{"id":30018,"date":"2026-10-02T00:12:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T00:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"urn:bikertrash-source:music\/Dec03.html"},"modified":"2026-10-08T23:10:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T23:10:29","slug":"boots-to-bayous-archive-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/?p=30018","title":{"rendered":"Boots to Bayous"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published:<\/strong> 2003
Original publication:<\/strong> BikerTrash.com
Original byline:<\/strong> Amy Edgerly<\/p>

December 2003<\/p>

Music Notes by Amy<\/p>

“Boots To Bayous”<\/i><\/p>

December 2003 <\/b> <\/p>

Crawfish season is right around the corner. Isn’t it? Well, almost. Those of you who are our friends to the north, might not understand the importance of this, but trust me, crawfish season is something to live for down here. Crawfish season means springtime is right about here. Crawfish season means Mardi Gras is here. Crawfish season means parties, festivals, parties, music, crawfish, parties, parties. We southerners like our parties. Especially those crazy Cajuns next door in Louisiana.
<\/p>

My husband Joey (hereinafter referred to by his Nebraska road name of “El Borracho”) and I were fortunate enough to visit the great state of Louisiana the weekend of November 8, to attend the Swamp Pop Music Jam in Houma. One of the featured artists in this column was the reason for my trip, but I found an unexpected new love at the jam in the person and band of a Mr. Damon Troy, who proves “it’s not your mama’s zydeco anymore”. What a maniac. Who’d have thought an accordion could get the blood pumping just like a guitar in the hands of Jimi Page or the like? You gotta’ go see ‘dis boy, cher!
<\/p>

Anyway, the Swamp Pop Music Jam featured Kane Glaze, Damon Troy, The Fabulous Boogie Kings, and the man who brought me there, the legendary Zachary Richard. Surprisingly, the event didn’t seem to be promoted as much as it might have been, and the civic center was a little less than packed, but then I learned that there was a simultaneous Swamp Pop Jam taking place in Thibodaux, just up the road. Well, no matter to me, I was happy to be at my Jam, thank you very much. I was loving Damon and couldn’t wait to see Zachary.
<\/p>

The point I am trying feebly to make in this introduction is that there couldn’t be two better places on earth to be: Texas and Louisiana. If you have never been to either fair state, I strongly encourage you to start thinking about planning a trip down here soon. I love living in Texas and I love visiting Louisiana. And following are good reasons for each:<\/p>

Zachary Richard<\/a><\/b>
Silver Jubilee: The Best Of<\/i>
Zack Attack<\/i><\/p>


<\/p>

Photo from Zachary Richard website<\/i>
<\/p>

Whew! I did not realize the magnitude of my undertaking when I decided to write about Zachary Richard. I assumed it would be fairly a straightforward task: tell my friends about some really cool party music made by this Cajun guy from Louisiana. Little did I know there is so much more to Mr. Richard than meets the ear. He is poet, activist, educator, songwriter, performer, producer, historian, truly a jewel with many shining facets. The more I learn, the more I am intrigued by the man who does the 2 most important party songs in the world, “Fil\u00e9 Gumbo” and “Crawfish”!!
<\/p>

However, to present the man to you in a way that would fully do him the justice and respect he deserves would take too much space here. And I’m pretty confident I’m not up to the job, anyway. So I will stick to what drew me in in the first place, the music. Oh, the music.
<\/p>


<\/p>

My friend Karen, brought Silver Jubilee to work one day and played it on her computer’s CD drive for us. As luck would have it, this happened at the time of year when I start making plans for our annual crawfish boil party at our house. I decided then and there I must have this music to party down to come April. So I got a copy. And lo and behold something unexpected happened to me in the course of my ownership of it. I found that I gravitated to this CD when selecting music for company, for hanging out at home, for background music while cleaning, more and more and more. It morphed from a novelty for my party to a vital part of the soundtrack of my life.
<\/p>

Until Silver Jubilee<\/i> found me, I had never been able to tolerate the sound of Cajun music. I imagine many of you readers might identify with that feeling at this very moment. El Borracho and I would go to these mardi gras parties and crawfish boils all about the Houston area and they’d inevitably have a live Cajun band there, complete with washboard , kazoo and spoon players. We’d stay long enough to eat our 2lbs. of bugs and <\/i>be out of there toute de suite, baby. But Zachary is different. And I believe anybody would agree with me once they heard him.
<\/p>

