by About a half an hour north of Lafayette is Opelousas, Louisiana, the self-proclaimed “Zydeco Capital of the World”. The king of zydeco music, the late accordionist and singer Clifton Chenier, was born here. While the music may not be as popular nationally as it was in the 1980s, new zydeco bands still perform regularly. And in Opelousas one church even offers a zydeco dance class every Monday afternoon. Sounds like more fun than zumba!
So zydeco music–distinct from Cajun music, although both have French lyrics–has become the focus of old Opelousas downtown. (Unlike hundreds of small towns like Breaux Bridge where antiques shops and tourist lunch restaurants fill in the gaps in the old central district.)
Around the courthouse are a series of art fiddles commissioned by local businesses, even one supported by Walmart. And two murals that say much more than they appear to.
Although I think the accordion is the defining instrument of all Cajun and zydeco music, the city fathers of Opelousas selected fiddles-a more appealing shape than boxy accordions, I suspect–so I’ll show you the art fiddles first including one that has an image of an accordian on it.
Now for the murals just a block or so apart in old central Opelousas…
A mural to celebrate Cajun music and…
This mural of Cajun history shows some of them arriving in boats after expulsion from Canada, building farms (after draining swamps), being forbidden at one point in their history to speak French and, in the front, an all-white Cajun band with fiddlers and one accordionist.
A mural to celebrate zydeco
And on this mural are the legendary figures of zydeco music, almost all of them African-American. I love the dance scene on the right center part of the mural. Clifton Chenier is depicted separately on on the upper left with a crown on his head. Listen to one of his songs now.
One Cajun musician also mentioned to me something called Swamp Rock. I checked it out and it seems to be more rockabilly meets heavy metal with not an accordion in sight.
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