Dewey Balfa (54):

-Going to festivals to get laughed at and bringing home the 'echo.' Good cornbread until someone tells them what they have, coming from the outside;
-Learning songs from his father and some of the other musicians such as J.B. Fuselier, Leo Soileau, Harry Choates, Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys;
-He loves all musics;
-Musical family. Grandfather, great-grandfather played fiddle, they're still alive through the music. Brothers still alive in the same way;
-Old people didn't want their music to be played after they died. Dewey doesn't like the idea of people making money of dead people's music;
-Respecting Floyd Soileau by waiting a year after they died before releasing some more music. Elvis Presley, Hank Williams Sr., Harry Choates, Iry LeJeune, even Dewey's brothers;
-1948-string band. Playing 8 gigs a week. Some places couldn't afford a full band or Mr. Hadley Fontenot (accordion player at the time) couldn't make it;
-Playing Texas swing/popular music of the time;
-Iry LeJeune's Love Bridge Waltz-turning point, music wasn't dead, just underground. One of the first artists/accordionists to be recorded after WWII. Harry Choates was playing string band music. Iry was recreating Amédé Ardoin's music;
-Ralph Rinzler in 1964, before then in the 1950s. Playing music for different gatherings wit his brothers. Dewey always asked Floyd to make an album with a photograph and a statement from each artist that recorded them (Dick Richard, Nonc Allie Young, etc.) because they were part of the Balfa Bros. band;
-Balfa Bros. not a family band, but a brotherhood. Dick Richard, Marc Savoy, Robert Jardell, Nathan Abshire, Allie Young-big family with lots of love;
-Ralph Rinzler looking for talent in Acadiana. Newspaper article in Opelousas newspaper;
-Revon Reed's radio show-interviewing musicians. Dewey had to work. Revon called up Dewey at the time Barry Goldwater was running for president against Lyndon B. Johnson. Dewey WAS NOT interested in going to Newport, Rhode Island. His family convinced him to call Revon back. Vinnis LeJeune planned on going, but the guitarist decided not to go;
-Dewey had no idea what a festival/workshop/concert was. He always loved to play music, a good pass-time, universal language via facial expression. Playing house dances, clubs. Going from seeing less than 200 people to 17,000 in Newport. Peter, Paul, & Mary. Johnny Cash. Mississippi John Hurt;
-Dewey, Vinnis LeJeune, Gladdie Thibodeaux, Revon Reed on triangle and Mr. Paul as dignitary;
-Action needs to be taken, but what could a poor guy like Dewey do? Thanking Ralph Rinzler for the opportunity. Leading to several other festivals and traveling;

-The Balfa Bros. have broken more virgin ground with traditional Cajun music than any other band. Always thought they'd meet an audience that booed them away, still haven't run into that;
-1967-First time in Newport. Doing work with Ambrose Thibodeaux, the Landreneaus. Dewey had a specific traditional sound with his family band, doing stuff with his family band. Ralph came to Mamou in 1965 and did a lot of recordings which are now in the Library of Congress;
-A little rusty. Nathan Abshire didn't wanna get on a plane, he finally started traveling with Dewey;
-Father's experience with music vs. Dewey's/Nathan playing 30,000 feet in the air on a plane. Quite a big change;
-Will this music/language/culture survive? No one worked in the fields and played music and told stories. Kids came back from school, did homework and watched tv (artificial things). Bringing music into the schools via a grant;
-Music of the people, no longer chanky-chank;
-Barry describing Dewey's effort to bring music out of the dancehalls and to force people to think about this. Making the students understand that they don't only have Beethoven, the Beetles, and Hank Williams Jr. to imitate, musicians from their own culture. Making this music available to them;
-If a person has lost his roots, Dewey feels sorry for them. Dewey's culture is no better than any other culture, it's the best culture for him. First American, then Cajun;
-Playing for a superintendent--mixture of white and black people. Chanky-chank vs beautiful. White and Black cultures intertwined in our part of the country--gumbo;
-People are used to thinking certain ways;
-Dewey, Leo LeBlanc, and James Domengeaux-Domengeaux referred to it as chanky-chank. Ron and Faye Stanford doing research on the music. Be sure not to mention Cajun music at the camp. Traveling with his music. Domengeaux didn't think it was important. 80% of the preservation of the French language came through the music;
-First Festival Acadien et Créole went for 3 days and convinced what music meant to people of this area. Dewey had a lot to do with creating it;
-No age limit, no blind people, even deaf people can respond to the vibration of music;
-Exposing music to the people in power. Most people were aiming at the audience. Dewey wasn't worried about the audience, his aim was at the big wigs for them to see what music meant to the general public. Music will take care of the audience, aiming at the cultural authorities;
-Rinzler asked Dewey is he realized how many lives/people that the Balfa Bros. have affected via the music. Dewey realized only after Will and Rodney died how much influence they had;
-Barry never saw Dewey go after glory. Dewey becoming a cultural hero by his good example. Musicians who had the same experiences from outside as Dewey. Dewey feels gifted, because he's limited in book education. Spokesman for the culture;
-Dewey wanted Rodney or Nathan or someone else to speak. Dewey felt like the loudmouth. Rodney told him he spoke well and to continue doing it. Dewey's godfather told him he couldn't speak English, but he could take his place in French;
-A week in Canada. He called up his godfather and he refused;

-Dewey had questions often (the Good Lord is hearing him) and he didn't know the answer, but something would happen to where he had a logical answer. He always felt he had this mission;
-The echo alerted the people here. The culture had to bounce back from the outside for people to quit taking it for granted. Concerts all over the world for benefits for Will and Rodney when they died. Even a grant for a documentary concerning the survival of the culture;
-Statues and plaques are all fine and good (like Huey Long). Dewey would like to see their legacy in the survival of the music and the culture;
-Dewey knowing he was getting through to people. Barry, Michael Doucet. Barry is still talking about the audience. Dewey was aiming at the people who had the power;
-NEA meeting in New Orleans. Allan Jabore? People wanted to go ride around and visit Cajun country. Calling around for a restaurant. 30-40 people. Feeding everyone for a $50 gumbo and potato salad;
-Louisiana's culture divided into 3, you can't put all three of them together. Eating gumbo, sauce piquante, boudin, cracklins, etc. in another area of the state. Ruining/destroying culture by importing/exporting aspects;
-People went back to Washington D.C. and Dewey and Batiste from Baton Rouge and a lady from Shreveport all appointed to the advisory panel. Nothing for traditional culture/music. No proposal for folklorism, Dewey asking for the monies to be held until the issue is recognized and there was an amendment to allocate monies. Same thing in Missouri, Dewey saw and knew where it was needed. He did his share, even though it may not have been big;
-Getting the people of the power to talk about it. Big change in the attitude of the youth (like Barry, Michael Doucet). People Barry's age and younger who are now proud to be Cajun and speak French and were previously ashamed to claim their culture;
-Just beginning, just lit the fire. Someone needs to take over;

Dewey Balfa (54)
***Either 1981 or 1982, date unknown***
Continued on AN1-194