Louisiana Crossroads has a killer musical line-up for the coming season.
Louisiana Crossroads, Lafayette's finest and most eclectic live music series, is back with another season of buttocks-kicking live music. They've just released the schedule for their 11th season for 2010-2011 and it looks a little something like what you see below.
Season Premiere: The Bluerunners Reunion
Live Broadcast! 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010, Sliman Theater, New Iberia
8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15, 2010, Central School Theater, Lake Charles
8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010, Acadiana Center for the Arts Theater, Lafayette
This first-ever reunion of the original, 1980s lineup of ground-breaking roots-rockers The Bluerunners will revisit the influential band's early mix of rockabilly and zydeco, and their subsequent forays into rock, Cajun music and acoustic folk. For these special shows, the original quartet and other 'runners alums will celebrate the enduring legacy of the group's five albums and many creative offshoots.
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The Dylan LeBlanc Band**
Live Broadcast! 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010, Central School Theater, Lake Charles
7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010, Acadiana Center for the Arts Theater, Lafayette
8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12, 2010, Sliman Theater, New Iberia
The caress of fingerpicked acoustic guitars and pedal steel guitar swells float through Dylan LeBlanc's debut release, Paupers Field, which features a cameo from Emmylou Harris and is drawing raves for the way it mixes the easy gait of rural soundscapes with the plaintive songs of a soulful original voice. These first-ever south Louisiana shows by Shreveport/Muscle Shoals native LeBlanc and his five-piece band promise to be truly extraordinary.
Steve Conn, Sonny Landreth & Friends
One night only! 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010, Acadiana Center for the Arts Theater, Lafayette
Longtime collaborators Steve Conn and Sonny Landreth draw from a deep well of Louisiana inspiration, soulful songwriting and brilliant musicianship on piano, organ, accordion and slide guitar. This post-Thanksgiving homecoming performance will showcase both their songs and tracks from Conn's new album in the musical company of bassist H.B. Smith and drummer Jamey Bell, who'll provide the perfect setting for Conn and Landreth's virtuosity and telepathic musical chemistry.
100 Years of Robert Johnson with Scott Ainslie, Sam Broussard and David Egan
Live Broadcast! 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011, Central School Theater, Lake Charles
8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21, 2011, Manship Theatre, Baton Rouge
8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011, Acadiana Center for the Arts Theater, Lafayette
Few know the sounds and stories of the Mississippi Delta like Scott Ainslie, who literally wrote the book on Robert Johnson's guitar style. These performances will retrace the giant steps of Johnson's life in celebration of the centennial of his birth and the 75th anniversary of his epochal recording of "Cross Road Blues," and these shows will match Ainslie's solo National-Steel-guitar sets tracing Johnson's life and music with a collaborative look at the soul and songs that flow from his legacy into other forms of roots music when Ainslie is joined by noted Louisiana songwriters David Egan and Sam Broussard on piano, guitar and vocals.
Dash Rip Rock & The Swingin' Haymakers
Live Broadcast! 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011, Central School Theater, Lake Charles 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18, 2011, Sliman Theater, New Iberia
8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011, Acadiana Center for the Arts Theater, Lafayette
Bill Davis burst onto the Louisiana music scene more than a quarter century ago fronting the barnburning trio Dash Rip Rock, and the flip side to that blazing rockabilly-fueled musical coin can be found in the more acoustic and trad-country oriented Swingin' Haymakers fronted by vocalist Kim Roberts with Davis on guitar. This special double-header will celebrate the release of the latest Dash album and offer a few glimpses down the quieter musical roads less taken.
Buckwheat Zydeco & The Ils Sont Partis Band
Live Broadcast! 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, 2011, Sliman Theater, New Iberia
7 p.m. Thursday, March 24, 2011, Manship Theatre, Baton Rouge
7:30 p.m. Friday, March 25, 2011, F.G. Bulber Auditorium, The Banners Series, Lake Charles
8 p.m. Saturday, March 26, 2011, Acadiana Center for the Arts Theater, Lafayette
Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural, Jr.'s legacy as a soulful bandleader, arranger, showman, vocalist and organist par excellence was already secure before he became a cornerstone of Clifton Chenier's classic Red Hot Louisiana Band lineup in 1976, grafting funk and gospel influences to the Zydeco King's virtuosic boogie. In 1986, Dural's new namesake band, Buckwheat Zydeco, made history as the first zydeco ensemble to release an album on a major label, and subsequent sessions with Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Dwight Yoakam, Willie Nelson, David Hidalgo and many other artists have been icing on the musical cake topped with a 2010 GRAMMY Award. These intimate shows will showcase the accordion-, horn-, guitar- and organ- led band and career that've propelled our state's indigenous Creole folk music into the 21st century.
Louisiana Crossroads is produced by the Acadiana Center for the Arts and the Lafayette Economic Development Authority in association with The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, JPMorganChase, Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission, Business First Bank, Edward C. Abell, Jr. & Elaine Durbin Abell, The Pyramid Group, Onebane Law Firm, Begneaud, Dr. Charles & Marilyn Duhé, Richard & Kathy Broussard, Cochrane Technologies, Associated Travel Group, Chris & Amy Lee and The Independent Weekly
Live broadcasts via KRVS 88.7 FM and krvs.org. All shows are all-ages and smoke-free. Admission prices vary; most tickets are available online. For more information, please call the Acadiana Center for the Arts at (337) 233-7060, the City of Lake Charles at (337) 491-9147 or visit www.LouisianaCrossroads.org.