The Cajun Music Preservation Society Is On A Mission

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Cajun Music Jam at Gina's Aug 15 2018 (Misty Leigh McElroy) 8/15/18

The Cajun Music Preservation Society of Thibodaux, Louisiana is on a mission to bring life and awareness back to the art of traditional Cajun music in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes.


The Cajun Music Preservation Society was started in 2014 and is planning to celebrate their nine-year-anniversary this coming April. The society first began very small, and was established by four founding members who are still active in the society today: Tysman Charpentier, Dr. Allyse Ferrara, Dr. Quenton Fontenot, and Misty Leigh McElroy. “We truly started out of a shared desire to preserve Cajun culture, particularly the music,” said Misty. “We wanted to bring back that traditional Cajun music to our home. We were partially inspired to create the society after we noticed a significant revival of Cajun music in the Lafayette area, and we were interested in starting that here,” she shared.

The Cajun Music Preservation Society is working to revitalize this important part of history in many ways, but the most effective is their role as a facilitator for locals looking to hire, participate in, or listen to Cajun bands or music. “If someone wants to hire a Cajun musician for a party, they come to us,” said Misty. “We provide them with that contact that may be difficult to seek out otherwise.” The Cajun Music Preservation Society also hosts the Thibodaux-based Swamp Stomp Concert Series as a way to facilitate the community’s exposure to Cajun music and give them an opportunity to come out and watch local musicians perform. 

“The Swamp Stomp Series used to be a yearly event that was hosted by Nicholls State University, but they decided that they could no longer do it,” Misty explained. “We decided to take it over so the community wouldn’t lose that resource. Our society workshopped it a little bit, turning it from a yearly event to something that happens almost monthly so that more people have a chance to come out, listen, and enjoy the music.” The first Swamp Stomp concert of 2023 was Saturday, January 28, at Gina’s at the Legion in Thibodaux. Four-time Grammy-nominated artist Cedric Watson et Bijou Creole delivered a stellar performance. The next concert in the Swamp Stomp Series will be on Saturday, March 11, at Bayou Terrebonne Distillers in Houma, featuring the band Daiquiri Queens from 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.  


Alongside the Swamp Stomp Concert Series, the Cajun Music Preservation Society is well known in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes for hosting their bi-monthly Cajun Jams at Gina’s at the Legion in Thibodaux on every first and third Wednesday of the month. These events are open jam sessions for local musicians and community members to share in a love for traditional Cajun music, and serves as another great way to facilitate a connection between locals and historic instruments. “Our Cajun Jams are open to everyone, which is what makes them so special,” said Misty. “You don’t have to be a professional musician to come out and play, our jams are open to all ages and skill levels. We see a wide range of acoustic instruments, from fiddles, to accordions, triangles, or even banjos. Participants are also welcome to attend and dance or just enjoy the music. They are completely free and truly a way to bring the community together and reconnect them with history.” The Cajun Jams are not limited to just Thibodaux — Residents of Terrebonne Parish can now attend Cajun Jams every second Wednesday of the month at C’est Bon Cafe, sponsored by Explore Houma. “This type of growth is very exciting for our cause,” said Misty. “We are reaching more and more people everyday.” 

The Cajun Music Preservation Society’s tireless efforts to return the Bayou Region to its Cajun roots has not gone unnoticed around the country, and has been nationally and regionally awarded. The local society was presented just one year after its inception with the EPA Gulf Guardian (Environmental Justice/Cultural Diversity) Award on July 30, 2015 by the U.S. Environmental protection Agency’s Gulf of Mexico Program for their work in preserving this music amid fears that Cajun culture would be lost due to Louisiana’s disappearing coastline crisis. The Cajun Music Preservation Society was also awarded the Thibodaux Chamber of Commerce C. Lindy Hoffman and Mary Ann Delaune Hoffman Music’s Unsung Hero Award just two short years later in 2017. 

“It is really incredible how much we have been able to do to reconnect our community with its Cajun roots,” said Misty. “Our goal as a society is to plant the seed and watch it grow. We hope in the future to see an increase of people who are hosting their own get-togethers or jam sessions to enjoy traditional Cajun music. We want to start the revival of this unique culture that connects us all.” The Cajun Music Preservation Society’s hope for its future is to see this interest in Cajun music spread even further throughout southern Louisiana, eventually reaching the deep bayou at the bottom of Lafourche Parish. 


“We can see people from all walks of life beginning to embrace this music more and more,” Misty said happily. “We play Cajun music at the Hyacinthians parade every Mardi Gras, and it is incredible to see how people come out in the streets and dance to it. Many people talk about how hearing the music brings them back to their childhood and it can even move some listeners to tears. This is the music our grandparents listened to, and reconnecting to that is extremely powerful.”

The Cajun Music Preservation is a staple of the community that is truly fulfilling its mission: “To promote, preserve, and enhance the awareness and appreciation of traditional Cajun music within the southeast region of Louisiana.”