Louisiana Cajun and Rockabilly
Sarah Savoy & the Francadians is a group of dedicated musicians based in Paris, France, led by Louisiana-born and –raised Sarah Savoy. Brought up by two of the most influential names in Cajun music, Marc and Ann Savoy, Sarah fronts this band of French musicians David Rolland, Vincent Blin, and Manolo Gonzales as if it were any group of similarly passionate musicians playing in the Cajun heartland of Lafayette, Louisiana, where Sarah got her start playing music with her brother, Wilson (the Pine Leaf Boys). With the Francadians, Sarah performs traditional Cajun music, reaching back as far as the earliest roots of Louisiana music with covers of Amédée Ardoin, Joe and Cleoma Falcon, and Iry LeJeune, among many others, and up to more modern influences such as Steve Riley (Sarah’s cousin), Helen Boudreaux, and Jason Frey, as well as recalling powerful numbers by her parents. The band’s orginal songs, written by Savoy and long-time family friend Gerard Dole, provide Sarah with an opportunity to speak with a voice until now virtually unheard in traditional Cajun music. Sarah sings in celebration of the modern woman, strong, independent, and fun-loving, rather than only lamenting the traditional position of la femme abandonee (the abandoned woman). Keeping her audiences dancing, Sarah belts out sassy blues, growls through honky-tonk-inspired Cajun songs of the 1940s and 50s, and wails the bitterness of some of Cajun music’s most forlorn waltzes. Adding a particularly interesting element to their sets to fully demonstrate the influences that these genres had on the artists who wrote some of the most popular songs in Cajun music today, Sarah Savoy & the Francadians include several country and rockabilly songs in their repertoire. Taking turns on lead vocals with accordionist David Rolland, who plays the Acadian™ accordions hand-crafted by Sarah’s father, brings the traditional male voice to the performance while giving Sarah the opportunity to spur on the band and the audience with shouts, whoops, and jokes. With Vincent Blin’s impossibly amazing fiddling and Manolo Gonzales’ slapping bass rhythms and beautiful vocal harmonies, the four-piece band offers a fun and exciting experience to audiences of all ages, interests, and backgrounds.
Old Flat Top and Whelanslive presents
