The musical poet laureate of Texas has never had a huge profile except among the musical cognoscenti, but since his death, his acclaim has only grown and is reaching a new generation of musicians who weren’t even born during his heyday. Thursday night at Chickie Wah Wah a gaggle of them are coming together to play the songs of Van Zandt.
The Kid Carsons are, pardon the pun, the newest kids on the block in New Orleans. Fronted by a brother and sister team, the band puts the country into country rock with fabulous original songs. I also heard them do a set of songs from the Byrds’ Sweethearts of the Rodeo album, which featured country rock avatar Gram Parsons, and was impressed by their musicality and attention to historic detail.
Alexis Marceaux has grown in stature far beyond her television claim to fame as a contestant on The Voice. Along with multi-instrumentalist Sam Craft, she fronts Alexis and the Samurai. But that band may eventually be eclipsed by their francophone big band project, Sweet Crude.
Feufollet is a next generation southwest Louisiana band deeply rooted in the francophone soil of Louisiana and pushing boldly into unexplored yet utterly natural varieties of the Cajun experience. Deathbed ballads meet glockenspiels, Cajun French choruses are written on iPhones, indie-rock vibes invade Acadian archives.
Together these musicians share more than a demographic. They are dedicated to a DIY aesthetic without sacrificing a deep respect for the history of American music. Other local luminaries are also expected to show up and celebrate the music of Townes Van Zandt.
