Archive Files of Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco Musicians
Posted between 1999 and 2008

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    Pine Leaf Boys:
      Hommage au Passé
 

Click here for high res photos of the Pine Leaf Boys on Flickr.

Go to the Official Web Site.   Check out their MySpace Page.
 

 
Wilson Savoy


Drew Simon

 
Courtney Granger

          

Pine Leaf Boys: 2008 CD
Hommage au Passé

The Pine Leaf Boys’ second Grammy-nominated CD, Hommage au Passé, is, as the title says, a tribute to some of the great music from the Cajun tradition performed by a young band that can make the past present. In addition, the CD also makes a contribution to the tradition with original songs that recapture the past, especially the energy and feeling that give Cajun music its enduring vitality.

Among the Cajun classics on the CD are Adam Hebert’s “Country Playboy Special,” a lively, irresitible two-step that has filled dance floors for decades;  Iry LeJeune’s “J’ai fait une grosse erreur,” one of the most popular waltzes in the Cajun repertoire (with a melody borrowed from Hank Williams’ “I Can’t Help It If I’m Still in Love with You”); “Je cherche tout partout” by Eunice fiddler Wallace “Cheese” Read; “Le Delaysay” (abandoned one) from Vin Bruce, the King of Cajun Soul; and Belton Richard’s “I’ll Always Take Care of You” (translated by Belton into French from Webb Pierce’s song). The latter three are sung by Drew Simon. Drew also sings his own composition, “Je veux rester avec toi,” which channels all of the frustrated desire from past Cajuns songs into more loneliness and heartbreak.

Hommage au Passé is the first Pine Leaf Boys CD featuring fiddler Courtney Granger, great-nephew of Dewey Balfa. Courtney has lead vocals on one of the most joyous of all Cajun songs, Dewey Balfa’s “Parlez nous à boire,” and  he sings “Newport Waltz,” another song by his uncle, commemorating the legendary performance by Dewey and other Cajun musicians at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival. Courtney expresses his own appreciation for a celebrated Lafayette music festival in his song “Le Two Step des Festivals Acadiens.”

Accordionist Wilson Savoy contributes three original songs: “T’es pas la même,” a sad but lovely song about the way people change; “J’suis gone pour me saouler,” to a tune recorded by other bands as “Old Pipeliner”; and “Catin, catin,” with original lyrics accompanied by melodies inspired by Aldus Roger’s “Hicks Wagon Wheel Special” and Octa Clark’s “Freight Train Blues.”

The CD is the Pine Leaf Boys’ first release through Lionsgate Music and Publishing. The CD was available as a download in late 2008 and released in CD format in early 2009.

Click here to go to the Pine Leaf Boys Official Web site.

Click here for LSUE's first page on the Pine Leaf Boys.

The photos on this page were taken at the 2008 Festivals Acadiens et Créoles in Lafayette.

Posted 5-19-09.

All photographs and text by David Simpson.

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