Jamie Berzas
Born in 1958, Jamie comes from a family of nine children, he being the eldest. He was raised by his parents, Nathan and Alida Berzas, in the community of L’anse Meg. He began playing at the age of ten when his Dad taught him how to play the Accordion. He also had the outside influence of many area musicians. He now plays not only the Accordion, but also the Guitar and Drums, as well as being a great lead vocalist. It comes as no surprise that Jamie has become such an accomplished musician.
Jamie and his wife, the former Madeline Martel, have raised his stepson Jonathon Brunet, here in the town of Mamou. Jonathon and his wife, Leslie, have two children. Not only is Jamie an accomplished musician, but was an auto mechanic for seventeen years. He now works for LSUMC/Huey P. Long Medical Center in Pineville as a Clinical Systems Specialist, and is also a nationally certified Biomedical Equipment Technician.
Jamie’s band, 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.
Fred’s Lounge is not the first to recognize Jamie’s talent. He and his band was awarded the title “Musician Du Bal” as first place winners in a “Bal De Maison” contest held a Acadian Village in Lafayette. He also received a Certificate of Appreciation for his appearance in the 1985 Folklife Festival from the Smithsonian Institution.
In 1986. Jamie Berzas and Cajun Tradition released a 45 rpm record. In 1988 an album titled, A La Vieille Facon, which received a 1989 Grammy Award nomination for “Most Traditional Folk Music Recording.” It was released on Swallow Records.
The National Park Service in New Orleans summarized Cajun Tradition’s performance at the Cajun Grand Ole Opry in Eunice and others by saying:
“At each performance this band did an excellent job of demonstrating and interpreting Cajun music and culture in a very intelligent manner.”
Jamie and his band has established a tradition of excellence in performance of Cajun music as demonstrated through the electric reception given them wherever they play. This group is exciting and dynamic-fun to watch and easy to dance to. Their roots are in the Cajun culture, and it is this heritage that allows them to create the best of what is both traditional and unique in Cajun music. We feel that anyone lucky enough to view and hear Jamie and his band will leave with a true understanding of what being Cajun means.
