Sleeping Dog Blog

Cajun Party Revives La. Locals' Spirits

By GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press Writer
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) -- Their homes are bursting with guests. Their schools are overwhelmed. Traffic has been at a standstill for three weeks since thousands of New Orleans hurricane evacuees arrived in search of shelter. But Lafayette, the capital of Cajun country, still knows how to party.
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Not Bourbon St., but it'll do
Creative types who were forced to flee New Orleans are regrouping and reconnecting in laid-back Lafayette, La.

By Reed Johnson and Steven Barrie-Anthony, Times Staff Writers
LAFAYETTE, La. — Like those of so many artists and musicians, Peter Nu's life was scattered to the four winds when Hurricane Katrina ripped up the Gulf Coast two weeks ago. He's still not sure when he'll be able to go home to New Orleans, and what sort of job prospects may greet him once he gets there.

But this last weekend, Nu was back tapping out jangly melodies on his steel drum at an impromptu art fair here in the heart of Cajun country, about two hours northwest of New Orleans. Admittedly, the crowds were a bit smaller and not quite as funky as those in the French Quarter. But Nu seemed relieved just to be making music again.

"Every time I get settled, some cosmic force moves me," Nu said, taking a cigarette break between sessions in front of Chris' Po-Boy, a local sandwich shop. "When they let people back in [to New Orleans], I might go back. But I might stay here."
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Acadiana city plans to become 'Little Easy'
Musicians see chance to blend jazz and R&B with Cajun and Zydeco
By LISA FALKENBERG
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
LAFAYETTE, LA. - The fiddler — eyes closed, bow gliding the peaks of a Cajun waltz for gray-haired couples on the dance floor — is far from New Orleans tonight, though he's in the same spot as many of the city's musicians.

His heart is in the Big Easy, mother of jazz, where rhythms hum in the neon, tap on the sidewalk, waft from windows like bar smoke. But since Hurricane Katrina, his music is anywhere someone will listen.

Right now, for Jonno Frishberg and many other New Orleans musicians, that place is Lafayette, the citified heart of Cajun Country that's competing with other musical hubs to become the keeper of New Orleans' scattered soul.

Lafayette, about 135 miles west of New Orleans, has always shared a cultural kinship with its soulful sister across the swamp. It's got a simmering music scene of authentic Cajun, Zydeco and "swamp pop," which sounds a lot like New Orleans R&B with a Cajun accent.

Now, Lafayette club owners and local musicians' advocates are trying to bring that scene to a boil by attracting displaced musicians who have settled in the Acadiana area and luring back those who have already fled to bigger venues.
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Lafayette Hopes, and Fears, It Will Become the New New Orleans

By SIMON ROMERO
Published: September 18, 2005
LAFAYETTE, La., Sept. 15 - With its strong Cajun traditions, Mardi Gras celebrations and drive-through daiquiri bars, this southern Louisiana city has long sparred with New Orleans for the right to call itself a capital of relaxed revelry, the arts and French-influenced folkways.

But as its rival lies in ruins and tens of thousands of evacuees pour in, Lafayette suddenly faces some far different struggles: an accelerating culture clash and a debate over whether the city can, or even wants to, become the new New Orleans.
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