Zydeco — The Other Sound

Clifton Chenier, born in Opelousas in 1925, took Creole house dance music and added horns and organ. What came out when Creole musicians fused Cajun music with blues, R&B, and African-Caribbean rhythms is zydeco. The word derives from 'les haricots' — French for snapbeans — from Chenier's signature song 'Zydeco Sont Pas Salé,' a reference to hard times. The frottoir is a washboard worn as a vest and played with bottle openers. It is unique to zydeco. No other music in the world uses it. Chenier died in Lafayette in 1987 and is buried in All Souls Cemetery in Loreauville. Zydeco trail rides — horseback rides with live bands on flatbed trailers — happen most weekends across rural Acadiana. The horses move, the trailers roll, the music carries.