This Ain't No Mouse Music!

Susan and I have been together twenty-seven years now, and since 2001 have been almost obsessively caught up in long-distance hiking, writing about it, doing it. All these twenty-seven years though, we have had a shadow life, caught up in Cajun music, later in Zydeco, and have always loved the way music is embedded in the culture of Louisiana. In 1987 we took Cajun dance lessons from Diana Castillo and Irene Tenney in the SF Bay Area. Irene founded the Cajun Creole Cultural Center. That organization gave us insider information and in our early years together Susan and I made many trips to Louisiana, seeking out the dance and music events in those little French speaking communities in the  Lafayette area.
 

2009

Those events were hard to find sometimes, particularly when looking for Zydeco music. In 1990 forget about checking with town tourist bureaus. Their response was "we wouldn't know about that. You need to ask the black folks."

Once we got to the dance halls, white or black, it was fine. We just watched the locals and danced as they did, though not as well, I admit. Our west coast lessons had included a lot of open swing style moves, but we didn't see that in the early Louisiana years, just two-steps and waltzes. The Zydeco was two-step with full body contact a la Tango--in my mind just about as good a dance position as could be imagined. Anyhow, in the darkened Zydeco dance halls, we kept a low profile, just out there with everyone else, loving the music and the experience. Slim's Y Ki-Ki was one of those dance halls: Lawtell Playboys at Slim's Y Ki-Ki

I'm getting to This Ain't No Mouse Music! Most of our trips back there were during non-festival times, when tourists were scarce. However, we did go back during Festivals Acadiens et Créoles one year and ran into Irene Tenney who introduced us to Chris Strachwitz. Since that time we've encountered him many times on our musical travels. The just-released documentary on his life https://argotpictures.com/nomousemusic.html was a wonderful surprise to us. We knew so many of the faces in the film that for us it was a documentary of our life as well. We recognized some of the musicians in the film from when we had first seen them performing as small children with their parents.

This is truly a magnificent, one of a kind film, thanks to directors/producers Chris Simon and Maureen Gosling. If you care for authentic American music, see it!

 

For the performance near you, check https://argotpictures.com/nomousemusic.html - Kurt, this is for you: Los Angeles, CA
October 1-7, 2014
Downtown Independent


I'm almost done, but take time to see and hear the film trailer: