Pine Leaf Boys

from the mind of Wilson

2009-06-28T19:12:00.000-07:00

June 17th

People down in the south of Louisiana (I say south as in Golden Meadow so far as Grand Isle) are a breed all of their own. Most of them still speak awesome old fashioned Cajun French. Most of them spoke only French as children. Listen to their accent when they speak and you hear French in their English. You know it's true when you pull over to the side of the road to ask a construction worker directions and his accent is so thick, you assume he must speak French, so you ask him and find out that he speaks better than any highschool French teacher you ever had.

June 28th

There is nothing more hoaky and dissatisfying than hearing a Cajun song that was originally written in French being sung in English. It's even worse than someone singing in faux-French who doesn't make any sense whatsoever to the point where, if translated, one would understand: "You left yourself, for my going away, going away to join you. Eat my heart, baby, I'm going to bury you, come see me, you're going to go far to me."

I have no problem with the English language, of course, but I think if you take a good old song like "J'ai été au bal" and sing it in English, you sound stupid and should be slapped, or at least beaten with a big stick. And if you're going to sing it in French, do a favor to all your ancestors and at least sing some words that make sense to all the people who still speak French. Don't go to La Poussiere and sing that shit to the old timers. They will punch you in the face.

2009-03-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

This is an amazing edit of the famous Tennis Match between Thomas and Steve Riley. I forgot what actually happened during the match, so I filled in the blanks in my head and pumped out this video! Enjoy

2009-03-18T20:58:00.000-07:00

A map of where we will be going in the Middle East. I think we will have the chance to go to Dubai in the UAE, which would be a thrill of mine. More to come.

2009-03-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

This video shot by Brandi Putnam Laiche @ Whiskey River- watch as Thomas David totally shreds the accordion on stage.

2009-03-01T17:52:00.001-08:00

New blog from Rachel Timan, the girl who was at Rosendale Cafe- nice pictures and stories-- very well written

http://ammuse.wordpress.com/2009/02/28/the-pine-leaf-boys-at-the-rosendale-cafe/

Middle East

2009-02-28T12:04:00.000-08:00

The Pine Leaf Boys have been invited by the State Department to play music in the Middle East in April. We will be working hard to update this blog every day with pictures and individual blogs from all the band members. Make sure you "follow" this blog for instant updates, and feel free to include your comments, pictures, etc.

- Wilson

2009-02-18T19:11:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken on the red carpet before the Grammys.

At the "Fais Do Do" club in Los Angeles the Saturday night before the Grammys. I think this picture sums up the weekend.

2009-02-18T11:51:00.000-08:00

Drew practicing with Christine Balfa before their Balfa Toujours set in Hamilton, OH

Because Stewart's Opera House was shut down due to snow-fall, we moved the the gig to Athens, OH

Thomas and Jon in the snow

New Blog

2009-02-18T11:41:00.000-08:00

So, we are going to begin to blog different things through the Pine Leaf Boy travels - where we're going, what we're doing, what kind of coffee Drew likes (iced-triple macchiato with 4 shots of extra hazelnut), as well as pictures, movies, sound bytes, and so on that people can all take part in and share their comments. This will also become the place to post essays and stories that relate to anything we do- from touring, to playing music, to the future of Cajun music.