Due to the hurricane, Kevin Naquin had to cancel September appearances in California. We’re looking forward to possible appearances in Spring, 2009.

Kevin Naquin is the lead singer and accordion player in the Cajun band Kevin Naquin and the Ossun Playboys which hales from Ossun, Louisiana. In 2000, the band won the CFMA 2000 Album of the Year with the album “Pour La Premiere Fois,” and CFMA 2000 Song of the Year. They have recorded with Swallow Records and Bayou Groove Productions.

The first form of traditional Cajun music began before the 1900s near Kevin’s hometown in south Louisiana. When the Acadians came from Nova Scotia to Louisiana in 1764, they brought with them many beautiful ballads that told stories of bygone years. Many of these songs can be traced back to France, and many songs from France drifted to the bayou and the prairie region via Nova Scotia and New Orleans. These ballads are not widely performed today, but were the basis of what is now accepted as Cajun music.

Musicologists have categorized Cajun music as traditional Cajun, country/Texas swing Cajun, dancehall Cajun, Cajun “renaissance,” and contemporary Cajun. The San Diego Cajun Playboys aims at traditional-style Cajun. Kevin Naquin and the Ossun Playboys are contemporary Cajun, a category which also includes Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, Lee Benoit, Grammy-nominated Lisa Haley and the Zydekat Krewe, Travis Matte and Grammy-nominated Roddie Romero and the Hub City Allstars. These bands travel extensively throughout the United States, and particularly to California (specifically San Diego, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay areas). By the way, two the of the bands listed as “Grammy-nominated” were nominated in the first year for a new “Cajun and Zydeco” category just opened in 2008 by the Recording Academy. Congratulations to each of them. The Bon Temps Social Club of San Diego hosts a live band, usually from the Louisiana area, at their monthly dances, and September 13 they host Kevin Naquin and the Ossun Playboys. Tickets are not reserved. Just show up and enjoy the band. The cost is $14.

Jim Hance was introduced to Cajun and zydeco music in 1994, and has been a fan of the music ever since. Jim has been Webmaster for the Bon Temps Social Club Website for five years, and he designs flyers, such a the one on the right, which are posted on the Website to promote club dance events. He also maintains a calendar of Southern California C/Z dance events also on the Website.