Joel Savoy (born in

Eunice, Louisiana Eunice is a city in Acadia and St. Landry parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The 2010 census placed the population at 10,398, a decrease of 1,101, or 9.5 percent, from the 2000 tabulation of 11,499. The St. Landry Parish portion of Eunic ...

, USA) is a

Cajun music Cajun music (french: Musique cadienne), an emblematic music of Louisiana played by the Cajuns, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Although they are two separate genres, Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem ...

ian and music producer from Southwest

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. His father

Marc Savoy Marc Savoy ( ) (born October 1, 1940) is an American musician, and builder and player of the Cajun accordion. Early life He was born on his grandfather's rice farm near Eunice, Louisiana. His grandfather was a fiddler, who occasionally played w ...

, famous accordion builder and musician, and his mother, Ann Savoy, author and music producer, are well known ambassadors and supporters of preserving the

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...

culture.

History

Joel Savoy was born in

Eunice Eunice is a feminine given name, from the Greek Εὐνίκη, ''Euníkē'', from "eu", good, and "níkē", victory. Eunice is also a relatively rare last name, found in Nigeria and the Southeastern United States, chiefly Louisiana and Georgia. Pe ...

. In 1995 many of his childhood experiences with the traditional

Courir de Mardi Gras were included in the children's book ''Mardi Gras: a Cajun Country Celebration'' written by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith and Lawrence Migdale. He is a member of the Savoy Family Band along with his father

Marc Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

, mother

Ann Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

, and brother

Wilson Savoy Wilson Allen Savoy (born February 1, 1982 in Eunice, Louisiana) is a Grammy winning accordionist, keyboard player, fiddler and singer with the Cajun bands Pine Leaf Boys and The Band Courtbouillon, as well as a local filmmaker in Lafayette, LA. ...

. In 1999 Joel Savoy co-founded the Red Stick Ramblers from

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

. In 2006 he started the annual ''Faquetaigue Courir de Mardi Gras'' as an alternative to the main Eunice courir event. The run has become one of the most musically based versions of the traditional event. Also in 2006 he founded

Valcour Records Valcour Records is an independent record label based in Eunice, Louisiana. Valcour was founded in 2006 by Joel Savoy (son of Marc and Ann Savoy), with friends Phillip LaFargue II and Lucius Fontenot. Valcour Records' first release in 2006 was ...

, an independent record label based in

, with friends Phillip LaFargue II and Lucius Fontenot. Valcour Records' first release was ''Goin' Down to Louisiana'' (2006) by fiddle player Cedric Watson and

accordionist Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

Corey Ledet. During the 2007 Cajun French Music Association's ''Le Cajun'' ceremony at Lafayette's

Blackham Coliseum Blackham Coliseum is a multipurpose arena in Lafayette, Louisiana. It was built on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus in 1949 as the home to the then-named SLI Bulldogs, now called the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball teams. ...

, Joel Savoy garnered the "2007 Fiddler of the Year" award. In 2008 he played on, recorded and produced his mother's album ''If Dreams Come True'' at his Studio Savoy Faire. His brother Wilson and several members of the Red Stick Ramblers also played on the album of

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

-style blues and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

standards as " Ann Savoy and her Sleepless Knights". Joel Savoy had played and performed with his ex-wife and fellow fiddler, Kelli Jones. The couple released a four-song EP in 2018.

Discography (partial)

* ''Linzay Young & Joel Savoy'' - Linzay Young & Joel Savoy (2008)

* ''Joel Savoy's Honky Tonk Merry-Go-Round" (2013) Valcour Records * ''Toi, Tu Joues à L’amour'' - Kelli Jones and Joel Savoy (2018) Valcour Records

With others

* ''Allons Boire un Coup: A Collection of Cajun and Creole Drinking Songs'' - Various artists (2006) Valcour Records * ''

If Dreams Come True ''If Dreams Come True'' is an album by American singer and musician Ann Savoy, released in 2007. History Prior to recording her first solo album, Savoy performed professionally for many years with her husband accordionist Marc Savoy and fiddler ...

'' - Ann Savoy & Her Sleepless Knights (2007) Memphis Records * ''Cedric Watson'' - Cedric Watson (2008) Valcour Records * ''The Cajun Country Revival: The Right Combination'' Jesse Lége, Joel Savoy, Caleb Klauder, and others (2011) Valcour Records * ''The Cajun Country Revival: Greetings from Louisiana'' Jesse Lége, Joel Savoy, Caleb Klauder, and others (2014) Valcour Records * ''I Wanna Sing Right: Rediscovering Lomax in the Evangeline Country'' four-EP set - various artists (2015) Valcour Records * ''Sabra & the Get Rights'' EP - Sabra & the Get Rights (2016) Valcour Records * ''Farewell, Alligator Man: A Tribute to the Music of

Jimmy C. Newman Jimmy Yves Newman (August 29, 1927 – June 21, 2014), better known as Jimmy C. Newman (the C stands for Cajun), was an American country music and cajun singer-songwriter and long-time star of the Grand Ole Opry. Early life Newman was born ...

'' - Joel Savoy, Kelli Jones, Caleb Klauder, and Reeb Willms (2019?) Valcour Records

References

External links