Cajun and Creole music developed in parallel in Southwest Louisiana as a regional expression of jazz mixed with rhythm and blues. In the late 1940s, the vest frottoir, or rubboard, was added as the principal rhythm instrument and the new sound was called Zydeco. This category is for sites about both Cajun and Zydeco music.
Please submit sites that focus on either Cajun or Zydeco, but not both, to the appropriate subcategory.
Cajun music is the music of the Acadians, French settlers driven from Nova Scotia in 1699 who settled in southwest Louisiana blending cultures with Spanish, Haitians, Germans, English, and Native Americans. Originally fiddle-based, the accordian, introduced by the Germans, is more often used today.
Today's Cajun music features the traditional button Cajun accordian and triangle. The songs are uplifting and usually sung in French.
Zydeco is the dance music of the Creoles, free French-speaking blacks who settled in southwest Louisiana. It is a mix of Cajun, R&B, and soul often played on accordian, horns, bass, frottoir, and sometimes keyboards. The frottoir is a metal rubboard (washboard) played with metal scrapers.