CAJUN FESTIVAL, JULY 4th FREE TO THE PUBLIC

Jana Jae playing washboard

On July 4 Grand Lake Festivals will host its annual Arts, Crafts, Music and Cajun Festival with entertainment by the popular “Bayou Roots” band from Louisiana, in the air-conditioned comfort of the Grove Civic Center.   Beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 4 the doors open for a fun-filled day of wonderful arts and crafts booths, delicious Cajun food and entertainment throughout the day. Admission is free to the public—there will be donation boxes for those wishing to help with expenses in bringing this popular Cajun band back to the Grand Lake area. The food court will offer tasty Cajun food at affordable prices—come early and spend the day enjoying the delicious food and wonderful entertainment and shopping with the artists at the vendor booths.

Chris Miller & Bayou Roots

Back by popular demand, Louisiana’s hottest Cajun band, “Bayou Roots” will entertain. throughout the day on July 4^th led by Chris Miller on vocals, accordion, fiddle, keys, and harmonica, this group provides great dance rhythms and a musical adventure that takes exciting and surprising turns as this group takes their audience back to the musical roots of early Creole “la-la” music and stretches forward toward the more modern sounds of Zydeco with a bluesy chromatic accordion and saxophone speaking the language of swamp-pop. Rarely has there been a Louisiana French music offering with quite the depth as this one, with everything from traditional Cajun music to several flavors of Zydeco. These exciting and energetic musicians seek to honor the roots of their music’s tradition by extending the reach of new and creative musical branches.

Jana Jae, international touring star and founder of Grand Lake Festivals, Inc. will also go CAJUN. Her diverse musical styles blend country fiddling, western swing, pop and the classics producing exciting entertainment and thrilling an audience of all ages. Jana along with Bayou Roots and others will be performing on July 4 from 10 to 4 in the air-conditioned comfort of the Grove Civic Center.

The Cajun Chef, Harry Worley is cooking up some of your favorite Cajun dishes!! This year’s menu includes Chicken & Sausage Gumbo, Red Beans and Rice, and Crawfish Throwdown. Mark your calendars and bring your Cajun appetites to enjoy the best Cajun cuisine this side of Louisiana.

The Arts, Crafts, Music & Cajun Festival has proven to be successful and has become a major event in the Grand Lake area. This event devoted to good family entertainment is hosted by the non-profit organization, Grand Lake Festivals, Inc. with the assistance of the Oklahoma Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Put on your dancing shoes and bring your whole family to enjoy this free event, on Saturday, July 4th at the Grove Civic Center. For additional information visit www.grandlakefestivals.com or call 918-786-8896.

More info on “Bayou Roots”:

This band, based in Lake Charles, Louisiana, has good reasons to be proud of this brand new self-titled CD. Chris Miller is a wonderful all-round musician. Next to his great vocals and song-writing talent, he also plays accordion, fiddle, harmonica, piano and percussion.

From “OffBeat Magazine”
It’s fashionable these days to proclaim oneself as a roots musician, especially when it comes to hunting down big money gigs. When Chris Miller, former lynchpin of Louisiana’s Kingfish, says his new band, Bayou Roots, is totally roots-centric, you can bet the farm on that. Rarely has there been a Louisiana French music offering with quite the depth as this one, with everything from traditional Cajun music to several flavors of zydeco. Sandwiched in between the driving dancehall chestnut, “Bayou Roots Special” and the Clifton Chenier-styled “Zydeco Breakdown” are rocking renditions of Creole fiddler Canray Fontenot’s “Bee de La Manche,” a bottom-end pounding version of Willis Touchet’s “Old Fashion Two-Step” and blitzing coverage of Nathan Abshire’s “Choupique Two-Step.” The first-generation zydeco-styled “Yon Yon’ Boogie” swings like crazy while the nouveau-styled “Please Stay Dance” recalls Zydeco Force with an added twist of a boogie-bombing piano solo. The roots examination is a comprehensive one, sealed with a couple of Acadian/Celtic tinged selections, “Deux Contradenses” with crazy spoon rhythms and fiddle-harmonica interplay, as well as the lilting “Dansez Codinne” that features the angelic voices of the Miller youth. Though the pair may sound like imports from a foreign soil, amazingly, everything is homegrown here. The Appalachian lamenting “In The Pines” is another creative masterpiece, initially resembling a scratchy record, then transitioning to an accordion-led, Cajun French sung counterpart before returning to its plaintive, Anglo form. That in itself symbolizes Cajun music’s durability, the willingness to adapt, borrow and incorporate while surviving the gale forces of Americanization. Trophy stuff.
– Dan Willging, Offbeat Magazine

FROM GRAND LAKE FESTIVALS, INC. (Non-profit organization)

For more information, Kathleen Pixley 918-786-8896

(For additional info & photos, please visit www.bayouroots.com for Bayou Roots Band and www.janajae.com for Jana Jae)

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