Joel Savoy
Encyclopedia
Joel Savoy is a Cajun music
ian and music producer from Southwest Louisiana
. His father Marc Savoy
, famous accordion builder and musician, and his mother, Ann Savoy
, author and music producer, are well known ambassadors and supporters of preserving the Cajun
culture.
. In 1995 many of his childhood experiences with the traditional Cajun
Courir de Mardi Gras
were included in the book Mardi Gras: a Cajun country celebration written by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith and Lawrence Migdale. He is a member of the Savoy Family Band along with of his father Marc, mother Ann, and brother Wilson Savoy
. 1999 he co-founded the Red Stick Ramblers
from Baton Rouge, Louisiana
. In 2006 he started the annual Faquetaigue Courir de Mardi Gras as an alternative to the main Eunice courir event. The run has become one of the most musically based of the various versions of the courir. Also in 2006 he founded Valcour Records
, an independent record label
based in Eunice, Louisiana
, with friends Phillip LaFargue II and Lucius Fontenot. Valcour Records' first release in 2006 was Goin' Down to Louisiana, by fiddle player Cedric Watson
and accordionist
Corey Ledet. During the 2007 Cajun French Music Association
's Le Cajun ceremony at Lafayettes
Blackham Coliseum
, Savoy was awarded the “2007 Fiddler of the Year” award. In 2008 he played on, recorded and produced his mothers album If Dreams Come True at his Studio Savoy Faire. His brother Wilson and several members of the Red Stick Ramblers also played on the album of Django Reinhardt
-style blues
and jazz
standards as "Ann Savoy and her Sleepless Knights".
Cajun music
Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based, Cajun-influenced zydeco form, both of Acadiana origin...
ian and music producer from Southwest Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. His father Marc Savoy
Marc Savoy
Marc Savoy is an American musician, and builder and player of the Cajun accordion.Savoy holds a degree in chemical engineering but his primary income is derived from his accordion-making business, based at his Savoy Music Center in Eunice, Louisiana. His wife is the singer and guitarist Ann Savoy,...
, famous accordion builder and musician, and his mother, Ann Savoy
Ann Savoy
Ann Savoy is a musician, author, and record producer.-Biography:Savoy was raised in Richmond, Virginia. She resides with her husband Marc Savoy and family in Southern Louisiana....
, author and music producer, are well known ambassadors and supporters of preserving the Cajun
Cajun
Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
culture.
History
Joel Savoy was born in EuniceEunice, Louisiana
Eunice is a city in Acadia, Evangeline and St. Landry parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 11,499 at the 2000 census.The St...
. In 1995 many of his childhood experiences with the traditional Cajun
Cajun
Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
Courir de Mardi Gras
Courir de Mardi Gras
The Courir de Mardi Gras is a traditional Mardi Gras event held in many Cajun communities of south Louisiana on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Courir de Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday Run". The rural Mardi Gras celebration is based on early begging rituals, similar to those still...
were included in the book Mardi Gras: a Cajun country celebration written by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith and Lawrence Migdale. He is a member of the Savoy Family Band along with of his father Marc, mother Ann, and brother Wilson Savoy
Wilson Savoy
Wilson Allen Savoy is a Grammy nominated Cajun accordion player and singer in the band the Pine Leaf Boys as well as a local filmmaker in Lafayette, LA...
. 1999 he co-founded the Red Stick Ramblers
Red Stick Ramblers
The Red Stick Ramblers are a Cajun Music and Western Swing band who formed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana while the members were attending Louisiana State University. Their name comes from a translation of Baton Rouge, which means "red stick" in French...
from Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
. In 2006 he started the annual Faquetaigue Courir de Mardi Gras as an alternative to the main Eunice courir event. The run has become one of the most musically based of the various versions of the courir. Also in 2006 he founded Valcour Records
Valcour Records
Valcour Records is an independent record label based in Eunice, Louisiana. Valcour was founded in 2006 by Joel Savoy , with friends Phillip LaFargue II and Lucius Fontenot.Valcour Records' first release in 2006 was Goin' Down to Louisiana, by fiddle player Cedric Watson and accordionist Corey...
, an independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
based in Eunice, Louisiana
Eunice, Louisiana
Eunice is a city in Acadia, Evangeline and St. Landry parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 11,499 at the 2000 census.The St...
, with friends Phillip LaFargue II and Lucius Fontenot. Valcour Records' first release in 2006 was Goin' Down to Louisiana, by fiddle player Cedric Watson
Cedric Watson
Cedric Watson is an American musician. He has been nominated twice for Grammy Awards.-Career:Born in 1983, Cedric grew up in San Felipe, Texas surrounded by the blues, old soul, country, and zydeco music. Though hip-hop was then popular amongst his peers, Cedric developed an affinity for the...
and accordionist
Cajun accordion
A Cajun accordion also known as a squeezebox is single-row diatonic button accordion used for playing Cajun music.-History:Many different accordions were developed in Europe throughout the 19th century, and exported worldwide...
Corey Ledet. During the 2007 Cajun French Music Association
Cajun French Music Association
The Cajun French Music Association is an association dedicated to the promotion and preservation of Cajun music and culture.-History:The Cajun French Music Association is a non-profit organization of Cajuns and non-Cajuns whose purpose is to promote and preserve, not only Cajun music, but also...
's Le Cajun ceremony at Lafayettes
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
Blackham Coliseum
Blackham Coliseum
Blackham Coliseum is a multipurpose arena in Lafayette, Louisiana. It was built on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus in 1949 as the home to the then-named SLI Bulldogs, now called the Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball teams. It remained the home for the men's team...
, Savoy was awarded the “2007 Fiddler of the Year” award. In 2008 he played on, recorded and produced his mothers album If Dreams Come True at his Studio Savoy Faire. His brother Wilson and several members of the Red Stick Ramblers also played on the album of Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
-style blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
standards as "Ann Savoy and her Sleepless Knights".