Apr 3-5 Gainesville Company

April 3rd finds us at McGee's Landing, overlooking the Atchafalaya basin. We've had a lot of rain recently and the water is high as the sun dips below the trees. Tonight, Harry Trahan is reuniting with longtime friend and fiddler, Russell Quibodeaux for a splendid Cajun night. Joining the old-timers are Harry's daughter, Lisa Trahan of the Magnolia sisters and Joe Vidrine on guitar, Jane Vidrine's son (Jane is also in the Magnolia Sisters). The music is traditional, Harry does all of the singing in his gravelly voice and I am moved by the joy I see on Lisa's face as she plays alongside her dad. Take a listen to the sound http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz5ltrhShYs&feature=related

April 4th is gonna sound mighty familiar, especially with company in tow. Cafe des Amis for breakfast and dancing, then that long country drive to Fred's in Mamou. Today at Fred's we are entertained by a gentleman from Ville Platte who wants to teach us how to dance. What a hoot!! After a nap it's off to a party in Lafayette. This home is made for company. The dining, living & kitchen areas are laid out so that it's easy to walk around. There's a deck and patio out back where Cedric Watson and others are playing. AND there's a fabulous tree house - screened and elevated to catch the breeze and overlooking a rippling brook, er, bayou.

As if we haven't danced, visited & partied enough, we head on over to Randol's in Lafayette for Paul Daigle and Cajun Gold (shown at the Liberty Theater in Eunice in 2001). Paul is a former accordion prodigy (now he's older, so he's can't be a prodigy!!) and he's got talented fiddle, guitar & drums to round out the traditional Cajun grouping.

April 5th takes me to Vermilionville to tour the village and dance a bit to Cheryl Cormier and friends. There's tons to do today so choosing is tough, but Geno is at Nunu's so .... It's a fund-raiser for the young people who are going to St. Ann's in Nova Scotia for the summer. Here they will be immersed in the French language, Acadiana music and the culture and history of their ancestors. Hadley Castille is in the house supporting his granddaughter, Sarah Jayde, who will be one of the students.

We hate to leave early, but High Performance is having a CD release party at Mulates and it's supposed to end at 9pm. So at 8:30 we pull ourselves away from Geno and head on down the road. Hello --- I have never seen this many cars at Mulate's. The joint is jumping with young people and High Performance is going strong. The visitor was hoping for a chance to dance to Steve Riley during the visit, but we missed him Saturday night. This band is another of those conglomerates, and there he is, yanking that accordion in that Riley-style. We dance 'til our boots are achin' and our bones are breakin' from the crush of the crowd. When we give up fighting for space, we stand by the edge watching the feet. This is NOT Cajun dancing. This is NOT Zydeco dancing. Whew - but it sure is fun!!