Yes, this is Cajun music. Yes, this is steeped in French-Cajun tradition. Yes, this rocks. It rocks, it blueses, it souls, it folkses, it countrys. It knocks down doors and opens up a whole new world of music appreciation. It spans a 25-year career rich in experimentation with and preservation of a form of expression from a culturally rich heritage. Regardless of how you may feel about the all French songs included on the collection, you will undoubtedly eat up the English ones with gusto. I defy anyone to not start dancing from the first few bars of “Fil\u00e9 Gumbo” (track 1) and carry on that way through “Hello Josephine” (track 5). If that does not happen, then you are just no fun. Period.
<\/p>

The next few tracks consist of all French lyric songs, from “Cap Enrag\u00e9”<\/i> (Enraged Cape) through “Les Ailes Des Hirondelles”<\/i> (Give Me Back My Wings). This tour de France takes you from a salty maritime haunt, to a sweet, mournful waltz, down to a soulful Creole ballad, through a lonely, subtlely tribal rhythm and ends up in a 70’s jazzy-type guitar riff. Even though you may not be fluent in French, if you allow yourself to listen, you will discover the landscape of truly American music in these songs as well. And a breathtaking panorama it is.
<\/p>

But then we are back to my standard, the raucous “Crawfish”<\/i>, followed by the shuffle of “Everytime<\/i>” and we are back dancing again, mon petit chou. The remainder of this 19-song CD goes out on more traditional zydeco country strains, along with a folksy, Croce-esque display, mixed amongst a little bluegrass flavoring and finished off with a monastic quality a capella amen. I told you it was rich and experimental and truly worthy of respect and adoration.<\/p>

<\/p>

Zack Attack was my follow-up purchase of Zachary music after becoming attached at the hip to Silver Jubilee. I simply went to Zach’s website, looked through the many, many, many CD titles available for purchase and chose the one which included a song entitled “Esmeralda”. Why would I make a CD purchase based solely on a song title, such as this one, you may ask? Well, I’ll tell you, but then I’ll have to kill you. You see, in the early stages of our “courtship” El Borracho gave me the lovingly endearing pet name “Esmeralda”. Actually it was a reference to the old TV show, “Bewitched”, indicating he at times perceived my personality as that of an old witch. Nice, huh? Now if anyone ever calls me that besides him, I will not respond.
<\/p>

But hey, it worked. I got a good one. I popped this sucker in the CD player and commenced to jumpin’, Jack. “Keep Me Jumping” is a blues rocker in every true sense of the term. A true toe-tapper and booty-shaker, my love. The second song is the famous “Esmeralda” which I still can’t believe is the title to any song anywhere. But it is a really pretty ballad suitable for any light rock, cool jazz radio play. In fact the collection is dotted with a few of these, “Dear Darling”, “Hold On” and “Save Me Sarah”. Truly, most of the feel of this CD has 80’s pop over and undertones. The only true Cajun roots offerings are “Joe Pitre A Deux Femmes” (Joe Pitre Has Two Women), sung all in French, “I Yi Yi” and “Zydeco Party”. Yet the latter two tunes sport more romping, boogie-woogie, rocking suits than traditional zydeco threads, although the accordion is ever present in both.
<\/p>

This 1984 regular release was ironically recorded in its entirety in Paris, France. I say ironically because there is only one all French lyric song on here. At any rate, if you wish to ease into the Zachary experience, this is a good album to get you started. Although I have a feeling you could probably throw a dart at a list of titles stuck to the wall and be satisfied with any Zachary Richard (pronounced Ree-shar) CD. Laissez les bon temps rouler tout la nuit, b\u00e9b\u00e9!!!
To learn much, much more about Zachary and to buy his CD’s, LP’s, books, T-shirts and videos, please visit www.zacharyrichard.com . <\/p>

Amy interviews Zachary Richard<\/a>
<\/p>



Bleu Edmondson<\/a>
Southland <\/p>


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Photo from Bleu Edmondson website
<\/i> <\/p>

