TAHLSOUND 2024 SUMMER CONCERT SERIES

FROM THE BAYOU TO THE BLUEGRASS!
2024 GRAMMY AWARD WINNERS, LOST BAYOU RAMBLERS, AND LEXINGTON’S OWN, MASON COLBY

This week we celebrate “From the Bayou to the Bluegrass” with 2024 Grammy Award Winners Lost Bayou Ramblers! We hope you will join us for one or many of the below events that connect Kentucky and Louisiana through music:
Saturday (Lexington Public Library + The Green Lantern Bar)
6:30pm – The Evolution of Cajun Music in America | A Conversation with Louis Michot of Lost Bayou Ramblers and Ethnomusicologist Tom Torino
9:00pm – Lost Bayou Ramblers at The Green Lantern
Sunday (Tahlsound Music Festival)
5:30pm – Exploring Cajun Fiddle & Accordion Workshop
6:00pm – Cajun Banjo w/ Lexington’s own Mason Colby
6:45pm – Candy Mountain Music Interactive Musical Play
7:30pm – Lost Bayou Ramblers

“The featured artist, Lost Bayou Ramblers, have recognized success in bringing the distinct sound of Southwest Louisiana music to the world. Like bluegrass, Acadiana music is grounded in fiddle pyrotechnics, propulsive rhythms, and narrative songcraft; while rooted in tradition (including the tradition of speaking for marginalized economic groups), both Acadiana and Appalcahian music have evolved with new musicians and new fans alike. We see natural parallels between these two regions: tight-knit families living in remote and often-misunderstood regions steeped in religion but full of rebellion, responding to challenging natural conditions by celebrating their resilience via art making. It is this connection that we hope impacts the lives of participants- to share in the similarities and celebrate the differences.” -Chris Smith / Scott Whiddon

These events are funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts the Kentucky Arts Council. Additional support from LexArts, Visit LEX, West Sixth Brewing, Castle & Key, POPS Resale Lexington, Sunrise Bakery, Stewart Perry – State Farm Insurance Agent, Redfin, From Here to There, Ale-8-One, Cibon, WUKY, Hampton Inn, Traditional Bank, Central Bank, and the City of Lexington, Ky – Government

Lost Bayou Ramblers
The Grammy award winning Lost Bayou Ramblers’ evolution as a perversely progressive band rooted in Cajun traditions continues to excite, challenge, and redefine both genre expectations as well as cultural preconceptions. Founded in 1999 by brothers Andre and Louis Michot, the last 5 years have brought LBR a feature on Jack White’s American Epic, score contributions to the Oscar nominated film Beasts of the Southern Wild, a Grammy award for their latest album “Kalenda” and tours with both Arcade Fire and the Violent Femmes. Lost Bayou Ramblers stands at the crosscurrents of Louisiana culture by inhabiting the gray area between Cajun and Creole, convention and innovation, mystery and a revelation, experimenting and growing the show to what it’s become today: an eclectic mix of modern sounds and rhythms with ancient Cajun melodies and lyrics. World Café says “The Grammy-winning group plays a revved-up version of Cajun music, shot through with punk energy and psychedelic fuzz.”

Mason Colby
It was in Kentucky that he picked up a banjo and started making music in earnest. A founding member of traditional stringband The Jarflies, Mason has been part of the old-time music scene in Kentucky for over a decade and is now writing songs that blend his love of Acadiana, the Bluegrass, and Texas songwriters like Guy Clark, Jolie Holland, Lyle Lovett, and banjo hero Danny Barnes. For his first two EPs of original work, he collaborated with Lexington producer and multi-instrumentalist J. Tom Hnatow (Horse Feathers, These United States, Vandaveer), a natural fit in terms of sound and vision. Other important contributors include Don Rogers (Mason’s mentor as part of a Kentucky Arts Council Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grant), Robby Cosenza (Horse Feathers), Montana Hobbs (The Local Honeys), Zach Martin (Lylak), Abby Hamilton, Art Mize (KY Partisans, The Jarflies), and Cecilia Wright (Bear Medicine, Senora May).