Cajun and Zydeco music find new audiences with new sensibilities

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This is an updated mentation of a communicative archetypal published connected May 18, 2025. The archetypal video tin beryllium viewed here.

The thought that this state has go 1 big, bland, conformist culture, the United States of generica? Well, if you're successful hunt of a counterpoint, bent out, arsenic we did, successful the marshy interior of confederate Louisiana. You request nary passport to participate Cajun country, but it's an exotic onshore similar obscurity else, location to a cuisine, a language, a landscape, adjacent a pacing each its own. And then, there's the singular sound. Cajun euphony — and its relative from crossed the way, Zydeco, resists casual description. But it is intoxicatingly catchy, often sung successful French, and, arsenic we archetypal reported earlier this year, enjoying a astir improbable renaissance.

The prima is retired and surviving is casual connected the bayous of Louisiana. The food are jumping — those are carp — and the cypress trees turn high.

On adust land, the euphony hangs successful the humidity.

In Eunice, Louisiana, the Savoy household has lived connected this spot of onshore for 8 generations. Music is often a household inheritance down here, and you tin deliberation of the Savoys arsenic the Von Trapp clan of Cajun state — Acadiana, arsenic it's known.

Joel is simply a Grammy-winning shaper and musician, often accompanied by his brother, Wilson—also a Grammy winner.

Their begetter Marc, an accordion-maker by day, is simply a salient instrumentalist successful his ain right, arsenic is their mother, Ann, who erstwhile recorded with Linda Ronstadt.

Jon Wertheim: What defines the Cajun sound?

Wilson Savoy: Typically Cajun euphony has a Cajun accordion, fiddle, sung successful Cajun French. They play two-step and waltzes. It's got a precise unsocial rhythm, precise syncopated bushed that you don't perceive successful a batch of different kinds of music. It's the syncopation that drives the music.

Ann Savoy: And it has a hauntingness astir it, the music. And, it's conscionable got soul, you know.

These sounds are sourced from the unsocial blend of radical that converged connected Cajun state implicit the centuries.

Joel Savoy: The euphony is evidently calved retired of this swirl of antithetic cultures. The accordion arrived with immoderate portion of the population. Fiddle arrived with antithetic portion of the population. The syncopation comes from radical that we encountered here, the African Americans, the Creoles, the Spanish, things similar that.

Joel Savoy: It's besides a societal music. You know, anytime there's music, there's idiosyncratic hanging out, idiosyncratic cooking. These things conscionable are portion of life. It's ever inclusive. Maybe you'll creation a fewer times. Who knows?

As we saw, erstwhile the prima sets successful Acadiana, the measurement turns mode up.

This euphony is the soundtrack successful dive bars, successful nighttime clubs, and the aged French salles de danse — creation halls — that stud this landscape.

And portion it's not topping Billboard charts, the euphony is experiencing a resurgence arsenic young audiences two-step erstwhile again, to those accordions, fiddles and wash-boards.

Chubby Carrier: You accidental Louisiana, the archetypal happening to travel outta their rima is, "How is New Orleans?" I'm like, "I don't know. I don't unrecorded successful New Orleans." I unrecorded successful southwest Louisiana.

Jon Wertheim: Totally antithetic sound.

Chubby Carrier: A wholly antithetic sound.

Chubby Carrier is simply a Grammy-winning accordionist from Church Point, Louisiana. He tours with his group, The Bayou Swamp Band.

Chubby's Zydeco is simply a comparative of Cajun music, calved retired of the French-speaking Black Creole community.

Chubby Carrier: One clip this mates came and goes, "Honey, you gotta travel spot this. That's a Black man with an accordion successful his hand. I wonderment if helium plays polka, honey."

Jon Wertheim: Polka, oh. You had a astonishment for 'em.

Chubby Carrier: Oh, my goodness, and I seen that, and they came back. And erstwhile I seen 'em sittin' there, I said, "Watch this."

Chubby Carrier: I started playin' my songs, and she started lookin' implicit to her hubby going, "Wow, this is great." She starts doin' this. (taps)

Jon Wertheim: She thought she was comin' for Lawrence Welk, and she got you--

Chubby Carrier: Somethin' similar that.

Jourdan Thibodeaux is the frontman of the touring set Les Rôdailleurs.

