In my opinion, Cajun music constitutes some of the most remarkable music under the umbrella of American Roots Music. The fact that it is sung as part of a living tradition of French language that has existed in our country since its founding is pretty remarkable. That it’s accompanied by 19th-century German accordions and played in a style developed in part by Afro-Caribbean immigrants and slaves in southwest Louisiana seems kind of wild. The fact that a huge annual music festival dedicated to this music exists in San Diego, California–Gator By The Bay–is simply insane. Yet, there is a surprising history connecting our dried-out, sun-baked desert home to the swampy bayous of Cajun country. It’s a story that is at once completely improbable and entirely American. The High Life Cajun Band is one the few bands playing traditional Cajun music in Southern California (our own San Diego Cajun Playboys are … Continue reading The High Life Cajun Band and the Secret History of Cajun Music in Southern California