Latest News from Balfa Toujours...

January 2000

Balfa Toujours began the new millennium with our good friends the Mamou Playboys at Grant Street Dancehall in Lafayette, Louisiana. It was wonderful to be home for this celebration and we had quite an evening, with friends such as Geno Delafose, Stacy Huval and Martha Broussard sitting in with the band. After we finished, the Playboys took the stage and rang in the new year. We joined them as well, with Christine playing triangle, Kevin playing fiddle and Dirk playing piano. It was the perfect way to remember what it is we love about this music, the interaction and the friendship, and to put those things into focus as we go forward into a new era. After this kickoff, the band spent some time mixing our new record, "Balfa Toujours live at Whiskey River," before Dirk headed off the Ireland and Scotland for some performances with Tim O'Brien. Those performances, featuring the material from Tim's release "The Crossing," were very well received, which is no surprise considering the lineup included members of Altan, Danny Thompson, Maura O'Connell and many others. The remainder of the month finds Balfa Toujours in the states, with performances in Virginia, where a show at The Prism Coffeehouse in Charlottesville was very well received, New York and Atlanta. Perhaps best of all is the addition of bassist Craig Guillory as a full-time member of the band. His playing has already been heard extensively in Louisiana, but he is now on the road with us and we are very glad to have him. His versatility and prowess on the bass have already enriched us musically to a great degree. So, in short, the new year and the new millennium are starting off on the right foot, with great music, inspiring trips, good friends and all the other things that keep us doing what we love.

1999

A quick overview of our year will make it obvious that we are still doing what we set out to do when the band formed in 1993, namely to play music from the heart whenever and wherever chance permits. We began the year with a trip to England and Scotland, where we did some joint performances with our friend Willis Prudhomme. On returning, we settled in for the good times of Mardi Gras and, as always, we weren't disappointed. We also traveled to Las Vegas, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and many other locations in the early part of the year. As always, April and early May found us at home quite a bit, playing at Jazzfest, Festival International, and the Breaux Bridge Crawfish festival. The second half of May involved two locations which are quite a ways from each other, Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Anchorage, Alaska. Both offered good times, as always, though the weather was slightly different... June found us in Oregon, Colorado, Utah and other western states. July found us covering Canada from coast to coast, with the Stan Rogers Festival in Nova Scotia and the Vancouver Folk Festival on the Pacific coast. In August we spent quite a bit of time at home concentrating on the Acadian Worldwide Congress which was held in Lafayette this year. Playing at the closing ceremonies, which were held at the Cajun Dome in front of about 10,000 people, was perhaps one of our year's highlights, as the cause, the crowd, and the music combined to raise the experience to a new level. September found us at home, as usual, gearing up for Festivals Acadiens and generally letting the summer wind down. In October and November we returned to Europe with an extensive tour of Germany, France and even a few dates in Denmark. In the final month of the year we stayed at home and focused on our new album, "Balfa Toujours Live at Whiskey River," which captures the wildness and spirit of the band's Louisiana dancehall performances. It should be out some time in the spring of 2000.

In addition to these dates and trips, the band was, as always, involved in other projects. Kevin continues to play swing and bluegrass fiddle when he has the chance. Christine is playing with the Magnolia Sisters and working on the first week-long workshop program to be held in Louisiana, which is scheduled for the spring of 2001. Dirk continued his dedication to old-time Appalachian music, with two Rounder releases, one with Tony Furtado and another solo record called "Hand Me Down." He also worked on the score to the film "Ride With the Devil" and wrote and performed music for the Appalshop documentary "Stranger With a Camera." In short, the year was a good one, full of music, both on stage and in the studio. The creative level of the band seems to increase each year, and we can only hope that 2000 and the upcoming decade will continue that trend.

September 1998

The month started out, as it often does, with a trip to Escoheag, Rhode Island. The Rhythm and Roots Festival, which replaced the Cajun and Bluegrass Festival, was a big success on all fronts. Our pals the Mamou Playboys were the host band, and we had a great time with them as always. Geno was also there, and all three groups got up on stage at the end of his Saturday night dance for a big jam. That jam was spectacular, with the clear friendship between all the musicians on stage elevating things to a new level. We also enjoyed sitting in with Steve and the band during their final set on Sunday evening and at the dance afterwards. Dirk also got a chance to sit in with Tim OÕBrienÕs new electric band, which was, of course, a great honor. All in all, the festival was a big success and a party that took a good while to get over!

The following weekend we stayed at home and had a wonderful gig at Whiskey River Landing in Henderson. Christine began working on a dance instruction video with Harold Bernard and we also filmed some footage for that at Whiskey River. Once again, the party there lasted hours after it was officially meant to stop. Owner Terry Angelle is always willing to let a bunch of musicians and strangers hang out in his place as long as theyÕre ready to have a good time.

