Personnel: Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin (vocals, accordion); Steve Riley (drums).

Balfa Toujours: Christine Balfa (vocals, guitar, triangle); Dirk Powell (vocals, fiddle, bass, triangle); Kevin Wimmer (fiddle); Mitchell Reed (triangle).

Recorded live at the Augusta Heritage Workshop, Elkins, West Virginia in July 1994; Okra Gumbo Productions, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana in June 1997. Includes liner notes by Dirk Powell.

Personnel: Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin (vocals, accordion); Christine Balfa (vocals, guitar, triangle); Dirk Powell (vocals, fiddle, triangle); Kevin Wimmer (fiddle); Steve Riley (drums); Mitchell Reed (triangle).

Liner Note Author: Dirk Powell.

Recording information: Augusta Heritage Workshop, Elkins, W.VA (07/1994-06/1997); Okra Gumbo Productions, Breaux Bridge, LA (07/1994-06/1997).

Photographers: Rick Olivier; Nick Spitzer.

This is another in the long line (these musical families go back to the 19th century) of joinings of these two families. The Balfa family is from the Cajun tradition, while the Ardoins stem from the Creole tradition (they were playing back when it was called "French music"). The music on this disc evolved out of friendship and mutual admiration for the music that they share; it is a special album that not only has the latest band from the Balfa family group playing with the 82-year-old elder of the Ardoins, but it has Steve Riley playing the drums. This disc is about as close as you are going to get to the pure music of this region before it was "discovered," its children introduced to VH1 and MTV, and the hybrids formed when the "French music" was mixed with rock & roll and R&B. Balfa Toujours have two very good discs out on Rounder and play around the country, but Bois Sec Ardoin is 82-years-old and not traveling the club circuit any longer. He and his former partner, legendary fiddler Canray Fontenot, who died in 1995, earned several National Heritage Awards for their music. This is music that will inspire one to turn to one's partner and say, "Allons danser!" ("let's dance"). ~ Bob Gottlieb