From Appalachia to Louisiana, Follow the Fiddle

When Cedric Watson takes the stage for his outdoor performance at the Center for the Arts, Southwest Virginia audiences may hear something familiar.

Watson's music is rooted in the Cajun and Creole traditions of Suthwest Louisiana, hundreds of miles from the mountains of Appalachia. But listen closely and some of the sounds may feel surprisingly familiar.

The fiddle is a good place to start.

An Instrumental Connection

Long before the accordion became one of the sounds most closely associated with Cajun music, the fiddle was at the heart of music-making in Louisiana. It also became essential to the musical traditions that developed here in Appalachia.

The music that emerged in each place is distinctly its own, but for listeners familiar with Appalachian old-time music, the sound of a Cajun fiddle can spark a surprising sense of recognition.

Phyllis Newbill knows that feeling.

Newbill grew up in Southwest Virginia and was immersed in Appalachian history, music, and dance as a teenager. Through the years, she spent time around musicians, jam sessions, and places such as the Floyd Country Store.

She was hundreds of miles from home, however, when she discovered just how familiar another region's music could feel. On a high school trip to New Orleans, Newbill encountered street musicians playing the fiddle on Bourbon Street. Before long, she was dancing.

“The moment when we got to Bourbon Street and we heard the music, there was a strong, grounded connection. I was like, ‘Oh, I know what to do with this,’” she remembered.

Music Shaped by Many Cultures

So how did musical traditions from Appalachia and Southwest Louisiana come to share some familiar sounds?

There's no single, straight line connecting them. The paths that brought people to Appalachia and Southwest Louisiana were different, but in both places, migration helped shape the music that took root there.

For generations, people have carried music with them as they moved across countries, continents, and regions. Instruments, songs, and musical traditions traveled too, taking root in new places and changing as they encountered new people and cultures. In Appalachia, European traditions met African, Indigenous, and other influences. In Louisiana, French, African, Caribbean, Indigenous, Spanish, and other cultures helped shape a musical landscape all its own.

The result isn't one musical tradition expressed in two different places. It's two distinct traditions that demonstrate something fascinating about folk music — it moves with people. And wherever it goes, it evolves.

Made for Gathering

This is music meant to bring people together.

In Appalachia, old-time music has long been part of dances, jams, festivals, and community events. Cajun and Creole music similarly grew out of social life, played at house parties, dances, celebrations, and eventually dance halls.

This wasn't music people simply sat quietly and watched. It was participatory. People gathered. Musicians played. People danced. Songs and tunes were picked up from other musicians and passed along.

“You watch people and you join in the music,” Newbill said of the jam-session tradition she knows from Appalachia. “It's not direct instruction. It's immersive instruction.”

It's also difficult to separate the music from movement. Newbill learned Appalachian dance growing up, so when she encountered that Cajun fiddle music in New Orleans, standing still wasn't much of an option.

“As a person who likes to dance, I could not not dance,” she said.

Keeping Traditions Alive

Traditional music doesn't stay alive by staying the same.

“Music always evolves,” Newbill said.

Few artists demonstrate that better than Cedric Watson. A fiddler, accordionist, singer, and songwriter, he has dedicated much of his career to exploring, preserving, and expanding the Creole music of Southwest Louisiana.

A four-time Grammy nominee, Watson draws on generations of Cajun and Creole tradition, while bringing his own voice to the music. With his band, Bijou Créole, he moves from old dance melodies to contemporary zydeco grooves and bluegrass fiddle tunes.

For Watson, keeping a tradition alive doesn't mean keeping it frozen in time. It means playing it, sharing it, and allowing it to keep moving. And when that music arrives in Southwest Virginia, listeners may discover that Louisiana doesn't sound quite as far away as they expected.

Come Hear It for Yourself

Watson and Bijou Créole perform a free outdoor concert Friday, Sept. 11, at 6:00 p.m. on the Patricia Buckley Moss Lawn at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech.

And if you're wondering how someone accustomed to Appalachian music might respond to the sounds of Southwest Louisiana, Newbill has a prediction.

“They're going to feel at home,” she said.

No knowledge of music history required. Just follow the fiddle.

Phyllis Newbill serves as the associate director of educational networks in the Center for Educational Networks and Impacts (CENI), which is part of the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT). She’s also a member of Virginia Tech’s Appalachian Caucus, a scout leader, and lover of all things Appalachian.