Cajun Guitar

You could say that the Cajun guitar is what keeps the Cajun band together, for it is the beat of the music. Basically, you could also say that there are four styles of Cajun guitar playing:

• Old Time Style - Very basic style of traditional older guitar players.
• D. L. Menard Style - Same very basic style, but with bass runs added when the chord changes and with an up stroke on the strumming part.
• Rodney Balfa Style - Complicated open chord rhythm style with extra upstroke in the strumming.
• Modern Bar Chord Method Style - First beat is stressed in each measure, while the following beats are muffled.

Backing up the Cajun accordion and the Cajun fiddle, the bigger the Cajun guitar, the better -- because you need to be loud (except when the vocalist sings)! The Cajun guitarist only needs to learn four cards to play Cajun music, with many of the songs only being played in the chords of G and D.

The Cajun guitarist, of course!

It's hard to know where to begin when listing influential and famous Cajun guitarists, both past and present. Many of them didn't limit themselves to just Cajun music. Certainly, the list of eight Cajun guitarists to know are:

• Rodney Balfa
• Sam Broussard
• Papa Cairo (Jules Angelle Lamparez)
• David Doucet
• Cleoma Falcon
• Sonny Landreth
• D.L. Menard
• Paul "Lil' Buck" Senegal

It's hard to know what wonderful Cajun guitar songs may have been written by the late Rodney Balfa, whose life was cut short in a tragic accident. Not only was he a talented Cajun guitarist, but he also sang and played the harmonica.

He and his brothers, Dewey and Will, were instrumental in spreading the popularity of Cajun music both at home and internationally (Balfa Brothers). He and his brother Will, lost their lives in a car accident in February 1979.

Papa Cairo, born Jules Angelle Lamparez, is a Cajun steel guitarist as well as a singer. Since there wasn't much of a demand for steel guitar players with most Cajun bands, he would also play with Western swing and country music bands.

In one of his many Western swing bands, he featured an unknown star vocalist at the time, George Jones. He was involved in a later dispute with Marty Robbins, who he accused of stealing some of his songs.

While he later branched out into the country music genre, he also performed regularly with many Cajun greats, such as Jimmie C. Newman, Rufus Thibodeaux, Harry Choates and Doug Kershaw. Commercially, he was hugely successful.

David Doucet, along with his fiddling brother Michael Doucet, in the band most highly respected Cajun band, Beausoleil -- have been instrumental in keeping Cajun music alive and well in the 21st century. Not as famous as his brother, but a Cajun guitarist whose talents worthy of knowing.

His "1957" Solo Guitar album is invigorating and very pleasant to listen to. His finger picking and flat picking, have been compared to the talents of Doc Watson and John Hurt. These techniques married to the common Cajun guitar techniques have completely changed the complexity and splendor to the listener's ears.

Cleoma Falcon (Cleoma Breaux), wife of legendary Joe Falcon, is certainly a female Cajun vocalist and guitarist legend in her own right. She and Joe were the first Cajun musicans to ever be recorded. Their record, "Allons à Lafayette" for Columbia, truly introduced Cajun music beyond Louisiana.

At a time when women did not perform on stage (especially Cajun women) without being thought of as something less than a lady, Cleoma was both playing her guitar and the lead vocalist nightly. While they performed on stage -- she and her husband had to shield themselves behind a chicken wire partition, to insure both their safety and that of their daughter at times.

Cléoma came from a long line of family musicians, and would leave her family's band when she married Joe Falcon. She and her husband would record during the 1930s, for all four of the most important record labels (Columbia, Decca, Bluebird, and Okeh). She died a year after a tragic accident, in which she was drug by a car.

B: 1932 -- More than being a Cajun Hank Williams, D. L. (Doris Leon) Menard, is also more than just a very fine Cajun guitarist. His song, "La Porte dans Arriere" is considered to be one of his finest. He is also a gifted folk master craftsman and owns a chair factory.

Like many others, he bought his first guitar from the Sears and Roebuck catalog. He first played for the Louisiana Acre‘s band before taking over as the band‘s leader. He is a recipient of the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Like many important musicians, he's been playing the guitar since childhood. His talents are rooted in a firm background playing with important Zydeco bands and artists. His own band, the Cowboy Stew Blues Revue, has afforded him the featured role his guitar talents deserve.

As an electric guitarist, Sonny Landreth is known world over and has been an international guitar soloist for over fifteen years. He has his own distinctive finger picking style.

Sam Broussard is a multi-talented Cajun guitarist, singer, and song writer with an impressive background in performing with legendary artists, such as Jimmy Buffet (and many others). He was the co-founder of the band, T-Mamou and an important part of the Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys.

One Cajun guitar manufacturer that is recommended is:

Gerard Melancon Guitars, Inc.

249 West Main Street

Thibodaux, Louisiana 70301

Telephone: (985) 447 4090

Email: melanconguitars@charter.net

Irregardless that most of them are not Cajun, anyone who loves the guitar and it's music, should be familar with some of the most famous guitarists in the world:

• Duane Allman
• Chet Atkins
• Jeff Beck
• Chuck Berry
• Lenny Breau
• Charley Christian
• Eric Clapton
• Bob Dylan
• Buddy Guy
• Jim Hall
• Jimi Hendrix
• Elmore James
• Robert Johnson
• Albert King
• B. B. King
• Mark Knopifler
• Pat Metheny
• Joni Mitchell
• Wes Montgomery
• Ramon Montoya
• Jimmy Page
• Joe Pass
• Paco Pena
• Carl Perkins
• Django Reinhardt
• Keith Richards
• David Russell
• Sabicas
• Carlos Santana
• Pete Seeger
• Andres Segovia
• Pete Townshen
• Merle Travis
• Steve Vai
• Eddie Van Halen
• Stevie Ray Vaughan
• John Williams