Check out the Rolling Stone's playlist "Born on the Bayou: Exploring Louisiana in 18 Songs." Also known as the Rapturous music of the 18th state, the list includes folks from the south and southwest portions of the state you should know by now, including Doug and Rusty Kershaw, Lucinda Williams and Clifton Chenier.
Unless you're adverse to the music of Louisiana, then you're well aware of its history, versatile genres and multitude of sounds created here and loved and shared all over the world.
That said, check out the Rolling Stone's playlist "Born on the Bayou: Exploring Louisiana in 18 Songs." Also known as the Rapturous music of the 18th state, the list includes folks from the south and southwest portions of the state you should know by now, including Doug and Rusty Kershaw, Lucinda Williams and Clifton Chenier.
The playlist can be found here.
And here's how the Rolling Stone website puts it:
The Lousiana Purchase of 1803 brought nearly a million acres of new land to the United States of America, spreading as far afield as Montana. Working out to about three cents an acre, the purchase continues to pay outrageous dividends, not least in the form of the rich and diverse cultural heritage of the state of Louisiana, which became the 18th state of the Union in 1812. The birthplace of jazz, the state has also given us Cajun and zydeco music and its own brands of blues, country, funk and hip hop, and the place can even make a strong case as the original home of rock & roll. Here are 18 songs that have helped define the Rapturous music of the 18th state.
And here's the music mag's skinny on the aforementioned locals and their songs:
"Diggy Liggy Lo," Doug and Rusty Kershaw
The brothers' biggest hit, "Louisiana Man," was broadcast from the Apollo 12 moon mission. Their second-biggest, "Diggy Liggy Lo," was a direct product of the family's upbringing on a houseboat in Cajun country: the couple in the song "fell in love at the fais do-do."
"Buttercup," Lucinda Williams**
Once named "America's Best Songwriter" by Time magazine, Lake Charles' Lucinda Williams is the daughter of the poet Miller Williams. The world-wise "Buttercup" kicked off her most recent album, 2011's Blessed.
"Bon Ton Roulet," Clifton Chenier
The "King of Zydeco," who died in 1987, played the accordion, but he was also credited with designing the frottoir, the percussive washboard worn over the shoulders. Crossing Cajun dance music with R&B, Chenier effectively invented zydeco itself, much as James Brown "invented" funk. "Bon Ton Roulet" is Chenier's 1967 version of the original song by Clarence Garlow, with whom he toured as the "Two Crazy Frenchmen."