FAQ
A: Zydeco is Black American roots music. It was born in Louisiana to African Americans and mixed race French speaking Creoles, who are documented as some of the first families of Louisiana. Zydeco has become synonymous with the cultural identity of Louisiana, the U.S. and the American South. The two primary instruments in Zydeco are the accordion (diatonic-button & chromatic-key) and the Zydeco Rubboard or frottoir (French for friction strip). The music can be sung in both French and English. Popular folklore tells the story that the word came from a corruption of the Creole French saying spoken quickly ”les haricot son pas sale”, (the snap beans are not salty) could sound like “les zydeco son pas sale.” The academic interpretation and the one we prefer, finds the word rooted in one of the many African words “zaico, zodico, zari, zarico or zaico laga laga”, all meaning “to dance and a dance”. There are many definitions of zydeco swirling around the internet with most of them being inaccurate, so we hope you use caution and when you see the word Cajun in the context of a zydeco definition - shut it down, asap! Zydeco is not Cajun music and vice versa. The Creoles and the Cajun have some shared some history and share Louisiana land. The Cajuns are the French Canadians/Acadians who were exiled from the Maritime provinces or Acadie, of Canada. Their history is unique to them. When a handful of Acadians arrived in LA in the late 1700's, they found the French speaking blacks and mixed race Creoles already living off the land. Also, please don't forget basic American history that kept whites and blacks socially segregated with slavery. Oppression, discrimination, pay inequality and social segregation did not end with emancipation in 1965. So, for anyone to suggest that zydeco is a "descendant" of Cajun music, even academics, they are just perpetuating inaccurate information. There are few people alive today who are as expert about this genre as Terrance Simien. So, ask him and he will deliver you one of the most knowledgable explanations of the music and history that will find. He's lived it and worked professionally in his field as long as anyone else living today.
A: Most standard dictionaries indicate that a Creole is a native of Louisiana descended from the original French settlers. A person of African and mixed European, esp. French and/or Spanish decent.
In the melting pot, or the gumbo pot of culture that Louisiana is, Native American and German roots are also very prominent in the rural Creole communities of St. Landry Parish.
Many scholars have written that Louisiana Creoles are part of one of the “most complex rural sub cultures in North America.” Dr. Carl Brasseaux, author of Creoles of Color in the Bayou Country, states that the Creoles were some of the “first families of Louisiana” and official records reflect that they have been here for over 300 years.
Terrance is 8th generation Creole and his father’s first language was French. His grandfather on his mother’s side, Ethel Rene', was a European immigrant from France and she always referred to him as a “Frenchman.”
The Simien’s are traced to the coastal region of France and were ship builders by trade. They are also documented in Louisiana history books as one of the first families to settle St. Landry Parish, Louisiana.
In Terrance's family there is also strong German heritage – Fitz and Gobert (pronounced, French Gobare or Gobert, hard t), and Spanish heritage -Manuel.
Some people also call SoLA (south Louisiana & south of I-10) the "Northern rim of the Caribbean” because of our shared culture and history with the Caribbean.
We’ve been all over the Caribbean, with the exception of Haiti - and we definitely feel a strong kinship and connection with this area of the world.
Finally, there are French speaking Creoles all over the globe, and we've been able to connect with many of them. We performed in Mauritius, Rodriques and Seychelles, as part of a U.S State Department tour with the main objective of celebrating their Creole heritage and connect with ours - almost 10,000 miles away.
A: Terrance grew up in the small rural church parish community of Mallet, LA in St. Landry Parish near Opelousas which is considered the “World Capitol of Zydeco Music”.
Many of his band members throughout the years were also from Mallet. Parishes are south Louisiana's version of counties. Louisiana was officially Roman Catholic under both France and Spain's rule, so the boundaries dividing the territories generally coincided with church parishes.
He lived In his family home on the rural Creole countryside of Mallet until he married in 1990. He was touring so much it just made sense to live with his parents and younger sister.
He has resided in Lafayette, LA since 1991 with his wife and business partner, Cynthia. Their daughter Marcella, also in music grew up and went to K-12 school in Lafayette until attending and graduating from Memphis College of Art in Memphis, TN.
A: Terrance was very young when he first started playing music at home and in school band. His first instrument was the family piano at home and he admits he was just okay piano player, but he really oved to sing more than anything.
However, he was 9 years old and in the middle school band program when the young Simien started to played trumpet. He continued throughout high school, which built a foundation that gave him the skills and confidence to later play his instrument professionally.
Playing an instrument for fun at home or in a school band program is very different than playing in front of an audience who has bought a ticket to see your performance. His performance skills were perfected over the many years of touring and performing nearly 10,000 times!
Enter the accordion when he was 13 and he was self taught; he'd practice in his room while listening to zydeco being played on the one black radio show they had. And the rest is zydeco music history!
A: Since Terrance had a solid music foundation through his school band programs and family who were musically inclined, finding zydeco was a natural part of the journey for him.
When he was a teen just starting to play zydeco in the late 1970's, most of his friends thought zydeco wasn't cool. They thought it was the music of their parents and grandparents - the old folks! Like everyone else, they were into the popular music soul, funk and R&B of the time, as was Terrance.
He was also into lots of other music too - he was inspired as much by the religious hymns he sang in church as he was by the folk music of Joan Baez and Simon and Garfunkel his older brother, Greg turned him onto.
