Rosie Ledet, 30 years of the Goat and Baby Toro

by Chris Aaland

I can thank Planet Bluegrass, History Channel, HBO and a local beer guy for turning me on to zydeco. Planet Bluegrass once booked BeauSoleil frontman Michael Doucet with ex-Hot Rize bassist Nick Forster for the 2002 RockyGrass. Such History Channel and HBO shows as “Swamp People,” “Treme” and “True Blood” made me look deeper into the cultures and cuisine, music and myths of southern Louisiana. Aside from keeping all of the tap lines clean around these parts, Dirk Lang is a Cajun who cooks a mean Alligator Piquant and throws the best crawfish boil this side of the Pelican State.

So I’m excited that the woman once dubbed “The Zydeco Sweetheart” comes to town for what she believes is her first-ever show in Durango, though she’s a veteran of several Telluride Blues & Brews Festivals.

Rosie Ledet plays a DAM show Tuesday night at the Arts Center

Durango Acoustic Music, which gets back in the game after a 10-month hiatus, presents Rosie Ledet & the Zydeco Playboys at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Durango Arts Center. DAM once booked Ledet way back in 2000 in a package deal with Walter “Wolfman” Washington, but Ledet’s van broke down along the way and she cancelled her half of the bill.

“If I did (play Durango before), it’s been quite some time,” Ledet told me by phone last week from her Louisiana home. “I think we’ll really get a warm reception there. We’ve had a great time at Telluride.”

In between juggling two grandbabies — though she’s 40 and arguably the sexiest woman in any blues-related genre, she’s also the daytime sitter for her two small grandchildren as often as her schedule permits — we spoke about how she fell in love with zydeco music in her mid-teens.
“I went to the Three Sharks Club, a place in Louisiana and they would do what’s called French La-La dancing,” she said. “I heard Creole music around the house and my parents liked to go out. One Friday night, they had a table for four and dragged me out. I was 16. The great Boozoo Chavis was on stage and he was playing ‘Zydeco Lady.’ Everyone was enjoying themselves and the place was just packed. That was the night I met my ex-husband (Morris Ledet). He got up and sat in on accordion with Boozoo.”

That fateful encounter was more than just a passing fancy, she told me.

“A couple of years later, we ended up getting married and (Morris) had a zydeco band of his own,” Ledet said. “I was just sitting home pretty bored in the daytime. His accordion was lying around. I would put on a cassette and just try to mimic what I’d heard. One day he came home for lunch and I played him a couple of songs and he couldn’t believe it. I just kind of by ear taught myself how to play. I always wanted to be a writer so it gave me the chance to take some of my old poems and rework them with some melodies.”

Fast forward 18 years, and Ledet has her 10th album all set to be released this fall. Known as much for her sultry vocals and suggestive lyrics (early fan favorites included “Sweet Brown Sugar” and “You Can Eat My Poussiére”), any fan of Cajun, Creole, zydeco, blues or New Orleans funk and jazz will find

Ledet’s Tuesday gig a can’t-miss affair.

Happy birthday Billy Goat Saloon! The old goat turns 30 this Sunday and what historians will someday call “Gem Village’s defining moment” will rage from 1-5 p.m. Tickets cost $30 and gets you food, drinks, live music by Third Time Charmed and a commemorative T-shirt. Men’s Journal named the Goat one of America’s Top 50 bars in 2002. Located 16 miles east of Durango on US 160, it’s truly one of Colorado’s last roadhouses. Here’s wishing that Ashley ordered me a XXL or larger, cause I’ll want to sport my new goat for decades.

Durango Nature Studies hosts its fourth annual Bluegrass, BBQ & Beer celebration from 5-8 p.m. tonight (Thurs., Aug. 2) at Rotary Park. Groove to high, lonesome sounds by Wild Mountain, Six Dollar String Band and Kentucky Deluxe. Beer, wine, burgers and brats will also be for sale.
Like blues instead? The Kirk James Blues Band plays the final free Thursday show at Buckley Park of the summer. The Assortment kicks things off at 5, with Kirk and Co. to follow at 6:15.

Baby Toro and special guests the Holy Smokers close out the Fahrenheit Summer Shows at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Fahrenheit Coffee Roasters in Mancos. Baby Toro, the goth-country duo of Lindsay Isbell and Hardison Collins, calls its sound “sleep-a-billy, swampy, shifty, country drone.” The Holy Smokers are another Montezuma County couple consisting of Chuck Barry (the singer/songwriter from the Beautiful Losers) and his wife, artist and organic farmer Rosie Carter. The Fahrenheit shows are free for all ages.

This week’s Moe’s lineup features all its regular weekly recurrences, plus an FAC with the Crags from 6-9 p.m. Friday and dancing on the patio to DJs Ras Das and Phantom Cloud late night Saturday.

Elsewhere: tonight’s Ska-B-Q features the poppy folk of Little Wilderness from 5-7 p.m.; Andrea’s Fault headlines the summer concert series on Dante’s deck on the backside of DMR from 7-10 p.m. Friday; the Pete Giuliani Trio plays Trimble Hot Springs from 1-4 p.m. Sunday; and the Kirk James Blues Band is back at the Billy Goat at 9 p.m. Friday.

I just returned from the 40th annual RockyGrass in Lyons, and this week’s Top Shelf list recounts some bands I heard that I think would fit right into a future Durango Bluegrass Meltdown:
1. The HillBenders: A five-piece from Springfield, Mo., that won the 2009 Telluride Bluegrass band competition.
2. Monroeville: A sextet that bridges classic country and traditional bluegrass.
3. 23 String Band: A raucous young band from Kentucky’s Cumberland Valley.
4. The Travelin’ McCourys with Danny Paisley: Del’s bandmates were joined by Danny Paisley (guitar, vocal) and Béla Fleck (banjo).
5. Jesse McReynolds: The mandolin-playing half of Jim & Jesse is the coolest octogenarian on the planet, as proven by his RockyGrass set of Grateful Dead tunes. Check out his latest album, a tribute with David Nelson (NRPS) to the music crafted by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter.

Like the dog you are, come crawling to me? Email me at chrisa@gobrainstorm.net.