Cajun New England

More from Rhonda J. Miller

As Pete Seeger Celebrates 94th Birthday, Biographer Reflects on Folk Music, Media, Democracy (16:41)
From: Rhonda J. Miller

Folk music legend Pete Seeger celebrates his 94th birthday on May 3. Independent producer Rhonda Miller talks with David Dunaway, author of the Seeger biography “How Can I ...

Ladino Hanukah Songs Shed Light on Endangered Language of Jews (04:24)
From: Rhonda J. Miller

As the candles of Hanukah connect Jews around the world, holiday songs in Ladino shine a light on a language UNESCO rates as “severely endangered.” An increasing number of ...

Like Hanukah Oil, Endangered Ladino Language Endures Among Jews (04:56)
From: Rhonda J. Miller

As Jews around the world celebrate Hanukah, some in Boston are singing in Ladino, a language UNESCO rates as "severely endangered" in its 2009 Atlas of the World's Languages ...

Still Hungry After All These Years: Musicians Sing for Neighbors' Supper (03:45)
From: Rhonda J. Miller

Musicians in America's smallest state are kicking off a year-long project called Singing for Your Supper: The Rhode Island Hunger Project. The goal is to have one music venue ...

Dancing Into Death (04:25)
From: Rhonda J. Miller

None of us knows when our heart will beat its last beat. For Rodolfo Akel that last beat came on the dance floor. Friends in the Cajun and Zydeco dance community in New ...

Newport Folk Outlives Woodstock (06:16)
From: Rhonda J. Miller

Ten years before Woodstock and 40 years after, there's a weekend festival that's been a long time mixing politics, music and community - the Newport Folk Festival.

From School Shootings to Kazoos, Common Fence Venue Encircles Tragedy and Joy (04:07)
From: Rhonda J. Miller

While America continues to grieve over the massacre of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut and search for ways to keep such mass ...

One Man Dancing Creates Cajun Zydeco Festivals (04:18)
From: Rhonda J. Miller

The footprints of Franklin Zawacki are on the ground at Cajun and Zydeco festivals he produced in California and New England for three decades. Zawacki began as one man ...

Crazy Heart Author Thomas Cobb Not The Weary Kind With Novel In Spotlight (04:00)
From: Rhonda J. Miller

With Crazy Heart winning Academy Awards for best actor and best original song, Rhode Island author Thomas Cobb says the seeds of his book were planted in his own days as a ...

Hundreds of Homeless Veterans Living in the Woods Along Mississippi Gulf Coast (04:14)
From: Rhonda J. Miller

The goal of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is to end veteran homelessness by 2015. But it's slow going in Mississippi, where hundreds of homeless veterans are living ...

Related Pieces

Broadcast History

WXIN/Providence/Folk River- Sept. 5, 2009

Intro and Outro

During Labor Day weekend, thousands of Cajun music lovers head for Rhode Island, where the New England soil is proving fertile ground for music from Southwest Louisiana.
A Cajun festival has been going on in Rhode Island for nearly thirty years, but seeds were planted long before. Providence reporter Rhonda Miller has the story of one man, and a community, thriving on Cajun music.

The Rhythm and Roots Festival in Charlestown, Rhode Island during Labor Day weekend features Cajun and lots of other music. More details are at http://rhythmandroots.com