One of the nation's most exciting performers of zydeco, Geno Delafose heats up the clubs and honky-tonks of Southwest Louisiana every weekend with this irresistible dance music. In recent years, he has taken time off the national circuit to stay close to home. This show will be one of his first forays back to the region, and a real chance to see one of zydeco’s true international stars.

Zydeco is a true American music that springs from the rich cultural mix of South Louisiana and East Texas. The style emerged during the musically fertile period just after the Second World War, but it has roots in a much earlier era. French-speaking black musicians combined traditional Creole French music with blues and the more modern sounds of R&B to create a pulsing, accordion-driven style that packed the dance halls.

Geno Delafose’s father John was a leading figure in the popular resurgence of zydeco in the early 1980s, with his stellar band the Eunice Playboys. Geno, who was born in 1971, began sitting in with the Playboys on rubboard at age 7. Soon he also took up drums, and then taught himself to play the accordion by age 13. Geno shared vocal and accordion leads with his father, and when the senior Delafose passed away in 1994, Geno led the band into a new incarnation that eventually evolved into French Rockin’ Boogie.

Geno Delafose mixes the traditional Cajun and Creole repertoires with other genres and his own compositions to create a rich blend of zydeco, R&B, Cajun, country, and blues. He sings in both French and English, playing the single-row and triple-row diatonic button accordions for more traditional “French-style” songs and switching to the piano accordion when pounding out contemporary zydeco tunes. As he says, “We have that old country feel, that soft swing, and then we have that loud bluesy get-down thing going on, too. We try to mix it up, give everybody something they can dance to.”

COME EARLY TO LEARN HOW TO ZYDECO! Dance lesson included in ticket price with the great Ben Pagac!

7:30 dance lesson; 8pm show! | $25, $22 mbrs | + $3 at the door