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Bluebag Media
Zydeco Experience has
kids clapping & singing
GREENVILLE – “No fighting for the beads,” Terrance Simien told several
hundred Greenville South School students Oct. 29… “If you already have
your beads, let the person next to you catch theirs!” Throughout his
performance he tossed out beads, noting they were the types of beads
used during Mardi Gras.
“This is not a ‘shush’ performance,” Simien told the students, loud
enough for the teachers to hear. He needed the kids to catch and feed
on his energy as he introduced them to Zydeco for Kids… he often
stepped off the stage and held his hand to his ear. The kids, already
loud, were happy to yell and cheer even louder.
“I love Darke County,” Simien said before the performance. He’d already
been to other schools in the county as part of Darke County Center for
the Arts’ ‘Arts in Education’ program. “I play for kids all over the
world,” he added, grinning. “The kids here are well-behaved and they
know how to listen to a performance.”
“What are you getting ready to do?” he asked the students. “Trick or
treat?” The students clapped and cheered. “You wear costumes and go
door to door? What do you get?”
“Candy!” they yelled. “That’s what they do in Mardi Gras (which he
explained meant Fat Tuesday). They wear costumes and go door-to-door…
do you know what they get?” he asked.
“Chickens! Well, sometimes ducks.” Simien’s banter prepped kids for his
songs, which were typically fast and toe-tapping. Zydeco is the music
of the Creole people of Southern Louisiana. It started over 300 years
ago as only voice, clapping hands and stomping feet. Over the years it
evolved.
The two key instruments in Zydeco today are the accordion and zydeco
rubboard (one of the few musical instruments invented in America; an
adaptation of the old washboard). Simien travels with four accordions
and at least four rubboards. The accordion he used was a ‘diatonic’
accordion… it would only play in the keys of C and G. The other
accordions allowed him to play in different keys. In addition to his
rubboard player, he traveled with guitar, drums, keyboard and bass
players. Newcomers to his band included students called up from the
audience to play his rubboards…
Read the rest of the article at Bluebag Media
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