Search by Performer and Parish
The audio on this site is organized by parish and performer name, and it corresponds, more or less, with the Table of Contents in Caffery's Traditional Music in Coastal Louisiana. An image of the Library of Congress cards from the original catalog of the Archive of American Folk Song accompanies each audio selection. These images are hyperlinked to the corresponding record in the American Folklife Center's online interface. All Library of Congress photos of performers are also hyperlinked to their corresponding page in the Library's Division of Prints and Photographs.
In many cases, the titles and information given on this website may conflict with information in the original card catalog. The original cataloging of these materials contained a number of mishearings, misspellings, misidentifications, and other errors. This cataloging was done, after all, at a time when there was practically no scholarship at all on the vernacular music of south Louisiana. The goal of this site, and of the book Traditional Music in Coastal Louisiana, is to update these efforts in light of contemporary knowledge and to make corrections where appropriate. Given the complexity of the data and the vicissitudes of early recording technology, this remains an incomplete task, of course, and any suggestions or constructive criticisms of the information here would be much appreciated. To make suggestions/criticisms, please fill out the Contact Form here. |