'Crafting the Louisiana Sound,' an exhibit on innovation

Double key accordion by Randy Falcon

Necessity is the mother of invention, but in Cajun Country, the necessity to perform spurs the need to create.

Craftsmen have building musical instruments  in South Louisiana for decades, with some instruments invented from items around the house and workplace and others works of art. It’s the reason why Anya Burgess and Chris Segura, both violin crafters and musicians, pulled together the exhibit, “Crafting the South Louisiana Sound” as part of this weekend’s Festivals Acadiens et Créoles in Lafayette, Louisiana. The exhibit of instruments and photos are on display at the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Diamond lapel pins

Take Milton Guilbeau for instance. The 90-year-old has been crafting guitars for years while working for Coburns, a supply company that sells plumbing parts. On display is a steel guitar Guilbeau created from items such as toilet flushers and sink parts — even the diamond lapel pins Guilbeau received from the company (see photo, right).

Nearby, a lap steel guitar consists of a simple 2 X 4 board. “All of the markers on the fingerboard are nails,” Segura said. 

Norman Curtis of Arnaudville, Louisiana, crafted a guitar from sinker cypress, wood derived from bald cypress trees that have sat dormant and preserved for years underwater. Curtis accented the instrument’s front panel with the image of an armadillo, a cut-out from a serving tray. The guitar rests on tree limbs.

Norma Curtis guitar

“The best part of putting together this exhibit is that most of these instruments were built using materials found at home,” said Segura, who works as an archivist at the university’s Center for Louisiana Studies.

A vital part of the Cajun sound is the diatonic accordion, a small, three-key little brother to the larger Lawrence Welk variety. These accordions sprung up in Germany around 1850, Segura explained.

“They quickly became popular because they were portable,” he said. “Around 1870, 1880s they came to Louisiana and became popular here.”

During World War II, Louisiana musicians couldn’t send diatonic accordions to Germany to be repaired, so folks began repairing the instruments themselves. In Lake Charles, Sidney Brown started making his own.

“What he did was open up one of those German accordions and reversed engineered it,” Segura explained, adding that Brown used shipping pallets and Purex bottles for materials. “Another situation where he used what he had around the house.”

Violins created by Milton Vanicor

Violins take up one half of a museum floor, instruments that range from a one-string fiddle over a Prince Albert can by Milton Vanicor to sophisticated pieces crafted by Segura and Burgess. There’s even a work station and a display case of violin parts and tools used by Lionel Leleux to give visitors an inside look at the endless hours that go into building these violins.

Other instruments on display include triangles, spoons, amplifiers, drumsticks and drums.

“Crafting the South Louisiana Sound” will run through Sunday, Oct. 15, at the conclusion of Festivals Acadiens et Creole.

Segura will moderate the panel, “Luthiers Playing Their Own Instruments: Matthew Doucet, Anya Burgess and Ed Poulard,” at 3:15 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017, on the festival's Atelier Stage.

Want a taste? Check out the impromptu performance Segura offered a recent tour through the exhibit on our Weird South Facebook page.

Cheré Coen is a Louisiana food and travel writer who loves Cajun and zydeco music.

Dog costume ideas for Halloween

Need some ideas for dog costumes for Halloween? How about taking a few cues from the Krewe Des Chiens Mardi Gras parade in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Cheré Coen is a food and travel writer who loves dogs, Halloween and, of course, Mardi Gras.

Calhoun's Rock Garden is a feast for the eyes — and Sunday it lights up with hundreds of candles

Old Dog and Lady Joyce Boyd

Dewitt “Old Dog” and Lady Joyce Boyd had eight children and gave each one a little porcelain person to play with. Naturally, they needed a place for the porcelain people to live, so the couple began building little castles, roads, houses — even a church. At the end of their “game,” the couple would light up the village with candles.

I know what you’re thinking. Gee, that’s sweet but how is this news?

When you walk through the archway of the whimsical Rock Garden in Calhoun, the acre of the couple’s artistry will blow you away, because there are 50 buildings created behind the Calhoun Seventh-day Adventist Church, including a miniature replica of Paris’ Notre Dame cathedral complete with stained glass windows. There's also Cinderella’s castle, a lighthouse, monastery, a recreation of Bethlehem, places where people can even fit into and much, much more. It’s all created from cement and wire and accented by broken glass and china, ceramic tiles, pebbles and shells and odd pieces of found materials.

It's one of those places you have to see to believe. It's that special. It's that incredible!

In addition to kids young and old visiting to enjoy this fantasy land, the couple got a grant to build a gazebo and people come here to be married (including the Boyds). For those who choose the site for a wedding, their name goes on the memory wall inside a walled space that's as spiritual as it's fantastical.

And all around and above the sweet little buildings are whispering trees, endless blooms, visiting birds and there’s a brook at the back of the property. Sometimes the water flows over into the village and that's okay, Old Dog Boyd said. It's all part of the fun, for he wants children to visit and play. His grandchildren, he says, love to splash in the creek and look for creatures such as baby snapping turtles. 

  

“This is my Ph.D.,” Boyd said of his creations with art and nature. “I love flowers. I love being outside. And I love trees, especially the redbud tree. It (his folk art) is very compatible with nature."

Now, here's where it gets even better. Beginning at 7:10 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, the couple will light up the garden with hundreds of candles for the annual Lighting of the Rock Garden. It's so popular, the event attracted 1,100 people last year.

The Rock Garden is open from dawn to dusk daily without charge. Donations accepted.

Cheré Coen is a food and travel writer who loves a fun Southern story, especially the artistic people who live here. She could have spent hours at the Rock Garden.