Cajun jam at Muso
2nd Thursdays, 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM beginning 10/8/2026
Come and share to joy of jamming on Cajun tunes. A core group of Madison Cajun musicians, including members of current and former Cajun bands, will share the joy of playing this dance music from Southwest Louisiana (Lafayette, LA is the center of the “Cajun Triangle”). Standard instruments are listed below. But no instrument is unwelcome!
Note: accordions are keyed, usually C or D. So tunes played in C/G or D/A. If you have a differently keyed accordion, please bring it—more jam fun!
Available will be a list of tunes that are standard in the Cajun repertoire. These are tunes that the accordion player, regular fiddler(s) and guitarist(s) know. For some there will be chord charts and Cajun French lyrics. New tunes are always welcome–bring tunes you’d like to share.
Standard Instruments:
- Cajun accordion
- Fiddle
- Guitar
- Lap steel
- ‘tit fer (a triangle specifically made of hayrake iron. Only one at a time.
- Acoustic or electric bass (there is an upright at MUSO)
- Percussions: spoons, washboard (not rubboard—that’s Zydeco), drum kit.
- Piano or keyboard (Piano at MUSO)
- Harmonica
- If you are not familiar with Cajun tunes and jam pattern here are a couple jam videos on YouTube of folks playing this very rhythmic music.
- Short clip of a public jam at our likely speed:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/P035ZXKYK8Y
- This one of a house jam nicely shows the pattern of play (accordion-vocal-fiddles) and of how fiddlers and accordion second during vocals and then of fiddlers taking off during their break, following and complementing the main fiddler. Rhythm guitars and t-fer playing all through. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MItlTNpqxM&list=RD2MItlTNpqxM&start_radio=1
- If you’d like to practice a Cajun song, check out one of the best known tunes, J’ai Passe Devant Ta Port, the Balfa Brothers https://youtu.be/DtchvhughFw?list=RDDtchvhughFw
Indeed the yellow Dewey Balfa album is a staple for Cajun tune tunes.
Questions: email Karen holden at karencleoma@gmail.com
