Zydeco innovator Corey Ledet and his Zydeco Band will kick-off the Weis Center’s 30th Anniversary season on Friday, August 25 at 6 p.m. outside on the Weis Center Plaza. The family-friendly performance is free and tickets are not required. The rain location is the Weis Center Atrium Lobby.
Patrons are encouraged to bring a lawn chair, blanket and picnic.
A free pre-performance lecture and demonstration with the artist will take place the same day at 12 noon in the Weis Center Atrium Lobby.
The performance is sponsored, in part, by Evangelical Community Hospital.
Backed by a full band, Grammy-nominated zydeco innovator Ledet keeps one foot firmly in the zydeco tradition, while exploring its surrounding influences in order to create the best of both worlds. He is able to infuse old and new styles of zydeco into his own unique sound. He finds joy in giving his listeners a true dance-music experience like an old-time house party.
Corey Ledet was born and raised in Houston, Texas, but spent his summers with family in small-town Parks, Louisiana. The Creole culture has its roots in Louisiana, but spread across the country, including neighboring Texas. Because of this, he was able to be immersed at all times in the Creole culture he loved so much. The summers in the family home molded and shaped Corey’s world in a profound way.
He learned everything he could so that he could incorporate the culture in all areas of his life – the traditions, the food, and most importantly, the music.
His love for the Creole/Zydeco music was instant and hard for him to ignore. He studied the originators of the music such as Clifton Chenier, John Delafose, and Boozoo Chavis. He branched out to include studying any (and all) artists of Zydeco. At the early age of 10, he picked up shows playing drums for Houston-based band Wilbert Thibodeaux and the Zydeco Rascals and slowly learned the main instrument of the music – the accordion. He came to truly love any type of accordion – the single-note, triple-note and piano key accordions – and any others. He worked at building his skills until he knew each one fluently.
By the time he graduated from high school, he was certain that music was the focal point of his future. Corey eventually moved to Louisiana in order to be surrounded by this beautiful culture at all times. He remains true to his roots and earnestly searches for ways to include them in his music. He keeps one foot firmly in the tradition while exploring surrounding influences in order to create the best of both worlds. He is able to infuse old and new styles of Zydeco into his own unique sound from all of the people he studied and was influenced by.
For more information about this free performance contact Lisa Leighton, marketing and outreach director, at 570-577-3727 or by e-mail at lisa.leighton@bucknell.edu.
The next performance in the Weis Center’s 2017-18 Season is a free roots performance by Ranky Tanky on Thursday, September 7 at 6 p.m. on the Weis Center’s Plaza. The rain location is the Weis Center Atrium Lobby.
For more information about the Weis Center for the Performing Arts, go to www.bucknell.edu/WeisCenter or search for the Weis Center on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.