History of Cajun music

Cajun and Creole musical styles at this time grew in parallel: mostly two-steps and waltzes meant for dancing, played by accordion and fiddle.

Some of the earliest recordings of Cajun music that exist were done in Louisiana during the late 1920s by noted historian and American folklorist Alan Lomax.

Choates' "Jolie Blonde", and Hank Williams' "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)", which both used the melody of the Cajun song "Grand Texas", spawned regional and national interest in the music, opening the door to Nashville country music careers for Cajun musicians including Jimmy C. Newman, Rufus Thibodeaux, Doug Kershaw, and Jo-El Sonnier.

A performance by Dewey Balfa, Gladius Thibodeaux and Vinus LeJeune at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival was one major reason behind a revived interest in traditional Cajun music in the mid-1960s.

Musicians such as Walter Mouton, Paul Daigle, Sheryl Cormier, Johnny Sonnier, Ed Gary, and Jackie Callier continue the tradition.

Jukeboxes, radio programs and TV spots in Cajun French helped publicize a band's work, making it easier to get jobs performing on the dancehall circuit in southwest Louisiana and East Texas.

[11][12] By the 1980s, a new sound of cajun music mixed with elements of rock, blues and R&B was introduced to south Louisiana with Wayne Toups and Zydecajun.

Among the most well-known Cajun bands outside of Louisiana is the multi-Grammy-winning BeauSoleil, who have joined several country music artists in the studio, and served as an inspiration to the Mary Chapin Carpenter hit, "Down at the Twist and Shout".

From the 1990s to the present, artists such as Lee Benoit, Cory McCauley, Jason Frey, Mitch Reed and Randy Vidrine, Christine Balfa of Balfa Toujours, Ray Abshire, the Lost Bayou Ramblers, the Pine Leaf Boys, and Chris Miller have been popular with contemporary audiences while maintaining a connection with traditional forms.