Link to collection of Jeffery Broussard photos posted on Flickr.

For more information, go to Jeffery Broussard's Official Web Site.

Click for more photos and an overview of the Creole Cowboys' 2007 CD Keeping the Tradition Alive!.

It was hot near the exterior stage in late May 2007 at the Zydeco Extravaganza in Opelousas, but the scene was even hotter inside where Jeffery Broussard and the Creole Cowboys were pumping out Creole dance music and the best dancers at the Extravaganza were showing off their moves.

The roots of the Creole Cowboys’ music are in the traditional Creole songs that Jeffery heard as a boy when he played drums with his father, the late Delton Broussard, and his band, the Lawtell Playboys. Many of those songs originate from much earlier when Creoles like Amédé Ardoin played the music at house dances where the furniture would be moved outside and the music would give neighbors weary from long hours in the fields the energy to dance until early morning.  The Creole Cowboys and Jeffery Broussard, one of the best accordion players on the planet, have projected that old-time energy into their music, under the guiding spirit of Boozoo Chavis along with other zydeco legends, and taken everything to a 21st century level. The result is music with enough power to overcome any inhibitions and get everyone moving.

Jeffery Broussard, who is familiar to anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with zydeco, was a leading member of Zydeco Force, the band whose double clutchin’ beat resounded across Southwest Louisiana at trail rides and in popular clubs a little over a decade ago. At the start of the new century, the group got back together for several years until Robby “Mann” Robinson decided to retire. After Zydeco Force disbanded, Jeffery Broussard reconnected with his Creole heritage partly through his participation in and role as an instructor in activities sponsored by Louisiana Folk Roots (influencing him to learn to play the fiddle). Joined by D’Jalma Garnier and also by other members of the Broussard family, he put together a new band that in mid-2007 is really taking off, with a first CD scheduled for release, bookings across the United States and in France, and a legion of zydeco dancers ready to move like they’ve never moved before.

On a 2006 demo CD recorded at a live dance, the Creole Cowboys covered popular Boozoo Chavis numbers like “Motor Dude Special” and “I’m Goin’ to Dog Hill” and other zydeco hits like Buckwheat Zydeco’s “Hard to Stop” and Clifton Chenier’s “Hot Tamale Baby.” A number of the songs were in French like “Tante Nana,” “La Robe Barré,” and traditional Creole tunes.  The Zydeco Force repertoire included some French songs, but now, as a Creole Cowboy, Jeffery Broussard can use his strong, soulful voice and command of French to breathe new life into more Creole lyrics that are beyond the capability of most zydeco bands.

Many years ago, in an interview with Michael Tisserand, Jeffery said that the fiddle would only drag down the driving sound of Zydeco Force. That opinion has obviously changed. After learning to play himself, he now is able to unleash the passion and raw emotion of Creole fiddling in a way that matches the power of his accordion style.

Joining him in the Creole Cowboys is D’Jalma Garnier, another great Creole musician whose knowledge is both wide and deep. Garnier’s background began in New Orleans, where his grandfather played Creole jazz and other family members were musicians, extended to Austin, Texas, where he played guitar in many different musical styles, and developed further through an apprenticeship with the legendary Creole fiddler Canray Fontenot and through very extensive experience playing Creole, zydeco, and Cajun music with many groups, most prominently Filé and then The Lucky Playboys.  In addition to being able to play anything with strings, he is also an excellent vocalist.

In 2007, it looks like the Creole Cowboys are ready to mount a full charge across the musical landscape.  Check out the latest news on the Jeffery Broussard’s Official Web Site.

The top two photos of Jeffery Broussard were taken April 22, 2007, at the Dewey Balfa Cajun and Creole Heritage Week at Chicot State Park. D'Jalma Garnier is shown in early 2005 at a fundraiser for Louisiana Folk Roots in Ville Platte, where the first thumbnail of Jeffery was also taken. The other thumbnails show Jeffery at the 2006 Festivals Acadiens in Lafayette and, with Clifton Broussard on scrubboard, at the 2007 Zydeco Extravaganza in Opelousas, where the photo of the dancers and the photo at left of Jeffery on fiddle were also taken. Click on thumbnails to view larger photos.