Zydeco!

I went to the Zydeco concert at the Shenandoah Music Festival on Sunday. Terrance Simien and his band played loud and spirited music to an appreciative audience. At first about 20 couples were dancing; by the end of the concert, hundreds of people were dancing.

Oh, I caught two strings of Mardi Gras beads. Simien threw these necklaces into the audience, sometimes picking the necklaces up and tossing them into the rows using his bare feet! Later the washboard player recruited a couple of women from the audience to come onto the stage and toss the beads to people's outstretched hands.

If you haven't heard Zydeco music, how about Cajun music? It's from Louisiana; it was the inspiration for the song Jambalaya. I first enjoyed it at a Smithsonian Folklife festival years ago when the band Beausoliel played. Later heard more at the "Swamp Romps" at Wolf Trap.

Simien announced that a Zydeco/Cajun category has been added to the Grammy awards. It's fun music, especially when experienced live.