Article from the Birmingham Post, 8th December 2000

R.CAJUN & THE ZYDECO BROTHERS [interview with Chris Hall...]

The Red Lion, Kings Heath, Saturday 9th December

 

Late last year, Cajun accordionist Chris Hall reached his biggest audience so far, recording and gigging with Paul McCartney. He was featured in a guesting role, bringing along his genre assets to appear on TV shows ranging from Jools Holland's Later... to the briefly-resurrected Tube, with the absolute climax arriving down in The Cavern.

 

This was good news for Louisiana Cajun music, zydeco and swamp pop alike, pushing these forms into the face of a mainstream audience. "We did a private party for McCartney's company, MPL, three years ago," Hall explains. "Which is where we first met him. Six months after that, he booked us again, for another private party at his house. Then we did a bit of recording with him, in his studio. Just for fun, really, not for any commercial purposes. I got this call about six months after that, saying, 'what are you doing tomorrow? Can you get yourself down to Abbey Road?'" The resultant sessions produced McCartney's Run Devil Run. As well as playing for Macca, Hall guested on the last Bill Wyman album, and has also recorded a pair of tracks for the ex-Stones bassist's next Rhythm Kings outing.

 

Hall has been a central figure in the UK crusade for all things born on the bayou, his involvement stretching back for around twenty years, including a period in the middle of the 1990s when Cajun dancing, music and food was dribbling from everyone's lips. Since those heady days, the scene has shrivelled. We know what happens. The swing dance craze has now reached its crest, and though the salsa mania has had a surprising longevity, it too must eventually be superseded by some new fad.

 

All of these scenes are usually curated by a set of individuals who rise above evanescent fashion, their fervour for a particular musical style usually beginning years before, and continuing long after, any populist rush. The last bastions of Cajun clubbing are in Lichfield and London, with the occasional revival in Hall's Derby base.

 

"The Cajun scene became much more of a traditional scene," he reflects. "The people who were going to the Cajun gigs became much less of a cross-section, more like a specialist audience. They didn't see R.Cajun as their band." Hall thinks that the formal dancers discouraged the general audience, and then the hardcore scene started to dwindle. Now that the dust's settled, the band is reverting to its former status as a festival favourite, appealing to folk, blues, rock and roots music fans.

 

The heart of the Birmingham Cajun scene in the 1990s was The Bear in Bearwood, but now there is no club or pub regularly engaging swampy acts. The Red Lion in Kings Heath is about to change this situation over the next few months. Hall's original band, R.Cajun & The Zydeco Brothers have been visiting the Red Lion Folk Club on a roughly annual

 

basis, coming again tomorrow night. But Hall is in the habit of running several other bands, each with its own particular vibe. So, early next year, we'll have chance to see his Zydecomotion (10th February) and Bearcat Cajun Playboys (31st March).

 

The five-piece Zydecomotion have just released their third album, their stock boosted by the growling presence of Bryn 'Mad Dog' Davies, a dungareed hairy, sporting a beret, doing wonders for the band's visual image. He also rubs a mean frottoir (commonly known as a washboard). The album was recorded over a single wild weekend down on his farm, in a shed with a portable 8-track studio (purchased with McCartney money). Hence the title, Shed Music, pointing to its downhome audio thrust, wooden panels rattling, chickens flapping away from boogie danger, chainsaws cowering in the corner. Zydeco is the black'n'bluesy strain of Cajun, with this band pushing even further in that direction with some cranked-up guitar from Mitch Proctor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hall's third band, the Bearcat Cajun Playboys are devoted to a purist interpretation of vintage Louisiana classics, patiently waiting their turn for the next album to be released by the label that bears their name.

There is a new album by R.Cajun due out in the next fortnight, just in time for the traditional New Year's Eve hoe-down at Derby's Assembly Rooms. Get Up Get Down features the expected mix of popular covers, given the rootsifying treatment (Bad Moon Rising, Stuck In The Middle, Bruce Springsteen's I'm On Fire and Roy Orbison's Claudette) and hardcore Cajun stompers by the likes of Iry LeJeune, Octa Clark and Johnnie Allan. The R.Cajun line-up remains unchanged, ensuring that they groove like a well-oiled donkey.

 

The other part of Hall's activities is running Swamp Music, though its Derby club is no longer running, and its mail-order side is now handled elsewhere, Hall still operates his own agency, bringing over the best Stateside artists. Early next year, he's got Steve Riley and Sean Ardoin touring, though sadly there aren't any dates planned for the Birmingham area. "The Swamp always existed to try and attract a general audience," Hall concludes. "It was just about trying to have a good time. R.Cajun still get booked for festivals and general gigs, and aren't really seen as a specialist Cajun or zydeco band."

 

R.Cajun & The Zydeco Brothers bring their own crawfish to The Red Lion, Vicarage Road, Kings Heath, tomorrow night. Make a note in your diary for Zydecomotion (10th February) and the Bearcat Cajun Playboys (31st March), at the same venue...

 

MARTIN LONGLEY