Bayou X

Downhome Music From the Bayou & Beyond

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Bayou X at Hawks & Reed, Sunday Dec 10, 2-5 pm!

Sunday, Dec 10, from 2 - 5 pm, Bayou X will play the monthly Cajun/Zydeco dance party at Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center, 289 Main Street, Downtown Center, Greenfield MA. First set focused on traditional Cajun music; 2nd set, Creole Zydeco, with a bit of New Orleans or some Afro-Diasporic music thrown in, for variety. Bayou X founder and New Orleans native, Peter Simoneaux, will teach a 45 minute dance workshop at 2 pm, suitable for beginners and experienced dancers alike, will focus on the fundamentals of rhythm in Cajun and Zydeco music and dance, with a particular emphasis on the different elements of rhythm, and how they function in both musical and dance vocabulary, and how to integrate them with the basic steps of Cajun and zydeco dance, so as to enhance your fun on the dance floor!

Bayou X is southern VT/NH’s high energy dance band, specializing in traditional and original SW Louisiana Cajun and Creole Zydeco dance music, New Orleans Mardi Gras standards, and a broad range of Afro-Diasporic music, which is basically anywhere European and African music have been combined to create new and unique musical forms, whether on the continent of Africa, or in diaspora, in scattered islands of the Indian Ocean, South America and throughout the Caribbean basin. Led by New Orleans native Peter Simoneaux on fiddle and vocals, and partner Linda Simoneaux on accordion and vocals, the band also features Steve Frankel on electric bass, Bob Everingham on electric guitar, Ben Carr on drums; and auxiliary members Julian Gerstin on percussion and Bruce Elliot on saxophones. This event will feature special guest artist Bonita Weisman on the Zydeco rubboard.

Earlier Event: August 29
Bayou X at The Bondville Fair

Back O’Town Cajun Band plays classic, acoustic Cajun music, straight up. Pete & Linda Simoneaux on fiddle, accordion(s) and vocals, with Michael Pattavina on acoustic guitar on vocals. Augmented as needed by Bayou X mainstays Steve Frankel on electric bass, and Ben Carr on drums. Back O’Town’s repertoire encompasses the work of artists such as Amadee Ardoin & Dennis McGee, Joe & Cleoma Falcon, Leo Soileau with Mayeuse LaFleur and Moise Robin, Angela LeJeune, Iry LeJeune, Nathan Abshire, Lawrence Walker, the Balfa Brothers, and more, from from the legendary recordings of late 1920s and early 1930s, through the postwar periods of the 1940s and 50s, and the great Cajun music revival of the 1960s and 70s. Pete & Linda & Mike each bring over three decades experience playing and studying and dancing to this music. Dance instruction at all levels is also a staple of their repertoire.