Left: Dennis Boudreaux, Madeline Berzas, Jamie Berzas, Joe Simon and Walt Farr.
Dennis Boudreaux, being self-taught, started playing the guitar at age 12. He played in rock and roll bands as a lead guitar player in his early 20's. At age 24, he was playing in Cajun Bands and picked up the Fiddle. After playing with Joe Warren Cormier (Mr. T Beck Do), he helped create the band called "Wallace Trahan and Rice & Gravy." He played with this band for about 3 years. Then he started up the band "Savoir Faire" avec Paul Daigle in 1997 and is still playing with them. He is currently playing Fiddle with The Cajun Tradition Band all across Louisiana.
Madeline Berzas started playing the triangle with the band in the early 80’s. As time went on, she learned to play the drums and is currently playing the drums with the band. She has toured all over with the band and has played in numerous restaurants, festivals, conventions, and other places promoting the Cajun music. She has over twenty years of experience with the band and is also on the Mamou Cajun Music Festival Staff in which she helps out with the entertainment part of the festival. Her biggest job is to keep the band together and on track.
Jamie’s band, The Cajun Tradition, founded by Jamie Berzas and Mark Young in 1979, is well known for their fantastic style and representation of traditional music. Jamie and his band, which includes his wife Madeline on drums, have been entertaining audiences with their performances in local places such as Fred’s Lounge and restaurants such as Mulate’s, Belizaire's, Randol’s, and Boutin’s. Jamie’s unique style of playing has gained him popularity throughout the years and afforded Jamie and his band the opportunity to thrill audiences at such places as the 1984 Louisiana World’s Fair, the 1987 Annual Cajun Music Festival at Loretta Lynn’s Dude Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, the Eunice Liberty Theater, and our own Mamou Cajun Music Festival for over twenty years. Among Jamie’s many performances was a three-week tour on the cruise ship, M/S Olympia, which traveled the Baltic Sea from Sweden to Finland.
Joe Simon and his lovely wife Emily, have 3 beautiful daughters and live in Youngsville, Louisiana. He comes from a family of seven boys and a father who played guitar and mandolin. Playing the guitar since he was 17, Joe has played with many talented bands. These bands include: Nouveau Coeur, The Mulate Playboys, The Dixie Ramblers, Tony Thibodeaux and the Cajun five, and The Cajun Tradition Band. He has played at many venues such as Prejean's, Randol's, Mulate's in three locations-Breaux Bridge, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans, Boutin's in Baton Rouge and Tee George's in Lafayette. Joe had traveled to Copenhagen Denmark in 1993 and 1994 to teach and perform. In 1994, by special invitation, he went to Vienna Virginia with the late Fiddle player and luthier Lionel Leleux at the Barn's of Wolf Trap. This was a four day event sponsored partially by the Smithsonion titled, "Folk Master's of The Fiddle." In 1994 he was nominated by the Cajun French Music Association for Male Vocalist of the year for an album recorded with Fiddler Beau Thomas, Jamie Berzas and others. In our opinion, we consider Joe to be one of the finest Cajun Vocalists around.
Walt Farr was born in Mississippi and grew up listening to Gospel and Country Music. At age 14, Walt was given his 1st guitar. In school, he played the sousaphone (tuba) for 6 years. After graduating and 4 years of Military Service, he met Dennis Boudreaux and they formed a band called "Louisiana Ave." They played a crossover style of Country, Blues, Rock and Cajun Music. After that, he played with Mitch Landry and the "Cajun Ramblers," a band from Baton Rouge. With this band, he played Rhythm Guitar and Bass for 5 years. He then went to play with Mr. Paul Daigle and "Savoir Faire." Walt now enjoys the pleasure of playing Bass Guitar with Jamie Berzas and "The Cajun Tradition Band" at venues across Louisiana, from Mamou to New Orleans and every where in between.
Sadly, our Fiddle player and friend, Dennis Boudreaux passed away (from a heart attack) early on New Year's morning, shortly after playing for the CFMA's New Year's Eve Dance in Baton Rouge, La. He was an awesome Fiddle player and will be deeply missed by all. Our prayers go out to his family.
