30.3.08

Fred's and Savoy Music Center jam

I went with Mr. Dowell Saturday morning to Fred's and the Savoy Music Center. I met him at his house and Ms. Pinky cooked us a nice breakfast for our morning adventure. Mr. Dowell drove because he had to pick up some crawfish bait in Mamou. That was OK because I was able to drink a few beers.


Fred's wasn't too packed when we first got there but it didn't take long before the place was crowded. Fred's is small but it's a popular Saturday morning spot. There were the usual bikers but there were also a bunch of bicyclists from Lafayette. They started in Lafayette and rode their bikes to Mamou. They wore those skin-tight bike outfits with bright colors. They came from all over the world, met in Lafayette and went to Fred's. I thought that was funny because there were a million of them.  


Local people went too, of course. Mr. Harrison Fontenot was being inducted into Fred's Wall of Fame and I recognized people from Ville Platte, Mamou, etc. Mr. Dowell did most of the visiting while I drank my beer and listened to Don Fontenot and Les Amis De La Louisiane.
We left but planned to go back later. But while we were driving to Eunice we heard the ceremony for Mr. Fontenot taking place. We still planned on going back. But we also wanted to check out Savoy's place. Mr. Dowell has been there before several times but I never had. We drove on 190 till we saw all the cars parked on the side of the road. People from all over the world visited that place also. A little dog barked its head off at us when we passed the camper he was in. The little fil d'putain, from looking at his license plate, came all the way from Florida.



Several people played music at the center. Mr. Dowell told me anyone can go and start playing. He knew some people and he again did most of the visiting while I listened and ate gratons and boudin. It's a nice place. I wouldn't mind going back again. It's a place for musicians so I would like to at least learn more about the music and instruments in order to talk to anyone. We went back to Fred's but the crowd was larger. We looked in the door and said forget it. We heard on the radio that it was like Mardi Gras at Fred's and it kinda seemed so - a small version of Mardi Gras in Big Mamou. It was a good morning. I went home and Mr. Dowell went do some research. I slept for an hour and then went to work till 11 p.m. It's the bon matin that I'm writing this and I'm burnt out.

Evangeline Parish French Creole Heritage

That's it for me. It's been real. I used to talk about this subject on forums and with people and several found it annoying. Evangel...