Michot's Melody Makers

Biography

Michot's Melody Makers is a Cajun string band founded by Louis Michot in 2015 in Brooklyn, New York, as a vehicle to explore the semi-forgotten repertoire of early Cajun fiddle music. Louis Michot, best known as the leader of the Grammy-winning Lost Bayou Ramblers, created this project to reach back to the pre-accordion era of Cajun music, when fiddle was the dominant lead instrument. The band represents a return to the earlier repertoire of Cajun bands from the late 1920s recorded music era, before the diatonic accordion became prevalent and changed the tonal range and rhythmic possibilities of the genre.

The group evolved from an improvisational collective where Michot would start songs and other musicians would figure them out on the spot, to a settled quartet featuring some of Louisiana's most accomplished musicians. The band's approach is described as 'very traditional while at the same time being ultra-progressive,' using very old tunes and rhythms while incorporating elements from punk, rockabilly, rap, funk, R&B, heavily distorted electric guitars, and electronic dance music effects. Their debut album 'Blood Moon' was released in September 2018, followed by a second live album recorded at the historic Saturn Bar in New Orleans, showcasing their ability to bridge strict tradition with adventurous experimentation for younger, more diverse audiences.

Fun Facts

• The band recorded their second live album at the historic Saturn Bar in New Orleans, which features an old boxing ring that provides exceptional acoustics due to its wooden construction and three-sided balcony where spectators once watched boxing matches.
• One of their experimental pieces involves following a specially designed computer program that tells the musicians what key to play in and what to play, creating completely unpredictable improvisational performances.
• Mark Bingham, the band's guitarist and producer, has worked with an eclectic range of artists from Boozoo Chavis and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band to beat poet Allen Ginsberg and alternative rock band R.E.M., but had never played Cajun music before joining the group.
• The band's approach captures dance rhythms from early Cajun music that disappeared when the accordion became dominant, preserving musical traditions that barely survived into the recording era of the late 1920s.

Musical Connections

Key Collaborators

• Bryan Webre - Bass player and drummer from Lost Bayou Ramblers (Blood Moon album, live recordings) [2015-present]
• Kirkland Middleton - Drummer who joined at age 19, later became Lost Bayou Ramblers drummer (Blood Moon album, live recordings) [2017-present]
• Mark Bingham - Producer and guitar player, owner of Piety Street Recording Studios (Blood Moon album, arranged strings and horns on R.E.M.'s Out of Time) [2015-present]
• John Zorn - Invited Michot for residency at The Stone club in New York (Residency recordings and performances) [2016-present]
• String Noise (Pauline Kim Harris, Conrad Harris) - Avant-garde classical musicians collaborating in residency project (Experimental recordings with computer-guided improvisation) [2016-present]
• Leyla McCalla - Haitian-roots musician in collaborative residency project (Multi-cultural fusion recordings) [2016-present]

Source: Wikipedia

Discography

Albums

Top Tracks

1. Dans les pins (Blood Moon)
2. Two-Step de Ste. Marie (TINY ISLAND)
3. Ma jolie petite fille (Cosmic Cajuns from Saturn)
4. Latibonit (TINY ISLAND)
5. Blues de Neg Francais (TINY ISLAND)
6. Bluerunner / La Lune Est Croche (TINY ISLAND)
7. Two-Step de ste Marie (Blood Moon)
8. Grand marais (Blood Moon)
9. Blues de neg Francais (Blood Moon)
10. La lune est croche (Blood Moon)

External Links

• Spotify
• Wikipedia- MusicBrainz