sweartotellthetruth

Swear to Tell the Truth for Tuesday, August 12th (1:00-2:30 pm)

This week we take one of our occasional looks at Cajun music. Most of the show will feature Cajun tracks with a few zydeco tracks in the latter part of the show. Record companies began recording Acadian records in 1928 when Joseph Falcon recorded for Columbia. We begin our survey in 1929 and we feature recordings made over 66 years of Cajun music. The Cajun market represented an opportunity for the companies to capture new and discrete markets by bringing what seemed to be popular in these communities to record. Columbia, Brunswick and Victor all entered the Cajun market and regular field sessions were organized and new artists sought. After the war, these specialty markets were largely dropped by the majors and independent labels filled the vacuum. As a result, the field of Cajun music was pretty well covered by the record industry, if somewhat unevenly at times. The story of Cajun music seems to have connections to perceptions of Acadian identity, linguistic pride and community aspirations. Many early recordings featured the accordion but taste in the mid to late thirties seemed to favour Western-Swing style fiddle bands. The late fifties saw the return of the accordian to its place in the music and with it perhaps a wave of ethnic and linguistic pride, which has solidified in subsequent years.

On the Show:

Beau Thomas and Cajun Power – Dennis McGee – Lawrence Walker – Hackberry Ramblers – Iry Lejeune – Balfa Brothers – Bruce Daigrepont – Good Rockin’ Sam – Buckwheat Zydeco – Jimmy C. Newman

Listen to the program at FM 93.3 in Hamilton or on CFMU online at cfmu.mcmaster.ca. The program will be available to stream or as a podcast until September 9th.

Contact Us

To reach us with comments or queries, write us at sweartotellthetruth@gmail.com.

You can also follow the program at sweartotellthetruth@nosignifying on Twitter.

Next week (August 19th)

After several weeks of features and,specials, we think next week’s program may be an eclectic, gap-filling 90 minutes. We’ve yet to plan what we’re going to do.

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