Zydeco Pickin' in C

All Night Long

Zydeco Workout

Bayou Beat

Fiddling Around Bourbon Street

Zydeco Stomp

Party Gras

Accordion To Who?

Cajun Gumbo

Outlaw Country music on acid and poppers! More on alaniii.com

Etouffee

Get me the hell out of New Orleans

In this week’s Putumayo World Music Hour, join Rosalie Howarth in celebrating American roots music Putumayo style, featuring contemporary musicians and various homegrown American genres. 

Episode 25.16
Airdates: April 14th - 20th, 2025

Featuring:
1. Forest Sun - “Change My Tune”
2. Luke-Winslow-King - “You Don’t Know Better Than Me”
3. Bruce Daigrepont - “Acadie A La Louisiana”
4. Clifton Chenier - “Calinda”
5. Alison Krauss - “Every Time You Say Goodbye”
6. Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee - “I Was Born With The Blues”
7. John Henry’s Blues - “Tangle Eye”
8. Kermit Ruffins - “Drop Me Off in New Orleans”
9. Dr. John - “Basin Street Blues”
10. Madeleine Peyroux - “Dance Me To The End Of Love”
11. Red Horse - “Wayfaring Stranger”
12. Clay Cumbie - “Here’s To The Journey”
13. Los Super Seven - “Campesino”
14. Bill Miller - “Ghost Dance”
15. Louis Jordan with Johnny Otis and Shuggie Otis - “Let The Good Times Roll”


American Roots

mother-in-law

Lovin the life

GasStation BluesMAI25

In South Louisiana, Clifton Chenier (1925-1987) grew up hearing his father play a style of music known as La La at house dances held in Black French Creole communities. It had a percussive and syncopated sound, played in spare combinations of an accordion and a washboard used to scrub out a rhythm. After picking up accordion as a curious teenager, Chenier soon brought into this sound the rhythm and blues that dominated radios and jukeboxes, crafting a new style that would be called zydeco. In the 1950s, he recorded for Elko, Specialty, and Chess, and joined national package show tours with stars like Little Richard and Etta James. A decade later, Chenier was quietly settled in Houston, the big stages seemingly behind him. But one rainy Saturday night at a Houston neighborhood bar, Chenier’s cousin Lightning Hopkins introduced him to Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records, where zydeco and Clifton Chenier would find a new home and champion.  

King of Louisiana Blues & Zydeco is a 4 CD/6 LP retrospective box set assembled in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Chenier’s birth. The set features a chronology of Chenier’s landmark work with Arhoolie and other labels, alongside a healthy dose of previously unissued gems. The 160-page book includes photos, posters, and other graphic artifacts from the Strachwitz Collection and deeply researched liner note essays by Grammy award-winning writer Adam Machado, public folklorist and radio host Nick Spitzer and longtime Louisiana journalist Herman Fusilier, along with a moving personal remembrance by Clifton’s son, Zydeco musician C.J. Chenier. The set is the first release on Arhoolie since the label became a part of Smithsonian Folkways.  

With music and storytelling and abundant visual imagery, this set demonstrates Clifton Chenier's life as a transformative artist -- from his earliest days practicing in the barn back home, to his reign as the undisputed King of Zydeco. 

Clifton Chenier - "Mr. Charlie (Live)"

Southern soul energetic song with a hip hop twist to it!

Too Smooth

My Zydeco Shoes, remix 25

Born in Atlanta GA, EpiQ “The Illustrator” is a grammy nominated songwriter (Rihanna “Fading” Loud Album over 10 million albums sold) who has built his career around his talent and passion for music. In addition to being a world class musician, EpiQ is a talented entertainer, vocalist and producer. The Illustrator is well versed in Pop, R&B, Gospel and Hip Hop genres, and has worked with a number of live bands, different producers and well-known artist such as: Rihanna, Trey Songz, Usher, Blanco Brown, Drumma Boy, Rick Ross, & Llyod to name a few. Currently EpiQ is working on his album and is determined to bring R&B back making real; heart-felt; feel good music to touch the soul. He’s created a new sound full of color & energy which will surely take Rhythm & Blues to new heights. The world can look forward to falling in love with this extraordinary talent rightfully known as EpiQ “The Illustrator”.

Award Winning Song Writer Hip hop Soul Artist Creator of the B.H.M Cyphers

Conductor, orchestrator/arranger, primary soloist, and HBIC of The East Los Angeles Philharmonia, jajaja.

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. We are part of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located in Washington, D.C. 

We are dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among peoples through the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound. We believe that musical and cultural diversity contributes to the vitality and quality of life throughout the world. Through the dissemination of audio recordings and educational materials we seek to strengthen people's engagement with their own cultural heritage and to enhance their awareness and appreciation of the cultural heritage of others.

The Smithsonian may archive materials posted on this website pursuant to its document retention policies. By posting content, you are giving the Smithsonian and those authorized by the Smithsonian permission to use or modify it for any educational, promotional, or other standard museum purpose, in media of all kinds whether now known or later developed. For more on the Smithsonian's terms of use and privacy policies visit: http://www.si.edu/termsofuse 

Hosted by former KFOG personality Rosalie Howarth and Putumayo founder Dan Storper, the Putumayo World Music Hour (PWMH) is an internationally syndicated radio show that takes listeners on a weekly journey through the music of many different cultures.

Hot demo songs that are just waiting for a big name to record them. No scammers, spammers or people selling bot promotions. If you ain't the real deal then save your breath.

New tracks tagged #Zydeco