popular all the time, but particularly busy on sundays after church. rice and gravy, fried fish, ribs and smothered stuffed turkey wings, which i am all over like a heat-seeking missile. damn. that looks serious. sid: mhmm. dave lemelle: when you say louisiana, they think of cajun. cajun is a big part of louisiana, but creole is a big part of louisiana too, you know. anthony: it used to be native to louisiana. herman fusiler: yeah. anthony: that was the original meaning as i understand it. herman fusiler: it still has hundreds of definitions, but for us, it s descendants of slaves and free people of color, and it deals with the food and the music. and the catholic church is a big part of it too. dave lemelle: trail rides and horseback riding is just a way of louisiana now. you know it s been going on for so long. herman fusiler: the music was always part of it, but the music got to be more of it, and then slowly but surely became a party, where, you know, kind of this s
creole means, or has come to mean, a mixture of languages, peoples, and cultures. in louisiana though, it s usually used to describe members of the african-american or mixed-race french-speaking community. why do you think it s important that people still sing in french and keep that language that dialect alive? herman fusiler: that s what makes it zydeco. zydeco has always been influenced by mainstream music. but it started as french music as the creole music. and you totally remove that from the music, a lot of times it s just rap with an accordion. or rock & roll with an accordion. you still have that sid: hip-hop stuff. i ll tell you what, i can call my momma, she s 85, right now on the phone. and she d want to talk to me in french. my grandma couldn t speak nothing else. dave: right. anthony: i m having lunch today with historian and radio dj herman fusiler, creole cowboy, dave lemelle, and musically inclined business owner, sid williams. the spot is laura s plate lunc
sid: mhmm. dave lemelle: when you say louisiana, they think of cajun. cajun is a big part of louisiana, but creole is a big part of louisiana too, you know. anthony: it used to be native to louisiana. herman fusiler: yeah. anthony: that was the original meaning as i understand it. herman fusiler: it still has hundreds of definitions, but for us, it s descendants of slaves and free people of color, and it deals with the food and the music. and the catholic church is a big part of it too. dave lemelle: trail rides and horseback riding is just a way of louisiana now. you know it s been going on for so long. herman fusiler: the music was always part of it, but the music got to be more of it, and then slowly but surely became a party, where, you know, kind of this social scene. anthony: there s a lot of pieces coming together. you ve got food, horses, and music.
sid williams: ash wednesday, man. that s the beginning of lent. got to get all the devil out of you. you know i drink a little whiskey every now and then. see a buzzard fly high, but he got to come down to drink. anthony: what is creole and what is cajun are increasingly difficult distinctions in this day of commercialization and appropriation. anything delicious and unique is going to end up slapped on a bag in front of the words potato chips. creole means, or has come to mean, a mixture of languages, peoples, and cultures. in louisiana though, it s usually used to describe members of the african-american or mixed-race french-speaking community. why do you think it s important that people still sing in french and keep that language that
dialect alive? herman fusiler: that s what makes it zydeco. zydeco has always been influenced by mainstream music. but it started as french music as the creole music. and you totally remove that from the music, a lot of times it s just rap with an accordion. or rock & roll with an accordion. you still have that sid: hip-hop stuff. i ll tell you what, i can call my momma, she s 85, right now on the phone. and she d want to talk to me in french. my grandma couldn t speak nothing else. dave: right. anthony: i m having lunch today with historian and radio dj herman fusiler, creole cowboy, dave lemelle, and musically inclined business owner, sid williams. the spot is laura s plate lunch ii. popular all the time, but particularly busy on sundays after church. rice and gravy, fried fish, ribs and smothered stuffed turkey wings, which i am all over like a heat-seeking missile. damn. that looks serious.