don't want that, so we keep playing."

LARRY MILLER, Cajun Accordion Maker (Bon Cajun Accordions)
Mr. Miller is one of the Standard Bearers of genuine Cajun Accordions. Before making accordions, Mr. Miller was a teacher & principle. Before retiring from that vocation, he started making accrodions. Take a look at his 'Cajun Accordion Story' from his website.

GOLDMAN THIBODEAUX, and the Lawtell Playboys, Creole Accordion Player. Mr. Thibodeaux played with the Hot Soles after Mr. Miller.