2019 Music Concert Series at the AG: David Sousa and the Zydeco Mudbugs

2019 Music Concert Series at the Ag features the sizzling hot sounds of traditional and contemporary Zydeco music on Friday, June 7th from 7 to 9 pm. David Sousa & the Zydeco Mudbugs brings the heat of Zydeco to Santa Paula though the use of single row and triple row diatonic accordions with songs in both Louisiana French and English. Capturing the rich sounds of New Orleans style music since 1998, David Sousa and the Zydeco Mudbugs will surely make you want to kick up your heals with traditional Zydeco songs like Don’t mess with my Toot-Toot, Why you want to make me cry, Good Old Cajun Music, and Chubby Party.

Early zydeco was a blend of Louisiana French accordion music and Afro-Caribbean beats. It sat at the crossroads of Creole, Cajun, gospel and the blues, yet has since evolved to include influences from several other genres. Instrumentation almost always includes an accordion and a frottoir, a washboard. Guitar, bass, and drums typically add even more rhythm and syncopation to create a highly danceable mix. The word Zydeco gets its name from a colloquial Creole French expression “Les haricots ne sont pas salés” meaning “the snap beans aren’t salty” or idiomatically for “the times are hard.” Like the blues, early zydeco offered a way for the rural poor both to express and to escape the hardships of life through music and dance.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!, Louisiana Creole French for “Let the good times roll!”