CAJUN MUSIC has its origins in the music of the French colonial settlers who made Louisiana their home after leaving Quebec in the 1700s.
Since then the Cajun people, as the settlers became known, and their music have exerted a huge influence on American culture, with Cajun being one of the main branches of American folk music and a potent influence on the development of country & western.
Cajun fans in Galway are in for a treat then tonight when Sarah Savoy and The Francadians play Kelly’s, Bridge Street at 8pm.
Sarah is the daughter of Marc and Ann Savoy who might be classed as ‘royalty’ in Cajun music circles. However she has more than enough talent to stand out on her own as music critics have recognised.
Folk Roots called her “a Louisiana singer with hellraising credentials...the self-styled queen of white trash Cajun.” The same magazine also said her voice was “as clear and strong and gut-wrenching as Patsy Cline’s”.
While Cajun forms the bedrock of her music, Nigel Tassell of the WOMAD Festival noted that “she also occasionally injects her sound with the twang of Western swing and the strut of rockabilly. The result is a winning lesson in how to freshen up a tradition while keeping a firm grasp of its roots.”
“I wanted to keep it traditional but give it a white trashy raunchiness, a little more rock’n’roll,” says Sarah. “I want to keep it rootsy and along with the rock’n’roll give a rockabilly or country flavour to the old Cajun songs.”
Admission is €15/10. For tickets contact 091 - 563804 or email [email protected]
