Tag: Chris Strachwitz Interview
Down Home Music: The Stories and Photographs of Chris Strachwitz
A visual storytelling celebration of American roots music in its rich variety through unseen and newly scanned photographs by the founder of the legendary Arhoolie Records....
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The Chris Strachwitz Collection
As founder of both Arhoolie Records and the Arhoolie Foundation, Chris Strachwitz has been collecting, documenting, recording, and promoting regional roots music for over 60 years....
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About Chris Strachwitz
The ripple effect of Chris Strachwitz in the world is immeasurable in preserving this music. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to not...
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Los Pingüinos del Norte
I believe when I first heard Mexican music on the radio, there was a little station in Santa Paula, which is very close south of Santa Barbara. And in the afternoons, I would sneak back into my room sometimes.
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KEUN – Eunice, LA 1962 Gallery
In 1962 Chris Strachwitz journeyed on a road trip that took him from California to Texas and all through the South, the East Coast, Midwest, and then back down to the South before heading back to California. While driving from New Orleans back towards Texas, he heard a Cajun radio show on KEUN-AM and drove to Eunice to check it out. Here is an interview with Mr. Strachwitz talking about that visit to Eunice, Louisiana and the photos he took.
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Herbert Sam Interview – Zydeco
Herbert Sam was born near Opelousas, LA., in 1924 into a musical Creole family. His father played accordion and so did his mother and two brothers, including Ambrose Sam who in the 1950s went to Los Angeles, Ca, and played for the Creole community in that area.
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Blind James Campbell Interview
Born in Nashville in 1906, Blind James Campbell was a blues singer and guitarist who was blinded in a work accident. He and his Nashville street band were active from the ‘30s to the ‘60s, and they recorded and released a record on Arhoolie in 1963 (Blind James Campbell and His Nashville Street Band).
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Octa Clark Interview – Cajun
And you take Joe Falcon, was very good too. And Amédé Breaux was very good too. Amédé Breaux was good too. He was first a singer and he was good, too. A lot of people were good, but some like Aldus Roger, you going to hear him. He’s a good playing, but an old musician told me. He said, “Clark, nobody can beat you for dance.” I said, “You believe so?” He said, “Yes.”
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Don Santiago Jiménez Interview
Santiago Jiménez, Sr. learned to play accordion watching his father, Patricio Jiménez, who was the only accordion player Santiago recalls playing at dances around town in San Antonio, where he grew up. He talks to Chris Strachwitz about learning to play at age 10, and buying his first two-row accordion from a pawn shop in 1935. He would later become known for his consistent use of the two-row button accordion.
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Wallace “Cheese” Read Interview – Cajun
You probably won’t see Cheese Read at the local dance halls around Eunice because he is not a professional musician. He prefers to play music at home or at parties with a few friends. But a more powerful singer or a more precise, knowledgeable fiddle player couldn’t be found in Southwest Louisiana.
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