Four-time Grammy-nominated fiddler, singer, accordionist, and songwriter Cedric Watson is one of the brightest young talents to emerge in Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco (Louisiana French) music over the last decade. His group, Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole, creates a tapestry of pulsing rhythms and Creole poetry—and his live performances are unforgettable, all at once progressive and nostalgic.
Originally from San Felipe, Texas (population 868), Watson made his first appearance at the age of 19 at the Zydeco Jam at The Big Easy in Houston, Texas. Just two years later, he moved to south Louisiana, quickly immersing himself in French music and language. Over the next several years, Watson performed French music in 17 countries and on seven full-length albums with various groups, including the Pine Leaf Boys, Corey Ledet, Les Amis Creole with Ed Poullard and J.B. Adams, and with his own group, Bijou Creole.
Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole resurrect the ancient sounds of the French and Spanish contra dance and bourré alongside the spiritual rhythms of the Congo tribes of West Africa, who were sold as slaves in the Caribbean and Louisiana by the French and Spanish.
With an apparently bottomless repertoire of songs at his fingertips, Watson plays everything from forgotten Creole melodies and obscure Dennis McGee reels to more modern Cajun and Zydeco songs, even occasionally throwing in a bluegrass fiddle tune or an old string band number. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he is also a prolific songwriter, writing almost all of his songs on his double row Hohner accordion. Watson’s songs channel his diverse ancestry (African, French, Native American, and Spanish) to create his own brand of sounds.