And now we come home to our beautiful Texas, and its own wonderful, culturally rich music scene. Not surprisingly when you think “Texas” and “music”, “country music” is probably what comes to mind. Well, that’s true, Texas is home to many many of America’s greatest country artists: Bob Wills, George Strait, Clint Black, the two Tracys (Lawrence and Byrd), Waylon Jennings, Tanya Tucker, David Allan Coe, Lyle Lovett, Freddie Fender – a good percentage of what you hear on country radio anywhere, anytime. Texas also has given us Buddy Holly, Janis Joplin, The Big Bopper, The Vaughan Brothers, The Winter Brothers, ZZ Top, Kings X, Pantera, BJ Thomas, Destiny’s Child, Norah Jones, Richie Valens, Edie Brickell, — a few examples of the wide ranging sampling of musical offerings from our little country within a country. If we’re going to talk “Texas” and “Country music”, we must talk “Texas Hill Country Music”.
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I like to think of Willie Nelson (who is conspicuously missing from the above lists) as the “grand-daddy” of Hill Country music. Maybe it’s because he came first and popularized the gypsy spirit with roots in the hills of central Texas for all the world to hear. Or maybe it’s because he now and still resides in his hill country home, as I imagine him, a loving, kingly figure keeping close watch on the growth of all his “grandchildren”, of which there are many. Taking this little analogy further, I like to say that Jerry Jeff Walker is the “father” of Hill Country music. I happen to think that because when I listen to the “kids” these days, I see Jerry Jeff’s DNA all over the faces of their artful creations. Some may call this “imitation” or “influence”, but I think it’s just the simple biological fact that once you get close to this music, it gets in your blood, and there’s no watering it down with even the most willful effort.
<\/p>

What’s my point? Well, I’ll tell you. I first saw Bleu Edmondson quite unintentionally. I was going to see Jerry Jeff at the River Road Ice House (www.riverroadicehouse.com) in New Braunfels, TX, and Bleu happened to be the opening band. Jerry Jeff was spectacular. He was in a neck brace and had to sit for the whole show, but he was incredible. Anyway, this kid, Bleu Edmondson and his band of kids, were also impressive. They sounded like a country band, sure. They also sounded like a rock band. Or an alternative rock band. It’s like these kids have taken what is the heart and soul of the Texas hill country and brought it out to share with all their friends and peers. There is certainly a new generation of this music in the making and Bleu Edmondson is one of the guys right in the thick of it.<\/p>

El Borracho bought Southland at the second show of his we saw, which he headlined, at the Sidecar Pub<\/a> in Houston, a few months later. Well, we had to have it. “$50 and a Flask of Crown” had actually gotten a little airplay for awhile before that one station which featured Texas music a lot, was taken over and switched to a jazz format (but don’t even get me started on radio, it’s not pretty). “Fifty Dollars” is the first song on Southland and it’s the money-maker. From the first note, it sounds more hillbilly country than anything you have probably ever heard. But then Bleu starts singing “Fifty dollars and a flask of Crown, I grab my Stetson and I pull it down, I roped the devil riding into town, with fifty dollars and a flask of Crown”. You just about can’t get more Texan than that, can you? You will love this song even if you HATE country music. All the songs are enjoyable, but I’ll just mention my favorites (because frankly, my sister is in town and I want to get done with work and go party.) Track 3 is “It’s About You”, and El Borracho’s favorite. This is one of those that has Jerry Jeff written all over it, which is probably why we love it. It’s also very sarcastic, which is always a big seller in this family. “Hell on 18 Wheels”, track 7 is another pleaser. We love to giggle at the line “I’ve got to find out how it feels, to be heaven in the sack, and hell on 18 wheels”. We are very immature at heart, but it is a good song, nice and country and all that. The rock and roll love song, “It’s Alright” I think may have been written about me. Well, it’s about some woman in Texas with long, blonde, curly hair anyway. And “Live Oak Lullaby” is a dream of a perfect life with his sweetie, where else, in the south, and I think Texas particularly is implied. Those of us who live here of course, already have that dream. But the last song, “Laughin’ Right Out Loud” is almost as hillbilly country as the first song, and you can’t help but get your toe tapping. There is wisdom in the final lines of this tune that we can all use:
<\/p>

