Sept. 9, 2008: The latest on the Second Annual School of Music and Super Routes to Roots Saturday

We've been keeping an eye on Mr. Ike in the Gulf, but as of right now he seems to be taking his hike elsewhere. So, our incredible week of music and fun is still on!

Our Second Annual School of Music kicks off tomorrow evening, Sept. 10, at 5:30, and there are still plenty of slots available. This School of Music is geared to beginners on guitar, accordion, fiddle and vocals. Give us a call if you'd like to get in on the cool classes with Mitch Reed, Jimmy Breaux and Randy Vidrine. Pre-registration is recommended, and the cost is only $40 for all four evenings (Sept. 10, 17, 24, and Oct. 1). If you're a member of Friends of LFR, it's just $30 for the series. Walk-ups will be accommodated on a space-available basis for $15 per evening.

Then, our Super Saturday on Sept. 13th starts off with our first-ever Cajun and Creole Kids' Day, from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m., and what an amazing lineup of instructors we have for the kids:
Mitch Reed - Advanced Fiddle
Dave Trainer - Beginning Fiddle
Corey "Lil' Pop" Ledet - Advanced Accordion Yvette Landry - Beginning Accordion Jane Vidrine - Advanced Guitar Henry Hample - Beginning Guitar Jim Phillips & Christy Leichty - Dance

Here's the working schedule:

10-10:15 a.m. - Welcome
10:15-11:15 a.m. -  Music A ("Les Flammes d'Enfer" for intermed/advanced
group)
11:15 a.m.-12:00 p.m. - Dance
12-12:30 p.m. - Lunch
12:30-1:15 p.m. - Music B ("Lovebridge Waltz" for intermed/advanced group) 1:15-2:00 p.m. - Jam Session

Our Kids' Day schedule will be customized to best meet the needs of our participants. The instructor-facilitated jam session will begin at 1:15 p.m., and parents are welcome to attend.

There are plenty of slots available for Kids' Day, so please give us a call to register your child. Kids' Day is for kids 8-14 years old, and the cost is just $10 ($8 for a family member of Friends of LFR), and it even includes lunch! The kids will need to bring their own instruments -- guitar, accordion or fiddle.

Celjun Day follows, from 3-6 p.m., with our fantastic local musicians Tony Davoren, Anya Burgess, Pete Dawson and Mitch Reed. There will be a mini-performance and workshops in fiddle, guitar/bouzouki, percussion, and vocals. These amazing instructors will customize their teaching to the levels, instruments and interests of our participants, whether they're Irish players wanting to learn some Cajun licks or Creole players interested in Celtic connections. So bring your instruments and be prepared to have some fun. The cost is a mere $10 ($8 for members of Friends of LFR)!

The day will wrap up with a very special Jam des Amis led by Celjun, from
6-8 p.m. Players of all levels and singers, too, are encouraged to join in.

All these great events take place at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, 101 W. Vermilion in downtown Lafayette. Advance registration is encouraged for all our events, but we do still have walk-up slots for the School of Music, Kids' Day and Celjun Day. Please don't hesitate to give us a call at (337) 234-8360 or e-mail us at info@lafolkroots.org to find out more or to reserve your place.

And, in the event of potentially inclement weather, we'll be sure to send out another bulk e-mail at noon Friday postponing Saturday's events.

Merci beaucoup, and we sincerely hope you'll join us this week!