Jourdan Thibodeaux: It's conscionable the sounds of our assemblage And I deliberation they're just-- buries into your bosom erstwhile you-- erstwhile you're little.

Jon Wertheim: And it's not immoderate hipster ironic thing.

Jourdan Thibodeaux: No. Most of the radical that beryllium astatine these benignant of dances are arsenic acold removed from a hipster arsenic you could perchance imagine.

Jourdan is Cajun music's equivalent of a stone star. And done his music, he's go thing of a planetary ambassador for Cajun state and its mode of life.

Jon Wertheim: You person a saying, you accidental a batch that's successful immoderate of your opus lyrics. You wanna archer america what it is?

Jourdan Thibodeaux: Tu vis ta civilization ou tu tues ta culture, il y a pas de milieu. Means, "You either unrecorded your civilization oregon you termination your culture. There's nary successful between."

Jon Wertheim: What bash you mean?

Jourdan Thibodeaux: You spot this-- this vanishing of cultures, of dialects, of-- of everything to conscionable make this 1 generic human, you know. And it's truly bittersweet to me. So I'm gonna get up each time and I'm gonna unrecorded my civilization today. I deliberation it's each individual's work to support who they are arsenic a people.

Time was, Louisiana French could beryllium heard connected each thoroughfare corner, some successful Cajun and Creole communities. Jourdan learned French from his grandmother. But today, the connection is dwindling arsenic the march of Americanization proceeds.

Jourdan Thibodeaux: Imagine inactive being location and saying, "Oh, I miss home." It's-- it's a precise hard feeling to convey.

Jon Wertheim: I wonderment if-- if the connection is diminishing, the Cajun euphony becomes that overmuch much important arsenic this transmitter of culture--

Jourdan Thibodeaux: Oh, without a doubt. Without a doubt. determination are countless kids who are learning the connection conscionable from the music.

The Cajun communicative starts successful Nova Scotia, wherever this French-speaking radical led a peaceful life, until they didn't. In the mediate of the 1700s, the conquering British kicked retired the Acadians — shortened to Cajuns. Expelled, they recovered an improbable location amid the backwaters of French Louisiana. From the craggy northbound Atlantic to the Delta and bayous of the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest swamp successful North America. Jourdan gave america a circuit of the onshore that shaped his Cajun ancestors. They adapted to past — and past thrive — successful this caller and sometimes hostile environment.

Jon Wertheim: Did I perceive right, you learned to aquatics successful this water?

Jourdan Thibodeaux: Yeah, ohio yeah. My mama, they would instrumentality the kids, enactment america successful a beingness overgarment and propulsion america retired of the vessel to spell aquatics truthful they could food successful peace, you know? And she'd marque the crook and she'd spot an alligator. "Mama, they got an alligator." "You tin spot it?" "Yes ma'am." "Then it's fine. If you can't spot him nary more, fto maine know."

The Cajuns didn't travel with much, but they did bring their aged French melodies.

Jourdan Thibodeaux: We sing a batch fishing. When we beryllium and fish, maine and my small girl, my youngest, she likes to beryllium and sing. So portion we're sportfishing she sings to the food to-- to get 'em to come.

Long arsenic helium brought up fish, well, there's an unwritten regularisation successful Cajun country: you can't person the euphony without the food.

Joel Savoy and his household invited america into their kitchen.

Marc Savoy: We're cookin' immoderate shrimp étouffée. Étouffée is simply a French connection that means smothered, truthful we smothered 'em.

Jon Wertheim: Where-- where'd you learn? From-- from your folks--

Marc Savoy: Well, from my father, yeah. A batch of radical say, "What's the recipe?" I said, "I don't cognize what the look is."

Jon Wertheim: New York, you tin spell into a Michelin prima restaurant, and they've got étouffée and gumbo.

Marc Savoy: Yeah, but it's not the same.

Jon Wertheim: Not the same?

Marc Savoy: They don't cognize what they're doing.

Marc Savoy: I suggest a toast to my grandmother, who lived successful this house. And with her-- deficiency of gentility, sh-- she would ever accidental Errête de bavarder, assieds-toi et mangeons-nous. "Wuit your babbling, beryllium down, and let's worldly ourself."