So when you think about the days of old
Listen to that Hill Country Gold
Hold onto love
Keep on laughing right out loud
Amen, Bleu.<\/i><\/p> <\/blockquote>

Learn more about Bleu and buy his CD’s, please visit their website.<\/a>


Trip to Louisiana<\/b><\/p>

It was Friday morning November 7 and I was getting excited about leaving for Louisiana in the morning. It was going to be a 6 hour trip and we planned to be in Houma by late afternoon, just in time to settle in and get to the Swamp Pop Music Jam by 6:00. Then God smiled upon El Borracho and me in the form of my mother offering to take the kids for that night, too, not just Saturday as we had planned. So we carted them off to Granny’s and hit the road at about 8:00 Friday night. It was a chilly night, and we had planned to ride over on the FXR, but El B. looked at the front tire and said it probably would be best not to chance it for such a long trip, so we had to take 4 wheels. Please forgive us. We’ll plan better next time.
<\/p>

We pulled into Lake Charles at about 11:00. With no plan other than stopping at the casino and seeing what the room rates were there, we stopped first at the Isle of Capri. The rooms were a little steep, but we hit the slots anyway with $20 each. I hit a Sizzlin’ Seven within 5 minutes and was up $50. Not being a big gambler I cashed out was ready to go. I took El B’s original $20 (he was up about $30) and let him play out his profit and we headed for town.
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Saw billboards for several more reasonable hotels on Highway 171, so took that exit and stopped at the first one, Days Inn. $55 for a room so we checked in and took off down the road following a few bikes that were headed north. About a mile down the road we spotted our first little oasis on the right, the Lamplighter Lounge, which had one bike in the parking lot. And that guy was leaving. (It WAS a chilly night.) But we stopped in anyway, road weary and thirsty that we were. We sauntered in to this little biker-friendly place and cozied up to the bar. Miss Kay served us with a smile, chatted with us about goings-on in Lake Charles, told us about their Thursday nights which consist of free food and bikers galore. She even offered us the leftover crawfish etouff\u00e9e from the night before, like a true southern gentlewoman. She was about to close, so we didn’t want to keep her. We got their info and headed back toward town to another place she told us about that had live music that night. Next time you ride through Lake Charles, be sure to take the Highway 171 exit and go north and stop in and say Howdy to Kay and the folks. They are at 1906 Hwy 171 N., Lake Charles, LA, 337-436-8987, and tell them the couple from Bikertrash.com sent ya!
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A few miles back the other direction and we were in downtown Lake Charles at Rikenjaks Brew Pub, 333 Broad St., Lake Charles, LA 70601, 337-433-1514. Now we’re talking, Jack. This too-cool little New Orleans style nightclub has its own brewery next door and features live music acts from all over the place, including more than a few artists from Houston. Burning up the stage that night was Rockin’ Jake, a respectable little blues rock band fronted by Rockin’ Jake himself, mouth harp ripper dude. We really dug our time there, kicking back in the wood booth dimly lit by a quaint little street lamp-type fixture, with a down-home rockin’ blues band to groove to. We wondered why the place was not more packed, then it occurred to me: I bet folks just go to Lake Charles for the gambling. I bet they don’t know about the other kinds of night life available in that fair little city. My advice – next time you head over there to gamble, quit while you’re still a little ahead and go into town and party. You’ll have a lot more fun and you won’t go to bed with the sound of dinging slot machines ringing in your ears. Eww.
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Saturday morning we were on our way to Houma. It was just a hop, skip and a jump to Lafayette where we got off I-10 and headed south on Highway 90. Today was sunny and warm and a sharp contrast to the cool night previous. As we watched bikes go by as the day wore on, we were definitely wishing we’d replaced that front tire. Hwy 90 starts out a bit rough just south of Lafayette, with all the construction, but once you get past that, it’s smooth sailing the whole way just watch for the sugar cane scattered all about the road. It’s harvest time and the trucks laden with cane were everywhere. But the fields are a lovely exotic sight, especially for a Midwestern gal who grew up surrounded by corn fields. The bridges over the rivers making their way to the Gulf facilitated lovely views of blue water, quaint waterfront towns, and all components of the shipping industry. But watch for the bears! Believe it or not, there are bear crossing signs from about Bayou L’Ours (Bears Bayou) to Houma. I have to wonder what type of bear is indigenous here?? We didn’t see any, so it remains a mystery to me.
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We arrived in Houma hungry as all heck. So when we spotted Dave’s Cajun Kitchen, 6240 West Main Street, Houma, LA 70360, (985) 868-3870, we had to stop in and chow down a couple of Po’Boys and seafood gumbo. Mm, Mm, Good. Tummys full and happy, we had just enough time to take a power nap before heading out for the Jam.
We arrived at the Houma Civic Center in the middle of the first band, Kane Glaze. They were cool, 60’s pop and stuff, lots of folks were dancing. Then Damon Troy was after them. Oooooh, baby, did these guys sizzle. I just don’t know what to say – I think I’m going to have to see them live again a few more times and get their CD and do a full feature. Oh Gee Darn, Do I Have To?
<\/p>