Perhaps the biggest news of the month was the release of our new recording ŌLa PointeĶ, which has gotten very good feedback already (see review excerpts). It was great to have the product in hand for Festivals Acadiens, which was wonderful this year as always. The threat of a tropical storm only seemed to make people more determined to have fun, and when it didnÕt materialize things really got rolling. Our set there was special for us, a chance to show the community and the world exactly what the band is up to. We did many of our new songs and they received a very enthusiastic response. We were joined by Nelda Balfa for the set, which is too rare an occurrence these days.

Other highlights from the Festival included KevinÕs fiddle workshop with former band member Mitchell Reed, a workshop with our good friend Bois Sec Ardoin, and a set with our friends from Holland, The Cajun Company. The party afterwards at Whiskey River, which began with Horace TrahanÕs scheduled dance and turned into a free-for-all jam, was one which could become legendary. It was perfect that after all the events of the festival, the weekend would close out with unamplified down home music. If we donÕt keep that part alive, if the music only finds life on stage, we will have lost something very valuable. Everyone seemed to be in accord on that thought after the festival and the party went on until 3:30 a.m.

The end of the month finds us working on Courtney GrangerÕs debut recording for Rounder Records, which Dirk is producing. We are enjoying our time with family and friends, recounting all of our adventures from the summer. Things are slowing down slightly, although the fall looks as busy as ever. We look forward to bringing the sounds of La Pointe to a few more corners of the globe.

August 1998

We began the month with a trip to the Edmonton Folk Festival in Alberta, Canada. We had a great time there, the highlight of which was a joint workshop with Acadian group Barachois, who hail from Prince Edward Island. It was a treat to perform with them, in a sense reuniting cultures that have the same source but have been isolated from one another for 200 years. They also danced to our music during our main stage set at the festival; it felt like a very natural connection.

After returning from Canada, we enjoyed a short tour of New York state and Pennsylvania. The tour was a chance to bring Cajun music to many listeners who were not familiar with it. As always, we enjoyed performing in these situations. It allows us to present a picture of the overall history of the music and the culture. We find that many audiences are eager to learn more about the songs and the stories behind them.

Our next trip was to the west coast, where we did several joint dates with Geno Delafose and French Rocking Boogie. One of the highlights of the tour was a benefit for Zydeco musician JoJo Reed at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle. Geno and Steve Nash sat in at the end of our set, and then we all got up for a finale that blew the roof off. We had a ball hanging out with Geno and the gang, too. Our last performance with them was at the Long Beach Museum of Art, where we played to a very warm crowd. We also stayed on the ocean liner the Queen Mary that night. I donÕt know if much Cajun/Zydeco music had been played on that ship before, but by the end of our night there the decks were ringing with it. After a few more solo dates in California, we returned home and got ready for a busy September.

July 1998

At the beginning of July we got our first listen to Kevin's new Swing/Jazz CD with guitarist Tom Mitchell, "Double Scotch." Kevin shows his talent for yet another fiddle style on this CD, which was recorded with an ace rhythm section from the Washington DC area. It's great to hear Kevin stretching out in the swing style for which he has an international reputation.

Our first trip of the month was to Sioux City, Iowa, sister city of Lake Charles, Louisiana, where we played for a "Mardi Gras in July" celebration. We had a great time there with all the local folks and the thirty or so people that made the trip from Lake Charles for the event. From there we went to the Augusta Heritage Workshops in Elkins, West Virginia for their Cajun/Creole Week. The event was a big success as always, and we played in a lot of great jam sessions into the wee hours, as so often happens there. Highlights included jams with Preston Frank and Jason Frey. We were especially excited to receive the first shipment of our new record with Bois Sec Ardoin while there. "Bois Sec Ardoin with Balfa Toujours: Allons Danser" is available now and it's been getting great reviews. It's an honor for us to be involved in the project and we are glad Bois Sec has a recording of all-new material out for the first time in twenty years.

From Augusta we went straight to the Winnipeg Folk Festival, where we had a wonderful time playing and meeting an international array of musicians. Aside from our main stage set, highlights included jamming with Mike Seeger and musicians from the Dominican Republic, Cuba and South Africa in a all-night blow out on the last night. At five in the morning we had to pull Dirk away from his conversation with renowned Cuban musician Pancho Quinto to get him to the airport in time to fly home!

Our next trip, July 16-18, took us to Utah and Idaho, where we played to wonderful audiences who were not highly familiar with Cajun music. It was a treat to bring them a new experience, and they rewarded us by dancing like crazy. We also enjoyed getting friends Mark Graham and Orville Johnson to sit in with us. After a wild all-night drive and cross-country flight we found ourselves in Memphis on July 19, where we played an evening show in the gardens of the Dixon Art Gallery.