Jon Wertheim: Hear, hear.

Dinner impermanent Cheers.

Dinner guest: Cheers.

The music, the food, the drink, the bonne temps— the bully times, these traditions braid each the communities here, but with flimsy twists.

Chubby Carrier's begetter and gramps were sharecroppers who played euphony astatine night. He showed america the quality betwixt the blues-heavy Zydeco helium grew up with and the much country-infused Cajun sound.

Chubby Carrier: So I took 1 of my grandfather's songs (music) Now you see? (music) I did each my Zydeco. (music) That's the Zydeco sound. (music) Now ticker your waltz. Take it to the Cajun. (music) You perceive that? And I instrumentality that aforesaid opus and I velocity it up. It's gonna crook into a Zydeco song. Whoa. All successful one, brother.

Though entwined musically for decades, the Black Zydeco and the White Cajun scenes couldn't mingle overmuch successful the Jim Crow heavy South. We archetypal met Chubby astatine La Poussiere (the dust), a creation hallway successful the municipality of Breaux Bridge. He remembers erstwhile Black bands—and patrons—weren't allowed in.

Jon Wertheim: I wonderment if you thought astir what your dada and your grandpa would person been thinkin' watchin' you play this venue wherever they wouldn't person been playin'.

Chubby Carrier: I mean, we couldn't adjacent measurement successful that club." Like, Daddy and my grandfather, I privation to accidental this, they fought the combat for us, man. Daddy and granddaddy's successful eden lookin' down goin', "My lad is playin' astatine a White venue that I ne'er thought successful a cardinal years that I would ever, ever see." But however bully it is. How saccharine it is, huh?

Today the Cajun and Zydeco assemblage overlap similar ne'er before.

Lil' Nate: So you got the excessively too pop. Too excessively pop. Chicha chicha chicha chicha chicha chicha chicha chicha. it feels similar a bid movin'. And that's why…

Like virtually each the musicians we interviewed, Lil' Nate Williams has seen a surge successful popularity. Last year, his streaming assemblage jumped by, get this, much than 3,000%.

Jon Wertheim: How bash you picture your benignant of zydeco? It's not traditional, is it?

Lil' Nate: Very overmuch not traditional, man. It's a fusion. That's-- that's however I deliberation of it. Keyboards. Synthesizers. A lotta R&B. A lotta R&B--

Nate learned to play from his father, besides a renowned Zydeco musician. And, he's found, pushing philharmonic boundaries is not ever frictionless.

Jon Wertheim: What's Dad accidental astir this?

Lil' Nate: My dada has ever been encouraging. But I could spot his look sometimes. You know? We'll beryllium retired successful the workplace And he'll look astatine maine and-- listenin' to my stuff. "Can we enactment immoderate much accordion successful there? Can-- tin we enactment immoderate much French successful there? Can we enactment this successful there?" But astatine the extremity of the day, you know, we travel to immoderate compromise successful knowing that this is-- you, this is me.

And the euphony has struck a chord beyond Louisiana. Jourdan's set tours crossed the state and internationally.

We met Jourdan, Joel and Wilson aft they'd played a packed amusement successful the Red Hook vicinity of Brooklyn of each places.

The band—like us—ponders what, precisely, is fueling this involvement extracurricular Louisiana.

Jon Wertheim: They don't talk French, they're not gettin' the lyrics, what are they connecting to--

Joel Savoy: I wonderment that --all the time.

Jourdan Thibodeaux: I truly conscionable judge it's the emotion. If we playin' and I'm blessed and we cuttin' up and you tin spot and consciousness that bully time, you're gonna consciousness that bully time. Same thing, if the song's horribly sad, possibly it makes you consciousness a small sadness wrong of you And you link connected that affectional level.

Emotional transportation to a dependable that — similar the accordion itself — tin declaration and expand, aged melodies successful a caller era.

Jourdan Thibodeaux: True music, it's emotive. You're gonna consciousness it. And that's--

Wilson Savoy: Sure.

Jourdan Thibodeaux: Everybody wants to consciousness somethin'

Produced by David M. Levine. Associate producer, Elizabeth Germino. Edited by Warren Lustig.

Jon Wertheim

L. Jon Wertheim is an accomplished writer and 60 Minutes correspondent.

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