The Fabulous Boogie Kings were next with an extended set which lasted probably over an hour. They did have a guest vocalist, veteran Louisiana Boogie and Las Vegas singer, Duane Yates, who graced us with a lovingly playful tribute to Righteous Brother, Bobby Hatfield, who had passed on to Glory just two days before. “Tears through laughter is my favorite emotion”, Truvy, Steel Magnolias<\/i>. I believe many an audience member could identify with that sentiment at the time. But mostly the Kings just did what they’ve been doing best for 48 years, boogie-ing down with the best little horn section around. They were tons of fun.
<\/p>

Then of course Zachary Richard took the stage. Unfortunately, by the time this happened, a lot of the crowd (the majority of which I would guess was in the over-40 demographic) had tuckered out and gone on home. All the better for us – our friends from the Golden Corral gave up their $100 sponsor seats to us and we got to enjoy Zach front and center. Even danced a time or two ourselves right in front of his stage. Zach’s live show was just about everything I’d been building up for and looking forward to and I feel really privileged to have been there.
<\/p>

Well, Sunday morning brought us face to face with the 6 hour trip home. We had to stop in Lafayette for my obligatory visit to the Blue Dog Caf\u00e9<\/b><\/a>. <\/b><\/p>

I had anticipated a creamy, steamy bowl of Treasures of the Bayou bisque, but it was not in the offing. Not being hungry enough to eat $18 worth of brunch buffet, we limited our visit to trinket shopping and headed on down the road. We made one last mandatory stop in Scott, LA at the Best Stop Supermarket, 615 Highway 93 North<\/b>, to load up on the Best boudin in the country to bring home and enjoy with friends and family.
<\/p>

All in all, a successful, fun, rewarding and relaxing weekend getaway to the state that never stops partying (until Sunday). Louisiana has it all, food, drink, recreation, and Music, Music, Music. I hope everyone is lucky enough to visit at least once in their lifetime, though trust me, once will not be enough!<\/p>

Pictures from Louisiana Trip<\/p>

Damon Troy Band at Swamp Pop Jam,
Houma, LA 11-08-03<\/p>


<\/p>

Ana Alvarado (of Golden Corral, Swamp Pop Jam sponsor), Amy & Heather Griffin, Swamp Pop Jam, Houma, LA 11-08-03<\/p>


Zachary Richard and Blondy (the accordion) at
Swamp Pop Jam, Houma, LA 11-08-03
<\/p>

Archive notice: This article is preserved from the original BikerTrash.com archive. It reflects information available at the time of publication. Please verify dates, locations, prices, links, and other details before relying on them.<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n

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Originally published: 2003Original publication: BikerTrash.comOriginal byline: Amy Edgerly December 2003 Music Notes by Amy “Boots To Bayous” December 2003 Crawfish season is right around the corner. Isn’t it? Well, almost. Those of you who are our friends to the north, might not understand the importance of this, but trust me, crawfish season is something to … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[151],"tags":[428],"class_list":["post-30018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories","tag-s009"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30018"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":900573,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30018\/revisions\/900573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/motorcyclesontheroadagain.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}