All in the Family Balfa Toujours brings its Cajun music and its Cajun culture to town. by Lauren Mutter he grass is always greener on your side of the fence – as long as you take the time to cultivate it. This isn’t John Deere’s sales philosophy, nor is it Zig Zigler’s instructions for happy living. But it is the guiding principle behind the success of one of Cajun music’s most beloved namesakes, Balfa Toujours. “A big part of our band is not only playing the music of my father and uncles,” says Christine Balfa, one of the founders of Balfa Toujours and daughter of fiddler Dewey Balfa of the Balfa Brothers, “but also presenting several messages that my dad really felt were very important. When he left Louisiana in the early ’60s to perform his music, it was at a time that everybody was losing the small minority cultures in the United States. And a big part of his message was, ‘I hope you like Cajun music and Cajun culture, but I’m not out here for you to like my music. I want you to look in your own backyard and see what your culture has ... and respect that and learn to appreciate that.’” Balfa Toujours will bring their music and their message to The Dixon Gallery and Gardens July 19th for the Cajun Music Fest, part of Harrah’s Summer Garden Entertainment Series. Memphis is just one stop “in a nice variety of shows” for the group, who have been everywhere from Seattle to Mexico to London this year alone. The members of Balfa Toujours, meaning “Balfa, still and always,” have dedicated their music to the Balfa Brothers and their work on behalf of Cajun culture. In the words of Michael Doucet, another leading figure in Cajun music since the mid-1970s, Dewey was “a cultural guided missile,” and brothers Will, Rodney, Harry, and Burke helped launch him. Will and Rodney were killed in an auto accident in 1979, but Dewey kept their spirit alive until his death in 1992. The group is composed of Christine, guitarist and lead vocalist; Christine’s husband, Dirk Powell, who plays the accordion and second fiddle when the group plays the twin-fiddle music that is such a large part of the Balfa Brothers’ style; Kevin Wimmer, lead fiddle; and Ganey Arsement, bass and accordion. Balfa’s uncle, Burke, the last of the Balfa Brothers, and her oldest sister, Nelda, play with the group on special occasions. The family members formed the group the summer after Dewey’s death, initially because “it was up to us to carry on the family music and message. It seemed like the natural thing to do,” says Christine, who was a student in modern languages at the University of Southwestern Louisiana at the time. Wimmer had played fiddle with Dewey in the early 1980s and had even lived with the Balfas for several months. Christine met Powell in 1991 at a festival where he was playing the Appalachian music he had learned from his grandfather. Arsement, the newest addition, joined in 1996 after he saw the group perform in a “Tribute to Dewey Balfa.” Their sincerity and energy inspired him to carry on the spirit of his great-grandfather, accordionist Andrew Doucet, who died when Arsement was 11. “We didn’t plan for it to happen, but we just kind of went that way, and here we are, five years later,” Christine says. “It’s a very unique culture that has managed to keep itself alive and thriving in southwest Louisiana because of its isolation,” she says of her work to spread the culture today, which she describes as “people that work hard, that play hard, enjoy good food, dancing, and music. “We felt very strongly about not only keeping the music going, but also the culture as a whole,” she continues. “And part of that is keeping the language alive.” Balfa Toujours performs all of their songs in French. Another part of that culture is the way that music is played. The various members of Balfa Toujours have some formal instrumental training, from membership in a marching band to years of studying classical piano. But “it’s not music that’s read,” Christine says. “This music is all learned by ear.” And by heart. Christine lets almost no subject go by without bringing up her father and the Balfa Brothers’ legacy. Other Zydeco musicians have influenced the group, but it seems that all the members of Balfa Toujours have made this strictly a family affair.