How can I contact the band?
Just send us an E-Mail or give us a call at our world headquarters at 619.280.7541.
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Who is in the band and what instruments do they play?
Jon: accordion, fiddle, vocals in Cajun French
Bill: acoustic and electric guitar, harmony vocals
T-Greg: triangle, high-tech stuff
Danny: electric bass, guitar
Joe: drums
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Aw, come on, tell me more about the guys in the band!
You're gonna have to check the Musicians page for that.
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Do you have a CD out yet?
As of May 1, 2004, the answer is finally YES!! And wouldn't you know that our first album, Small Town Two Step,
has won the Cajun French Music Association's prestigious 2006 Le Cajun Award competition for the best Cajun band outside of Louisiana! The Playboys received the
award on August 18, 2006, in Lafayette, Louisiana. Our CD is on sale world-wide through the internet on www.cdbaby.com.
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How long has the band been together?
Jon and Bill are original San Diego Cajun Playboys from 1997, and have had the pleasure of playing Cajun music with a lot of great musicians ever since. If you want to get technical, the band got its start in Normal Heights (a community of San Diego) in 1996, as the result of jam sessions at the home of local roots music afficionado Lee Birch.
The group's hometown festival has always been the legendary Adams Avenue Roots Music Festival, just a few blocks from where the band first played Cajun music together.
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Do you guys really know D.L. Menard?
Yup! In 1995, Jon and his then fiancée, Mari, like most Cajun-music crazed tourists, took it upon themselves to journey to Erath, Louisiana, from Texas, to go pay an unannounced visit to D.L. Menard's house. Since they had honest faces, D.L. and Louella Menard let them in and showed them some wonderful Cajun hospitality.
As fate would have it . . . in 1997 and again in 2000, the "San Diego Cajun Playboys" hosted D.L. Menard and the Louisiana Aces throughout their visit to the Adams Avenue Roots Music Festival in San Diego, returning the favor of the Menards' wonderful hospitality. In 1997, D.L. came to San Diego with accordionist Horace Trahan, and fiddler Leo Abshire. For his next trip in 2000, D.L. brought the father/son team of Floyd and Danny Brasseaux.
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What is Cajun music, anyway?
Traditional Cajun music is the music of French-speaking South Louisiana, the traditional "roots" or "folk" music of the Cajun people. As descendants of French-speaking Acadian exiles (from what is now Canadian Nova Scotia and New Brunswick), the Cajuns have made their home in South Louisiana since the mid-eighteenth century. The rich cultural legacy of the Cajun people, including their unique regional dialect of French and traditional music, is one of America's undiscovered treasures.
In case you missed it, the band discussed and demonstrated Cajun music for a public radio broadcast called "Sound Traditions." But it's not too late! Listen to the program here.
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Do you play Cajun or zydeco music?
The San Diego Cajun Playboys take pride in being able to play a full repertoire of Cajun French music -- enough for a four-hour dance! And when we get together, it's all-French-music-all-the-time. But we are big fans of all Louisiana French music, whether Cajun or Creole. We especially like the style of zydeco artists like Geno Delafose, whose repertoire pays great tribute to Louisiana French music. Since Geno's French repertoire overlaps with many traditional Cajun songs, you could say that we play a lot of the same music as Geno, too (that is, some French-language zydeco music). The main difference is that we play it with a different style.
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Are there any other traditional Cajun bands in Southern California?
We don't think so. If there are, we would be glad to meet them!
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Are there any good zydeco bands in Southern California?
There are many zydeco bands in the Los Angeles area, and our favorite is Bonne Musique Zydeco, because of their love for Creole French music.
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Did you ever play your French music with Bonne Musique Zydeco?
Good question! In fact our own Jon and Bill have played accordion and electric guitar in Los Angeles with this longtime Southern California zydeco band. Jon and Bill even played a zydeco show at St. Albert the Great parish hall in Compton, California, where the great Clifton Chenier played some of the first church dances for the Creole community in Los Angeles.
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What makes this band so darn good?
Aw, shucks! The San Diego Cajun Playboys know the secrets of South Louisiana. We play traditional Cajun songs with both fiddle and accordion together ... if we didn't, it just wouldn't be Cajun. Our repertoire, while including traditional and modern songs, is always sung in the original Cajun French, because without the Cajun language, it just wouldn't be Cajun music.
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Where do you usually play?
Our favorite place to play Cajun music is at the dances for the Bons Temps Social Club of San Diego. This group is a bunch of fanatical Cajun/Zydeco dancers who have trekked to Louisiana more times than you can count, and who will do anything to hear some good Louisiana music. They have hosted most of the traveling Louisiana bands in their stops through Southern California. We can always count on them to support us whenever we play, and we are honored to be their hometown Cajun band.
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Where have you been hiding all this time?
The San Diego Cajun Playboys have played at the following public venues in Southern California: Adams Avenue Roots Music Festival, San Diego; Encinitas Street Fair; Fiesta Del Sol, Solana Beach; the Belly-Up Tavern, Solana Beach; Ocean Beach Street Fair, San Diego; Bons Temps Social Club of San Diego; Seaport Village, San Diego; Del Mar Fair, San Diego; Long Beach Bayou Festival, Long Beach; Gator by the Bay Festival, San Diego;
South Pasadena Cajun Dance; Union Francais de l’etranger, San Diego; American Association of Teachers of French, San Diego; Knights of Columbus Hall, Monrovia; VFW Hall, Gardena; Westchester Center, Los Angeles; KUSI-TV's morning show.
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What are your favorite guitar brands?
Bill swears by his Taylor acoustic guitar and his Carvin acoustic/electric, both made in San Diego, where factory service is right down the road.
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What are your favorite accordion brands?
Jon and Joel both play accordions from Clarence "Junior" Martin from Scott, Louisiana. Joel recommends getting one "off the shelf" from Junior's showroom. Jon is partial to his "Pointe Noir" accordion made by Dick Richard of Church Point, Louisiana. You could not ask for a better button accordion than the ones made by the legendary team of Mr. Richard and his wife, Germaine Richard. Requiéscant in pace (May they rest in peace).
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What is your favorite beer to enjoy while listening to Cajun music?
It's got to be Karl Strauss Amber Lager, brewed in San Diego.
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Who is your favorite Cajun baseball player?
Ron Guidry, of course!
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Who designed this amazingly cool website?
This website was custom designed by Linda Pescatore, who may design your site if you ask her nicely and pay her halfway decently. She isn't Cajun, but she's a big fan of the San Diego Cajun Playboys AND Ron Guidry (having ditched work numerous times to watch the Ragin' Cajun pitch at Yankee Stadium, back in the day).
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Can I ask another question?
Sure! Just send an e-mail to the band.
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