This workshop will follow a “play-by-ear” format. We will map out how to use the instrument by learning some popular “Vieux Temps” French Louisiana tunes.
Instructor Bio
John Vidrine is an old style melodic Cajun accordion player whose danceable playing is very soulful and genuine. John started playing as a teenager in his hometown of Mamou, Louisiana, where influences for the young player were to be found around every corner. His style is reminiscent of those accordion players he respected and sought to understand such as Nathan Abshire, Bois Sec Ardoin, Cyprien Landreneau, Roy Fuselier, Hadley Fontenot, Allie Young, and Marc Savoy, all well-known players in the region. John always had a deep affection for the fiddle sound, and his style is further influenced by the fiddlers Cheese Read, Lionel Leleux, Dewey and Will Balfa, Norris BoBoy Fontenot, Doc Guidry Eric Chapman, David Greely, and Dennis McGee, who he admires and has on occasion accompanied on accordion or guitar. John has never really played the circuit and dance clubs; he preferred to play for his own enjoyment and for his friends. Family gatherings, weddings, and small events have been the venues John performed most often, accompanied by Jane Vidrine on guitar or fiddle and son Jo on guitar or bass. John is best known for his leadership in the Mamou Mardi Gras band, having been tapped in when he was 16 years old and served for the last 13 years or so as the ‘Capitaine’ (leader) of that group of musicians who provide the music for the infamous Courire De Mardi Gras annual run in Mamou.