Cajun Corner – 2 Coreys, and Cajun country’s most decorated academic

This time around, we’ve got new albums from a brace of Coreys, a new single from a feted musician and poet, plus a landmark anniversary for a beacon of Louisiana music.

MoMojo Records are releasing a new album from veteran Zydeco accordionist, singer and songwriter Corey Arceneaux, boasting the proud title, Accordion Man. Arceneaux started performing professionally in 1991, following in the footsteps of his great-uncle Fernest Arceneaux and great-grandfather Ferdinand Arceneaux. Continuing the family’s 90-year tradition of playing Zydeco music, the veteran Corey is joined, in the Zydeco Fusion Band, by sons Desmond Joseph, Corey’s eldest son, playing bass, Tyler Arceneaux, the youngest, on drums and scrubboard, while Corey Arceneaux, Jr., the middle son, handles production in the control room.

Arceneaux draws his inspiration from some of the greats, such as Buckwheat Zydeco and the ‘Lafayette Zydeco’ sound, and reflects a deep connection to Louisiana’s vibrant culture. Songs like the album’s title track are exactly what you want from a Zydeco record, music that fizzes and pops and is all about good times. And there are another 8 tracks on the album that all fit the same description. This is modern Zydeco, borrowing liberally from soul and funk while still keeping to traditional zydeco stylings.

Accordion Man was recorded at the Dockside Studio in Maurice, Louisiana, with The Zydeco Fusion Band, featuring Grammy-winning guitarist Joe “Cookie” Chavis, and multiple Grammy nominee Cecil Green, among other top musicians. The full band line-up is: Corey Arceneaux: Accordion, Vocals; Cecil Green: Keyboards, Organ; Tyler Arceneaux: Scrub-board, Percussion, Drums; Joseph “Cookie” Chavis: Guitar; Desmond Joseph: Bass; Erica Fox: Featured & Vocals; Shane Bernard: Percussion. The album is out May 25th, and you can find more info on Corey Arceneaux and the Zydeco Fusion Band over at the record company’s website.

It seems that Cajun Coreys might be a bit like buses; you wait ages for one, and then two come along! Live In Alaska, officially released at the end of 2025, marks the first live recording from one of the great modern players of Zydeco accordion, despite the fact that he has been an active performer from a young age. Corey Ledet was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and spent his summers with relatives in small-town Parks, where he was exposed to their Kouri-Veni language and Creole traditions. The culture has its roots in Louisiana, but eventually spread into neighbouring Texas. Corey Ledet’s love for Creole/Zydeco music was instant and hard to ignore. Ledet studied the originators of the music like Clifton Chenier, John Delafose, and Boozoo Chavis. His studies branched out to include any (and all) Zydeco artists. At the age of 10, Corey started picking up shows as drummer for Houston’s Wilbert Thibodeaux and the Zydeco Rascals and slowly learned his way around the main instrument of the style – accordion. By the time he graduated from high school, Ledet was certain that music would be the focus of his future, moving to Louisiana to be fully immersed in his beloved Creole culture. At 44, he’s a two-time Grammy nominee and one of the most original zydeco players around, having created his own unique style out of the diverse influences of the many musicians he’s studied, blending old and new styles of Zydeco, and more! He has been a prolific traveller, with tours in Hawaii, Canada, throughout Europe and even into Russia, but never found the right opportunity to record a live set, something he desperately wanted to do, until the opportunity came up at the Anchorage Folk Festival, in February 2025. The result is Live in Alaska, the first live album for Corey Ledet Zydeco and his mysterious, new accordion, ‘Black Magic’. After sifting through three days of recording, the band settled on 11 tracks that show exactly why Ledet is known as ‘The Accordion Dragon’!

We have news of an interesting new single release from the great Zachary Richard. Released at the end of April, Heart Like An Eagle is a tribute to American military veterans and was inspired and co-written by retired U.S. Army Major Barry Guidry, a fellow Cajun. The song is an homage to fellow veterans, and all proceeds from the single’s sales will go to Wounded War Heroes, a non-profit organisation bringing care and support to military veterans in need, and based out of Lafayette, Louisiana.

This recording is the first in a while from an artist who has always been something of an enigma, even within the Cajun community. Zachary Richard has been an active musician for over 50 years, recording over 20 albums during his career to date, yet he remains an artist that even some Cajun music fans are relatively unaware of. In addition to being a great musician, he’s also a published poet and the first French-language poet laureate of Louisiana, an environmentalist, and a cultural activist who works hard to protect Cajun culture and to preserve the French language in the Americas. Among other honours, he is a Member of the Order of Canada. Officier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques et Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres de la République Française. He holds honourary doctorates from the University of Moncton (Nouveau Brunswick), University of Ottawa, University Sainte Anne (Nova Scotia) & the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. And he makes great music. If you don’t know his work, take some time to check out this amazing artist.

And, finally, Valcour Records celebrates Twenty Years of Stewarding Southern Louisiana’s Acadiana Musics and Cultures.

May 5th, 2026, marks twenty years since Joel Savoy recruited friends Phillip LaFargue and Lucius Fontenot to help start a record label highlighting the wildly unique music from and in the southern Louisiana region of Acadiana. Then, and now, their focus has been simple and clear: “Louisiane. Musique. Culture.” And since its inception in 2006, Valcour Records has championed exactly that, keeping a spotlight on the national treasure that is their regional music scene, and earning a host of Grammy nominations in the process.

From their beginnings outside of Eunice, Louisiana, in a small wooden building that once housed Savoy’s father’s first accordion workshop, to this past year’s A Tribute To The King Of Zydeco album that featured acts like The Rolling Stones and Taj Mahal paying tribute to Clifton Chenier, Valcour Records is the vessel delivering Cajun, Creole, Zydeco, and folk music to worldwide audiences in the 21st century.

“We started Valcour with a charge to platform, celebrate, and elevate Louisiana culture on the world stage—specifically Acadian culture,” says LaFargue, who still runs Valcour with Savoy, Fontenot having left the label in 2018. “There was so much going on back then that deserved to be discovered. In 20 years of doing this, we’ve seen a steady raising of the bar in talent, production, and visibility, and our art forms have been met with greater appreciation. It’s been exhilarating to see”.

Recently, Billy Nungesser, Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, honoured Valcour Records with a proclamation for their contributions to Louisiana music. A special musical celebration is being planned for November 19th at the Acadiana Center for the Arts in Lafayette, bringing together the label’s musicians and collaborators for an evening that honours Valcour’s 20-year journey. Through live collaborations and stories, the evening will aim to trace the label’s evolution from a group of friends recording in Savoy’s living room to a nationally respected recording outlet.

“Acadiana’s rich musical legacy deserves to be recognized as the fundamental piece of American music that it continues to be–especially as the lines between genres are blurred, and everything sounds like everything else”, says Savoy, who, along with his work with Valcour, has long been involved in the Acadiana music scene as a member of The Savoys. “When we started out in 2006 during a true ‘end of an era’ for recorded music, our mission was to empower this unique lightning-in-a-bottle that was the young Acadiana music scene at the time and to help the world discover it by making it available in all the ways. Looking back at our catalog of over 60 albums of music in Acadiana spanning the last two decades, it feels safe to say that we accomplished that mission, and I feel like a proud parent. Here’s to the next 20 years!”

Big congratulations to Valcour Records on a wonderful achievement. Here’s to the next 20 years indeed!

Here’s the music for this time around, including a track from Valcour recording artists, T’Monde. Laissez les bons temps rouler!