Creole for Kidz
Grammy winner entertains local students
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HOUGHTON -- Hailing all the way from Lafayette, Louisiana, two-time Grammy Award Winner Terrance Simien and his band the Zydeco Experience visited the Rozsa Center Thursday morning to entertain Copper Country kids and teach them about zydeco music with their "Creole for Kidz" show. Simien and band will perform their regular show at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Rozsa Center.
Simien said he wanted the kids to have fun and learn something new. "Our goal with Creole for Kidz" is to create an environment where they're being entertained and also learning about the music and about the culture," he said. "You only have about an hour to do that so we try to cram as much as we can."
Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience performed songs spanning a hundred years of Creole history, since the inception of zydeco music. He demonstrated his accordion playing skills and had kids try on and play a frottoir, a wearable washboard instrument.
Simien and the Zydeco Experience also played a familiar tune to most kids. "Gonna Take You There" from Disney's Princess and the Frog, a song Simien himself helped create. The students sang along with Simien, "goin' down the bayou, goin' down the bayou."
Simien said it is rewarding to teach about his culture, especially through songs from recognizable media. "They've heard of that song and they've seen the movie," he said. "We just come with our music and try to explain the culture so they get a better idea about the culture, what it is and where the influences come from the music."
Rozsa Center Executive Director Kiersten Birondo said events for kids like Simien's show are a part of the Rozsa's Class Acts, which showcases educational performances for Copper Country school children.
"They have the opportunity to experience something that they never have before, and they are doing it together as a whole group of young people from our area," she said. "It's a place where they know, 'these experiences are for me.' They get to stand up. They get to jump, yell and get to experience art where it's completely okay for them to be a kid."
A signature element of Simien's performance is the Mardi Gras beads. During each song, Simien played to the crowd and threw beads towards the young on-lookers. The excitement and whimsy during the show went both ways. "It was just incredible, getting to see how excited kids from our area are about this music," Birondo said.
On tonight's performance, Simien said crowds can expect lots of crowd work, fun jams and pure-Zydeco delight. "We kind of fuse a lot of different things," he said. "But this music originated from south Louisiana. It's something most people have never heard before."
Tickets can be purchased for tonight's 7:30 p.m. performance at rozsatickets.com.