But he was also getting into zydeco with his parents, who would take him to the zydeco dances at the church hall and zydeco clubs! He found other teens his age there as well, so it also became a fun social outlet for him.
Then there is the age old story we all hear from many professionals in music, was that when they first started playing, it was to impress the girls, but then they and their careers got serious. Same for Terrance, and it definitely got very serious!
A: Simien started his first band in 1981 and his first paid gig was in Oakdale, LA at the National Guard Christmas party.
Terrance graduated from Lawtell High School in 1983, so technically it was that year he started performing professionally. For several years he still worked with his Dad, Matt laying bricks during the week but every weekend he was performing.
In 1985, Terrance was signed to Concerted Efforts, a national booking agency located in the Boston area. Owner, Paul Kahn once told us how surprised that he was to be able to book so many lucrative performances for the band that first year working together - even without a record release. Thank you for believing us in Paul and for your years of friendship and support.
Simien recorded and released several 45 vinyl records in the early - mid 1980's, but the first full length album was released in 1991 on Restless Records, with major label distribution by Capitol Records.
Simien and his band mates have gone onto to accomplish great things professionally and for their broader music community, Creole culture and state.
For additional background please see the media kit and artist profile for more history, awards, films, TV and Creole for Kidz & The History of Zydeco program created in 2001.
A: The World’s Fair in New Orleans in 1984. I couldn’t believe the response and the applause we got from those audiences. At home in the rural church halls and zydeco clubs, it wasn’t common for audiences to applaud for the performers. When I experienced this for the first time, I knew this was the way I wanted it to be for my band at every performance. This was a pivotal point that really inspired me to export this music as far as I could take it.
The largest single audience was 100,000 people at the Sydney Festival at the Sydney Harbour, Australia. We closed out an unbelievable show with our friends from New Orleans, Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Preservation Hall Jazz Band. We’ve played some really large festivals that drew 20-30K for a single audience as well.
A: My main man, bandleader, co-writer and producer, two-time GRAMMY award winning Danny Williams has been with me and the group for 33 years. Current bassist, GRAMMY award winning, Stan Chambers, whose brother Gene played in the Mallet Playboys, has been with us for close to 15 years. Current drummer, Ian Molinaro Thompson, Berklee College grad, 3 years. Orlando Gilbert, saxophone and Revon Andrews on trombone both joined the band several years ago. I feel extremely fortunate to have such skilled and committed artists support me every step of the way.
Our band is not only multi-racial and multicultural, we are now an intergenerational group with three OG's and three twenty-somethings. It's pure magic having all of us working together in harmony, on one stage!
I stay in close contact with most of my former band mates too who all have successful careers in music and are amazing artists. We were def lucky to have drummer Mitch Marine tour with us a few years, who went on to play with Smashmouth and is still touring with Dwight Yoakum. Drummer Dowell Davis committed over 7 years of his life and career to the band and we are eternally grateful for his sacrifices as well. He went on to play with George Benson. Bassist, Taylor Gaurisco went on to form Givers, an indie pop band from Lafayette. Drummer Russ Broussard also toured with us and then later joined Continental Drifters, and then married our dear friend, the fabulous Susan Cowsill – they sometimes call him Mr. Cowsill, ha! We’re still very close friends. Former drummer, Keith Sonnier was with us on and off for 14 years. Guitarist, Jose Alvarez who now pilots commercial airplanes was with us for almost 10 years. Love them all like brothers, and they all left a mark on me. I am forever grateful for their commitment and sacrifices.
A: Every year for the past 33 years – and we are extremely very grateful for the opportunity to showcase our music to such a hip, music savvy audience from all over the globe. This is the gold standard for festivals in Louisiana and in our country. From early on, festival producer Quint Davis dedicated an entire stage to zydeco and Cajun music. However we played the Ray Ban stage for years. We were on with Carlos Santana, the meters and Phish one year. We also played Polaroid with Better Than Ezra, Marcia Ball, Allen Toussaint and Cowboy Mouth many times. One of my all time favorites was Congo Square with our friends Ozomatli, who we’d played with in Australia several times. That was really cool-they got on stage with me and me with them, there was a breeze that day-magical! They are all magical though and two are the same! In recent years we’ve had lots of guest artists join us; Shamarr Allen, Craig Klein (from Bonerama), Susan Cowsill and this year the Queen of Zydeco, Queen Ida Guillory who is in her 80’s. We rehearsed her songs and let her shine in her first public appearance here in 25 years. Ironically Jazzfest had been her last performance in LA until we brought her home! Another amazing Jazz Fest memory, like the title of Michael Smith’s book of rare vintage photos from the event. We dig his book of rare NOJHF photos and often give it as a client gift to friends and promoters. We also try to support the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation with annual donations for all they do as well to keep our music on the radar in the hearts of their patrons.
A: It’s always the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi means Tuesday and Gras means Fat. In medieval France they would fatten a cow to kill for the feast on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which starts the 40 days of penance before Easter and the resurrection of Jesus. At home we still celebrate this holiday and abide by the 40 days sacrificing something we enjoy. I still try to make some type of sacrifice during Lent. We’ve got more information about Mardi Gras in our study guide.
That hat is a real conversation piece, right y'all?! I bought it in Mali when we were on tour. It's a traditional Fulani hat worn by West African's and I wear it to celebrate my own West African heritage. It's going be part of the zydeco exhibit on display at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville when they open in January 2020. How's that explanation of that hat?!