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Grammy-nominated Pine Leaf Boys to play Cedar Rapids

By Steven Horowitz

The five young men who make up the band Pine Leaf Boys like to kick it back old style—old style Cajun, that is.

Even though each of the members is in his twenties, they all play Louisiana music in the mode made popular during the fifties and use the same instrumentation as the classic Creole bands. This was when Cajun music first became important on more than a regional level, along with rock and roll, honky tonk country, and other previously marginalized musical forms.

“Our line up consists of accordion, fiddle, guitar, bass and drums,” band co-founder Wilson Savoy said, “but we also play a lot of songs without the bass, drums and guitar to get back to the origins of the Cajun sound. We aim to capture the authentic feel, but we aren’t afraid to take it up a notch through our youthful energy.”

Savoy spoke over the telephone from his Lafayette home, the town where all five band members currently live. Last year the five of them even bunked in the same shotgun house in Lafayette, but they eventually decided they needed some more space.

The closeness of the band is clearly evident in the group’s sound. The group has released two CDs on the legendary Arhoolie record label, La Musique (2005) and Blues De Musicien (2007), the latter of which has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the newly established Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album Category. The winner will be announced on Feb. 10.

Each of the band members play multiple instruments, and they frequently trade with each other. This gives them a tight sound whether PLB performs Creole jigs, waltzes, boogies or blues. “This and our youth make us different from most other Cajun bands,” Savoy said, but there is more. He explained two more important distinctions between his group and the rest.

“Unlike other Louisiana bands, we play mostly in the traditional Cajun French style, and we sing all our songs in French,” Savoy said. “Most of our audiences in America don’t know French but this is not a barrier. The words we sing are not special. Our vocals are more of an instrument.”

He demonstrates over the phone, singing in English, “’You left me/You left me/Oh why did you leave me"—simple, heartfelt words that transcend language. "Plus we always explain every song, who we learned it from, and from where it came. We believe it is important to educate our listeners.” According to Savoy, PLB serves as cultural ambassadors.

“Plus, we are a biracial band, which is something new,” he said. Although Louisiana Cajun and Creole cultures have always included both white and black musicians, Savoy said, bands and audiences have almost always been one color or another. Savoy is clearly proud of the band’s inclusiveness and the way this adds spice to the music.

Savoy’s words carry weight in the Cajun musical community because of his heritage. He comes from what some consider to be the first family of Cajun music—sort of what the Carter Family are to country. His father Marc has played the accordion for more than five decades and has built them from scratch from more than forty years. (Wilson’s primary instrument is also the accordion.) His mother Ann produced the Grammy Award nominated tribute to Cajun music, Evangeline Made and penned the history book "Cajun Music, A Reflection of a People." More recently she recorded the Grammy Award nominated album Adieu False Heart with Linda Ronstadt. Marc and Ann’s other son, Joel, is a founding member of the hot Cajun band the Red Stick Ramblers.

“Family is important, and the Pine Leaf Boys is really an extended family,” Savoy said. “We have lived together, traveled the world together, and now we are going to see Cedar Rapids together,” he joked.

The Pine Leaf Boys play CSPS, 1103 3rd St. SE, at 7 pm on Sunday, January 20.

“I understand this is a sit down show rather than a bar," Savoy said. "As a result, our set will feature more variety to keep people interested. We plan to involve the audience and give them a history lesson while entertaining them.” He views his mission seriously.

Cajun life in America has survived for more than 300 years, Savoy said. And he’s doing his part to make sure it continues to thrive.