Zydeco is a music genre that was created in rural Southwest Louisiana by Afro-Americans of Creole heritage. It blends blues and rhythm and blues with music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles such as la la and juré, using the French accordion and a creole washboard instrument called the frottoir.
Sidney Simien, known professionally as Rockin' Sidney, was an American R&B, zydeco, and soul musician who began recording in the late 1950s and continued performing until his death. He is best known for his 1985 single "My Toot-Toot", which reached top 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and earned him a Grammy Award.
Stanley Dural Jr., better known by his stage name Buckwheat Zydeco, was an American accordionist and zydeco musician. He was one of the few zydeco artists to achieve mainstream success. His music group was formally billed as Buckwheat Zydeco and Ils Sont Partis Band, but they often performed as merely Buckwheat Zydeco.
The music of Louisiana can be divided into three general regions: rural south Louisiana, home to Creole Zydeco and Old French, New Orleans, and north Louisiana. The region in and around Greater New Orleans has a unique musical heritage tied to Dixieland jazz, blues, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. The music of the northern portion of the state starting at Baton Rouge and reaching Shreveport has similarities to that of the rest of the US South.
The Wheatland Music Festival is a music and arts festival organized by the Wheatland Music Organization, a non-profit organization specializing in the preservation and presentation of traditional arts and music. Community outreach services include programming for Senior facilities and schools across mid-Michigan, year-round instrument lessons, scholarship programs, Jamborees, Traditional Dances, and Wheatscouts - a free program educating children through music, dance, storytelling, crafts and nature. Each year, the organization holds its annual Traditional Arts Weekend the weekend of Memorial Day, and its annual festival during the second weekend in September in the unincorporated community of Remus in the state of Michigan, in the United States. The first Wheatland Music Festival was held August 24, 1974.
Maison de Soul is a Louisiana-based Zydeco and blues record label. It was founded in 1974 in Ville Platte, Louisiana by Floyd Soileau and remains under his ownership. It is one of four record labels under Soileau's Flat Town Music Company umbrella, and combined the Flat Town labels make up "the largest body of Cajun, zydeco, and swamp music in the world". Living Blues magazine has called Maison de Soul "the country's foremost zydeco label".
Restless Records is a record label that was started in El Segundo, California in 1986 by Enigma Records and primarily released alternative, metal, and punk records. Restless also licensed and released records from Bar/None Records, Metal Blade Records and Mute Records. Restless also had a fully owned subsidiary, Pink Dust Records.
The Edmonton Blues Festival is an annual blues music festival in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, which was first held in 1999. The festival runs for three days in mid-August at the Heritage Amphitheatre in Hawrelak Park. In 2008, the festival was the recipient of the 'Keeping The Blues Alive Award' from the Blues Foundation, based in Memphis, Tennessee. Due to renovations that will close Hawrelak Park until 2026, the festival is moving to Edmonton's RE/MAX Field.
Beau Jocque was a Louisiana French Creole zydeco musician and songwriter active in the 1990s.
The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jazz disc jockey Jimmy Lyons.
Musikfest is an American music festival that has been held annually since 1984 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. It is the nation's largest non-gated free music festival. The festival begins on the first Friday in August, though it has been preceded since 2015 with a Thursday preview night involving the premium stage and adjacent areas. The festival ends the second Sunday thereafter.
Terrance Simien is an American zydeco musician, vocalist and songwriter. He and his group The Zydeco Experience won the Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album in 2008 and for Best Regional Roots Music Album in 2014.
The Long Beach Blues Festival, in Long Beach, California, United States, was established fully in 1980, and was one of the largest blues festivals and was the second oldest on the West Coast. It was held on Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend. For many years it was held on the athletic field on the California State University, Long Beach campus. The 2009 festival, the 30th annual, was held at Rainbow Lagoon in downtown Long Beach. The Festival went on hiatus in 2010, and has not been held since.
The Great Blue Heron Music Festival is an annual music festival held the first or second weekend of July in Sherman, New York, a small town in the Amish country side of Western New York, United States. The Great Blue Heron Music Festival, or simply Blue Heron, as it is known, draws several thousand visitors throughout the course of three days. The Blue Heron presents over 30 musicians and bands between the three stages at the venue. Genres traditionally represented include bluegrass, Cajun, zydeco, African, reggae, Americana, old-time music, Irish music, and jam band. However, in recent years, the festival has featured many contemporary, national acts such as Rusted Root and The Avett Brothers.
The San Francisco Blues Festival was active from 1973 until 2008, and was located in San Francisco, California. It was the one of the longest running blues festival in the United States.
The Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album was an honor presented to recording artists at the 50th, 51st, 52nd and 53rd Annual Grammy Awards (2008–2011) for quality zydeco or cajun music albums. The Grammy Awards, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, are presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
Sherman Robertson was an American blues guitarist and singer who has been described as "one part zydeco, one part swamp blues, one part electric blues and one part classic rhythm and blues."
Jason & the Scorchers, originally Jason & the Nashville Scorchers, are a cowpunk band that formed in 1981 and are led by singer-songwriter Jason Ringenberg.
Rosalie Marie Ashton-Washington, known as Lady Tambourine, is an American gospel musician from Louisiana, known for her skill at the tambourine.
Eric Johanson is an American blues rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Johanson has performed with Cyril Neville, Anders Osborne, the Neville Brothers, Terrance Simien, JJ Grey, Eric Lindell, Mike Zito, and at events including the Chicago Blues Festival, Edmonton Blues Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and the Byron Bay Bluesfest (Australia).
