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Backgrounder for Bijoux Du Bayou They got their start blasting on to the scene at the 1997 Cowichan Fringe Festival. Now with two CDs under their belt, there has been no looking back for Bijoux Du Bayou. Although starting off as a traditional Zydeco band, the Vancouver Island-based quintet has developed it's own unique flavor, blending several influences - Cajun, zydeco, swing, calypso and more - into a highly infectious sound that immediately packs the dance floor. The band's sound can now be best described as Barenaked Ladies colliding with Buckwheat Zydeco. Since that first gig in the Fringe Club, the band has taken its blend of sounds to several of Vancouver Island's major festivals including headlining the Islands Folk Festival, the main stage at Victoria's Folk Festival, the Campbell River Salmon Festival and the FM 96.1 Summer Splash Reggae Festival in Nanaimo. As well as being a headliner, Bijoux Du Bayou has opened for and shared the stage with the likes of Gary Fjelgaard, Suzanne Gitzi, Alpha YaYa Diallo, Fruit, Farmer's Daughter, and Swamp Mama Johnson. The Bijoux Du Bayou sound seems to be something people have been looking for. The band has played to nothing but sold-out since starting and the critics have done nothing but rave about the band's unique high-energy sound. The band's debut CD Canajun Pardi Gras was released in mid-1999, and was well received with brisk sales and favorable reviews. The CD is receiving radio airplay in Western Canada, Eastern Europe, Japan, and Australia. U.S. troops on the USS Abraham Lincoln are also listening to Canajun Pardi Gras via their own Armed Forces Radio. Portions of the CD were recorded during two sold out live recording sessions in Duncan, B.C. The followup recording - Because We Can - is even livelier than the first! Critics' Comments "Hard
to believe these fellows didn't grow up sucking crayfish on the shores of Lake
Ponchartrain. They can play and write Cajun and Zydeco with the best of them.
Even more impressive is that their performances are drenched in the good humor
and joie de vivre that the music is famous for." "Bijoux
Du Bayou has the right mix of talented musicians and spicy raw energy to capture
the good-time, holler and dance of the Cajun and Zydeco styles they
perform." "While
listening to Canajun Pardi Gras, it's clear the project deserves play. . .if
only for the audio adrenaline rush it gives!" "Bijoux
Du Bayou is the hottest dance band. You had better get "Bijoux
Du Bayou is guaranteed to get you dancing. And you won't sit down all
night!" Band Members Sam Torrance
- electric guitar, vocals, mandolin, flute. |
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Bijoux Du Bayou |
