"Nunsensations!" (Westwego)
March 2, 2010
Woman found dead, TPSO awaiting cause
March 4, 2010
The swamp is alive with the sound of music! And great Cajun food and cultural artisans and presentations.
Back by overwhelming demand is the Swamp Stomp Festival. For three days, March 12-4, Nicholls State’s John L. Guidry Stadium is the hub for some of south Louisiana’s hottest Cajun entertainers – from Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys and Geno Delafose and the French Rockin’ Boogie, to the Lost Bayou Ramblers and the Tri-parishes’ own Waylon Thibodeaux.
“Our inagural festival in 2009 was a huge success, and we anticipate even better things this year,” said Brenda Haskins, festival committee co-chair and director Nicholls’ auxiliary services. “Swamp Stomp is a great entertainment venue for anyone who loves Cajun and Zydeco music, local foods, locally made arts and crafts and south Louisiana culture.”
The musical lineup surely will not disappoint. The Grammy-nominated Lost Bayou Ramblers – their “a la Blue Moon” on Swallow Records and “Vermillionaire on Bayou Perdue Records received critical acclaim across the U.S. and in Europe – and local icon Don Rich takes the Cypress Stage Friday. Nearby, on the Tupelo Stage, the award-winning Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band performs its lively show.
Saturday’s lineup is equally impressive. On the Cypress Stage, it’s Treater, the Foret Tradition and Lil’ Nathan and the Bigtimers. On the Tupelo Stage, Roland Cheramie and Friends and T’Canaille warm up the stage for headliner Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys.
Hailing, of course, from Mamou, where Cajun French is as common as humidity and Mardi Gras is more about chasing poultry than beads, Riley was raised on the sounds of the fiddle and accordion. He’s gained attention globally playing the single-row diatonic instrument his cousin, famed accordionist Marc Savoy, fashioned for him.
Riley and the Playboys have garnered Grammy nominations in 2004 and 2009 in the traditional folk music category.
Sunday’s performers are equally notable. The day kicks off at noon on the Cypress Stage with Waylon Thibodeaux, aka “Louisiana’s Rockn’ Fiddler.” He’s followed by the Creole Zydeco Farmers.
Over on the Tupelo Stage, the Magnolia Sisters Cajun Band and Geno Delafose and the French Rockn’ Boogie play.
Another former Grammy nominee, Delafose is a cowboy/rancher/dynamic singer/accordionist. Born into a Zydeco music family, he took up the rubboard at age 7 and joined his dad John’s band, the Eunice Playboys. It was a precursor to the great things to come.
Today, Delafose performs a rigorous 150-show-yearly schedule, and keeps the crowds hanging on with his traditional French-style tunes and purr of his single-row and triple-row diatonic button accordions and his piano accordion.
Throughout the weekend, the Bayou French Tent offers a unique feel of south Louisiana.
Friday’s lineup includes the Cajun trio John Babin, Will Robichaux and Patrick Silvest (the trio return early Saturday, as well); Angela Hammerli leading Cajun dance lessons; noted south Louisiana chef and author Marcelle Bienvenue; Mel Baudoin playing French music from the Bayou; and Isle Derniere.
Ellen C. McCord demonstrates paper pulp painting Saturday, while accordion player and singer Will Robichaux performs. Also, wood carver/toymaker and folklorist C.J. Knobloch, traditional Louisiana watercraft and decoy maker Nelson Plaisance and historian/storyteller Shana Walton share their talents.
Sunday’s Bayou French Tent lineup includes singer/songwriter Mel Baudoin, Knobloch, Raceland saddlemaker Bill Hill, Walton, Plaisance and Derniere.
The weekend’s menu is equally diverse. Festival-goers will find shrimp and okra gumbo; shrimp and chicken pastalya; crawfish etoufee; chicken and sausage jambalaya; bread pudding; po’boys; meat pies and the traditional fare – hamburgers and hot dogs.
Louisiana’s Rockin’ Fiddler Waylon Thibodeaux performs on the Cypress Stage
Sunday, March 14, from noon to 1:30 p.m.
Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys close out the night Saturday, March 13, on the Tupelo Stage, playing from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Geno Delafose & the French Rockn’ Boogie take to the Tupelo Stage Sunday, March 14, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
