Cedric Watson
Lafayette, Louisiana
Creole Fiddle

South Texas native Cedric Watson first took up guitar as a teenager, introduced to the Creole and Cajun music of his grandmother's family. He figured out the melodies by playing along on harmonica and an old concertina, while listening to the occasional old-style Creole music played on Houston zydeco radio shows on 97.9 "the Box" and 90.1 KPFT. Watson became familiar with the pieces.  "From when I first heard it I've always loved the old Creole music from my heart," Watson says. "Some of those old songs like 'Jolie Bassette' just made me fall in love with the music."

Switching to the fiddle and accordion, he was soon playing jam sessions in the Houston area and gigs with his band Tout a Fait.  James Adams, a Houston-based DJ who runs a zydeco music show, and also plays guitar, heard his playing and was impressed with Cedric’s interest in Creole fiddling and, with Creole fiddler Eddie Poulard, began to introduce Watson to some of the oldest surviving Creole musicians in Texas and Louisiana. By dedicating himself to the music -- and by learning from musicians like Goldman Thibodaux -- Watson learned the old sounds.

Still, being a Creole fiddler in east Texas zydeco dance halls can get you some strange looks. "In Texas, I wanted to play Creole but everybody wanted zydeco," Watson says. "When I would take out my fiddle, people would say, 'Why do you want to play that white French music?'"  Watson explains his interest: "It's important for me to play traditional Creole pretty much because it's almost dead, and there's no young blacks playing fiddle or traditional Creole music," he says. "If some young guy doesn't come along before all the older musicians pass away, it will all be gone."

While Watson has been called one of the few young Creole fiddlers playing the old Creole style music reminiscent of the great Canray Fontenot and Bebe Carriere, he has another claim to fame: he composed the hit song, "I want my baby... my baby... my baby back ribs."

Today a member of the popular Pine Leaf Boys band and the Creole Cowboys, Watson will be joined by Chris Stafford (drums) and Eric Breaux (guitar) at the 2006 Great Lakes Folk Festival.

Links

http://www.sfbayou.com/b2b_0404_1.htm

http://www.lafolkroots.org/0_Hweek/Y2006/Staff.htm#CedricWatson

http://www.tradmusic.com/groupinfoa.asp?groupID=1767

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