Acadian Driftwood: The Roots of Acadian and Cajun Music

by Paul-Emile Comeau

In August 2014 at the Congres Mondial Acadien, the Acadian communities in Canada and the United States will commemorate the Grand Derangement (Expulsion) in 1755 when they were transported, under great duress, from their homes in Acadia to Louisiana. The Acadians were emigrants from France who settled in the Acadia region ( New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Maine) and built a rich culture there until the British expelled them during the French and Indian Wars. Their homes were burned, family members were separated, and they were scattered along the Eastern Seaboard, with the majority resettling in Louisiana, near Lafayette. Here the Acadians became Cajuns, developing their own language and a lively musical culture that evolved into Zydeco. The expulsion became the basis for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's legendary poem, Evangeline ― and for the song Acadian Driftwood, written by Robbie Robertson and performed by The Band. American Songwriter magazine called "Acadian Driftwood" a masterpiece of Acadian music .

This book provides the history of Acadian and Cajun music from pre-expulsion to the revival of this music today, written by Paul-Emile Comeau, a direct descendant of the original French settlers and the premier historian of Acadian and Cajun music. He has written the National Geographic and Rough Guide encyclopedia entries for Acadian, Cajun, and Zydeco music. He has produced a 13-part series called the "Connexion Acadiene" for CBC radio and NPR.

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2014

Reviews

[Barry Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although there have been previous books on Cajun and Zydeco music, this is the first book that presents the Acadian/Cajun music phenomenon as a whole, dealing with its history on both sides of what is now the Canadian/U.S. border. Paul-Emile Comeau may be uniquely qualified to write such a book. As a direct descendant of the original French settlers of Acadie he now lives in Comeauville, Nova Scotia, and has been both an appreciator and historian of music and, in particular, this kind of music since attending the Miami Pop Festival in 1968 and Newport in July of 1969, where he first saw Cajun fiddler, Doug Kershaw. As a writer, he’s contributed to a wide range of publications, including Dirty Linen, Global Rhythm, National Geographic Online, Penguin Eggs, Rolling Stone, No Depression, Maverick and several French-language journals. As a broadcaster, he has written and hosted programs for the Radio-Canada and RFA (Le Réseau francophone d’Amérique).

Besides giving a chronology of events of Acadian history, the book gives detailed stories behind some of the landmark songs of the genre such as the song the book takes its title from, The Band’s Acadian Driftwood, Évangéline, Jolie Blonde (aka Jole Blon), Jambalaya, J’ai fait tout le tour du pays, and Acadie à la Louisiane. He documents both the similarities and the differences in musical traditions north and south of the border and provides hundreds of informative profiles of significant players and bands and selected discographies for those wishing to build definitive collections of the music. There are profiles of recording industry leaders, radio and media as well as organizations and festivals. He doesn’t neglect the wider picture either, noting France’s relationship to the music and acts from such far-flung areas as England, Northern Europe, Spain and even Italy. Also covered are the relations and interactions between Acadian, Cajun, Zydeco, rock, blues, jazz, swing, bluegrass and country and western and artists whose roots were in Acadia but who found recognition in other areas. He seems to enjoy finding and exploring little niches like “women in Cajun music,” instrumental music, live music, novelty and Christmas discs which are knowledgeable and fun. His comments on such topics as racism and nationalism are equally insightful. In addition, the 32 pages of color photographs of both artists and album art are very welcome.

Comeau’s style is conversational and accessible and, despite the density of information, the book is easy to read and can either be read right through or dipped into randomly. As a reference it’s pretty complete. Highly recommended as an addition to anyone’s music library. The reading copy came with a couple of pages of minor errata, which will hopefully be corrected in later editions. - BH.