On the 21st of the month, we flew to New York where we played a double bill with Geno Delafose at Lincoln Center. As always, it was a blast to hang out with Geno and his group; we shared some music on stage, as we like to do when we get the chance. We are looking forward to some west coast dates that we have with him in August. From NYC we went to Woodstock, where we did some recording with our good friends Jay Ungar and Molly Mason for an upcoming release on Angel Records. We also did a live radio show with them called Dancing On the Air on WAMC out of Albany, NY. We stayed in New York the rest of the weekend, heading out to the Grassroots Festival in Trumansburg. We had wonderful sets there, especially the all night dance which went from 12:00 to 4:30 a.m. on Friday night. To finish out the weekend, we did a set in Corning, NY on Sunday afternoon.

As if we had not fit enough into July, we made one last trip the final weekend of the month, this time to South Dakota. We played an afternoon show in Sioux Falls and then went out for two days at the Sioux River Folk Festival. We found another enthusiastic crowd at the festival. They were very responsive, particularly when we had our good friends from Nickel Creek sit in with us for the grand finale. Chris Thile, already a mandolin god at age 17, played a few tunes with us and was soon joined by his band mates Sara and Sean Watkins. Chris's dad Scott even got into the act later on by playing some solid triangle to close out the show. It was a great way to end a month full of music and friendship. We got to see all corners of the country and play with folks from all corners of the globe. Now let's hope we have enough energy for August!

June 1998

Balfa Toujours began this month with a trip to the Strawberry Park Cajun and Zydeco festival in Preston, CT. The festival was great, just as it was last year. We especially enjoyed hanging out and jamming with our friends the Mamou Playboys, whom it seems we run into on the road about as often as we do at home. Another highlight was Dirk playing the first diatonic accordion with bendable pitch in the history of the world during the Sunday afternoon set. The inventor, Tom Tonun, let Dirk give his prototype a spin; it was the first time the instrument was ever played on stage.

After the festival, Dirk and Christine traveled to Woodstock, New York to record an instructional accordion video for Homespun Tapes. The shooting went so well that two volumes are now scheduled for relase, one beginning and one intermediate. They should be available in the autumn.

We had yet another magical afternoon at Whiskey River Landing in Henderson, Louisiana on June 14th, and the following weekend we went up to Buffalo Gap, WV for their wonderful weekend of Cajun and Zydeco music. We had a ball at the weekend event, especially while hanging out with friends such as Willis Prudhomme, and Gus and Pam Ardoin. We sat in with Willis, and he sat in with us. We also had a special guest, Leo Thomas, the sunama gun himself, sit in on drums. Gus Ardoin and Phillip Carrier sat in as well. Since we love the music of both the Ardoin and Carrier families, we were thrilled to play with them.

We ended the month with a trip to the Southwest. Unfortunately, Kevin could not make this trip, but Christine's young cousin Courtney Granger did a great job filling in. We performed in Albuquerque and Los Alamos, New Mexico before heading up to Silverton, Colorado for the Silverton Jubilee Folk Festival. We had a great time on this trip, one of the best parts being an old time Cajun dance in the Silverton Town Hall which we did with no p.a. system. We also enjoyed discovering that New Mexico has some of the best radio in the world. We were thrilled to catch the "All Navajo, All the Time" station, KNBN, out of Farmington, NM. They mixed classic old country songs with Navajo drumming; they played the Mavericks and local Navajo country artists; they even played a bit of Jolie Blonde. It was a thrill. We are now trying our best to get ready for a busy July...

May 1998

The month started out with a peformance at the Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans. We played directly after Geno Delafose, and we took advantage of the schedule to do some jamming on stage. Dirk and Christine played a few numbers with Geno during his set; Geno returned the favor by sitting in on drums with Balfa Toujours. It was especially appropriate because Dirk and Christine recorded with Geno on his upcoming Rounder release, La Chanson Perdu. Keep an eye out for joint performances later this year from the two bands together.

We were at home in Breaux Bridge for the Crawfish Festival, which was a ball as always. The same weekend we did one of the already legendary Sunday afternoon dances at Whiskey River Landing in Henderson. As often happens, we ended up hanging around the club for hours with our friends Terry and Martha. We listened to George Jones and Otis Redding. What more could you want?

A few days later we left for a successful tour of the Northwest, performing in Oregon, Washington and Vancouver, B.C. We enjoyed it all. Especially exciting was the chance to perform in Canada. We enjoyed it greatly and have numerous plans in the works to go back.

We finished the month with a very enjoyable trip to England where we performed at the prestigious Barbican Centre in London. The concert, part of a weekend of Louisiana music called "The Ultimate Gumbo," was centered on three generations of both the Balfa and the Ardoin families. The Ardoin side featured Bois Sec Ardoin, Lawrence Ardoin and Tradition Creole, and Chris Ardoin and Double Clutchin'. The Balfa side included a tribute to the Balfa Brothers, with Balfa Toujours, Burkeman Balfa (the last of the original brothers), and cousin Courtney Granger. The concert was a big success on all levels. We're hoping to do a similar program in the states some time.

This site created and maintained by Kevin Wimmer (kwimmer@aol.com).
Copyright 1998, 1999 Kevin Wimmer and Balfa Toujours. All rights reserved.
Last updated 2/1/00.