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After Ann Allen heard Cajun music, her love for the French language entwined with a passion for the traditional music of southwestern Louisiana. That dual fascination bloomed further during the Richmonder’s trip to the 1976 National Folk Festival at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. Meeting a group of Cajun musicians there playing under a tree, she found all of them intriguing, but noticed the handsome accordion player most of all. He noticed the radiant young woman from Richmond, too.
A year later, Allen married Marc Savoy at a fall foliage-draped wedding in her mother’s West End backyard. After the ceremony, they drove her blue VW Beetle to Eunice, his Louisiana hometown, and made a home together in the Cajun heartland. The musically prolific life Ann Allen Savoy has lived since includes performances throughout the world, many recordings and four Grammy nominations.
more than that. joel: i have that fiddle. that s your grandfather s fiddle and your uncle s fiddle. marc: which was your great uncle. joel: living in the same case here in the house. anthony: so what are you guys doing for mardi gras? joel: running. anthony: running. man: running. joel: you running? anthony: i believe i am. joel: what are you doing? toby: he s a capitan. [ laughter ] joel: what are you doing? toby: i m running mardi gras. joel: what are you doing? linzay young: running mardi gras. right here. ann: but you know in the old days, it was just people walking. it wasn t it s become insane, more and more insane. toby: but every year, somebody dies. every single year, there s one death at mardi gras. every year. ann: but you know you ve got to stay away from the horses feet. you know, like a lot of horse injuries, like their horses. so the horses will kick you in the head or something. anthony: oh, okay. man: i mean, a lot of really go
so, how far does the family go back here? ann savoy: marc, here s the question how far does your family go back here? marc: well, i think back to the american revolution because the land that we live on was ceded to one of our ancestors. and part of that land is still in our family today. anthony: how the french acadian pioneers got here, and ended up becoming cajun is a long story. forcibly deported by the protestant british from their homeland in nova scotia, the acadians became refugees. eventually settling deep in the mosquito-infested swamps and flatlands of louisiana. a place nobody else wanted at the time. over the years, the settlers absorbed, to varying degrees, other cultures irish, spanish, german, native american, and west african among others. mutating into a distinctive culture unlike any other. so how long has the family been playing music? marc: well, my grandfather was a fiddler, but i don t know
that s your grandfather s fiddle and your uncle s fiddle. marc: which was your great uncle. joel: living in the same case here in the house. anthony: so what are you guys doing for mardi gras? joel: running. anthony: running. man: running. joel: you running? anthony: i believe i am. joel: what are you doing? toby: he s a capitan. [ laughter ] joel: what are you doing? toby: i m running mardi gras. joel: what are you doing? linzay young: running mardi gras. right here. ann: but you know in the old days, it was just people walking. it wasn t it s become insane, more and more insane. toby: but every year, somebody dies. every single year, there s one death at mardi gras. every year. ann: but you know you ve got to stay away from the horses feet. you know, like a lot of horse injuries, like their horses. so the horses will kick you in the head or something. anthony: oh, okay. man: i mean, a lot of really good reasons that you re doing all these thing
the time. over the years, the settlers absorbed, to varying degrees, other cultures irish, spanish, german, native american, and west african among others. mutating into a distinctive culture unlike any other. so how long has the family been playing music? marc: well, my grandfather was a fiddler, but i don t know more than that. joel: i have that fiddle. that s your grandfather s fiddle and your uncle s fiddle. marc: which was your great uncle. joel: living in the same case here in the house. anthony: so what are you guys doing for mardi gras? joel: running. anthony: running. man: running. joel: you running? anthony: i believe i am. joel: what are you doing? toby: he s a capitan. [ laughter ] joel: what are you doing? toby: i m running mardi gras. joel: what are you doing? linzay young: running mardi gras. right here. ann: but you know in the old days, it was just people walking. it wasn t it s become insane, more and more insane. toby: but ever