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BobCajun                             

                                                                          Photo by Kyle Griffin, Peterborough This Week

..Cajun and Zydeco Dance Music

Bookings         Bio         Schedule        MP3s       Press   

When you come to see the phenomenon known as "BobCajun", come prepared for a thoroughly "Canajun" experience. It's samedi soir in ol' Peterborough, and the locals pull in on their snowmobiles for their monthly fix of bayou breath. The emanating chaleur of the Montreal House beckons the party-goers through the door, and once inside they find the pool table shoved aside, the floor cleared for dancing. Eee-yiii! After a half hour of dance instruction by experts Tom and Myra (always up on the latest steps), the lights go down, and once again, a languorous evening settles upon the bayou. The fiddle scrapes like a cricket, the accordion wheezes like a frog, the bass begs whumping out a two step, and the singing starts, something wild and crazy and free and...en francais (close to it anyway). For the next few hours, it's not Canada, it's not Peterborough, it's not the old Montreal House-and yet it is, because this is the N'awleans of the North, headquarters of Central Ontario's foremost Cajun and Zydeco Band, "BobCajun".

 

BobCajun rose in the year 2002 out of the ashes of Y2Cajun, a very popular local outfit that zydeco-ed in the new millennium and then burned up like the fireworks that followed. Taking a more considered and crafty approach than its predecessor, BobCajun is an intriguing group that makes no apology for its political and geographical place on the world map. Brazenly plucking the American Eagle of some its finest plumage, the members of BobCajun impishly flaunt their booty like the thieving rascals that they are. What people find in a performance by BobCajun is not the typical fawning obeisance to a near-static and foreign cultural tradition, but a kind of finders/keepers exultation that gives this old music not just warmth, but that vital element of nose-thumbing sass. While evocative of a warmer climate and a simpler time, the music is not shackled by the burden of its origin- not, at least, after these Canajun renegades have wrenched it loose. This is what makes the music of BobCajun so eminently suited to hip Canadian- it is enjoyable for the elegant pleasure of its hearing, while even sweeter in the knowledge that it has been "liberated" (in the way Huck Finn would "liberate" a chicken) from the Mighty Bumptious Oaf south of the border.

le groupe:

For all its collective sin and sophistication, BobCajun is made up of four very polite and pleasant young people who are entirely law abiding and a credit to their respective parents. Eager to please, and happy to play or talk music for hours, the Bobs are:

Alonso Peterborough (Peter André): the enigmatic though enlightened dictator of BobCajun, joueur de l'accordione. Responsible for "correctness of spirit". Alternately the keeper of the flame, and l'arsoniste of the group.

Fleur de Bayou (Tina Therrien): 'tit fer (triangle), guitar & vocals. La belle chanteuse, with a primeval wail that will curdle the blood, and a sob that will swell the heart. Frattoir, 'tit fer and gitarre are but melted beeswax in her hands.

Hector LaFramboise (aka Curtis Driedger): the quintessential Canajun, mangling the French tongue to near-destruction. Plays a slippery fiddle. Nattily dressed, delicately coiffed and elegantly spoken, but crazy as a loon.

Crusty Bordo (Jim Gleason) : the token hard workin' family man of the group, but don't let the fatherly image fool you, he is easily the most dangerous and sinister of the lot. Will sing the birds down from the trees, then bite their heads off. Thumps away at the stand up bass.

Dance nights

BobCajun loves to put on dance nights, either for public events or private parties. The night kicks off with dance lessons by Myra Hirschberg and Tom Calwell, who have instructed cajun and contra dance across the world.. If you want to know more about cajun or other types of dance lessons, visit  Tom Myra's

website.

BobCajun Schedule, 2010

BobCajun Schedule, 2007

 

   

 

MP3:  Here's a wee sampling of some of our songs.They were recorded huddled around one microphone at the church in Mount Pleasant by Jay Edmunds.

Chere Bassette

Ain't Got the French

Chere Catherine

Allons a Peterborough

 

Press Coverage:

Peterborough This Week article, text only

link to article in Peterborough This Week

Bookings

If a good time for all is the order of the day, BobCajun is the group to call. Weddings, parties, conventions, festivals and funerals- the Bobs play 'em all. Make your event one that people will praise for years to come! You can contact either "Peter "at" nexicom.net" or "Tina "at" strawhomes.ca" for more information about BobCajun, or to be added to our mailing list.

 

                                                                          Photo by Leslie McGrath

Al Black has joined BobCajun on drums for several performances. Here we are, practising in Al's kitchen, where cajun music is at its best!

 

 

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c/o Tina Therrien
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