A Message From LafayetteTravel.com
This week’s Lafayette Weekly is bittersweet for everyone who knew and loved Chris Stafford and his music. Chris transcended the label of musician, a true pioneer of the musical culture we hold so dear to this area, and above all else, a caring friend and musical mentor to many established and up-and-coming musicians in the area. Local music lovers and fans have watched Chris grow up on stages across the world, performing, perfecting, and experimenting with multiple instruments since the age of 12 when he formed the groundbreaking Cajun band Feufollet. As he grew into adulthood, he became a highly sought-after collaborator and producer for some of Lafayette’s most memorable bands and albums. The Lafayette music community will never be the same, but we honor Chris’s spirit, music, and lasting impact on everyone who ever had the pleasure of meeting, playing, or watching him perform in this week’s playlist. Compiled by close friend and bandmate Philippe Billeaudeaux, we hope these songs can serve as solace for those who loved him and his music near and far.
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This week’s playlist features over four hours of music Chris Stafford wrote, sang, played on, and/or produced. Listen for his soulful singing, smooth pedal steel, swinging fiddle, telecaster bends, tasteful keyboard work, and masterful accordion playing in this incredible body of work.
It kicks off with his first recording with La Bande Feufollet, followed by a live tribute to his loving mother, and then moves through all of the genres that moved him deeply: Cajun, zydeco, blues, rock n’ roll, and country. You’ll hear his nod to the dancehall French music that he loved on tracks like Feufollet’s “Dans le magasin,” (featuring band co-founder Chris Segura on fiddle and harmony vocals), “Moi pour toi” by the Daiquiri Queens, The Red Stick Ramblers’ “Laisse les Cajuns danser,” and “Separation Two Step” by Kyle Huval and the Dixie Club Ramblers.
Hear him contribute lead guitar to nouveau zydeco mainstay Lil Nathan and Creole music master, close collaborator, and friend Cedric Watson on tunes like “Lose U” and “Sud de la Louisiane.” Explore his contributions to Lafayette’s indie rock scene with recordings by The Amazing Nuns, Makers Reel, the Viatones, the Conrads, and The Color Sessions, the newly re-released split cover EP by Feufollet and Brass Bed. All of that and, of course, his iconic garage rock rendition of “Parlez nous à boire,” with mutual admiration society members Givers’ frontwoman and current Shania Twain drummer Tif Lamson and legendary sax master Dickie Landry.
Stafford often pushed the boundaries of Cajun music with examples of tracks he produced for Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, Megan Brown, and, of course, Feufollet, many of which feature co-lead vocalist Anna Laura Edmiston and brother Michael Stafford on drums. Classic and progressive country sounds can be heard with longtime musical partner K.C. Jones (aka Kelli Jones), swamp pop legend Tommy McLain, and Julie Aubé of Les Hay Babies.
On top of the work he contributed to South Louisiana, music made with admirers from abroad is also included. Listen to tracks by Acadian singer-songwriter Thomé Young (aka Pascal Lejeune), ex-Les Breastfeeders guitarist Sunny Duval, Austin-based indie rockers Star Parks, and one of the most revered and prolific artists to come out of France, Charlelie Couture.
There are so many great memories behind these records, many of which I was lucky enough to be a part of at his world-famous Staffland Studio, that it would take a book to tell the whole story. For now, enjoy the incredible music and beautiful voice of our beloved brother Chris, whom I adored with all my heart and will miss forever.