Antigua, Guatemala: Parque Central Re-Visited

Central Park, Antigua, Guatemala. April 2016.

After I published this post on Central Park, I discovered more photos and videos.

Musicians at Central Park, Antigua, Guatemala. April 2016.

Music and dancing is the theme of this article.

A Friday night at Central Park in this video:

A Sunday afternoon of music and a little dance in the video below: The video also offers decent shots of the neighborhood volcano, the Cathedral, the park, and the traffic.

Et toi! And another video here:

Central Park isn't just about traditional live music. It's about rock, too.

Music at Central Park, Antigua, Guatemala. April 2016.

 A vendor in traditional garb takes in the music.

Vendor at Central Park, Antigua, Guatemala. April 2016.

South Louisiana Musicians: Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters

Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters. Washington Catfish Festival 2015. 

Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. is what some folks might call a show musician. He and the Zydeco Twisters are high-energy.

You might notice the apron that Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. is wearing. Based on what I've read, the use of the apron became a tradition for some Zydeco accordionists, as it protected the instrument from the performer's sweat.

Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters. Washington Catfish Festival 2015. 

He doesn't pull as many people onto the dance floor as other performers, but he definitely keeps the audience's happy attention.

Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters. Washington Catfish Festival 2015. 

I caught him at the Washington Catfish Festival 2015. A gorgeous festival day in a beautiful park.

Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters. Washington Catfish Festival 2015. 

 Enjoy the video below from the 2012 Oyster Festival, covering a James Brown and a Michael Jackson song:

He's the son of the original Rockin' Dopsie, who died in 1993, and who was born in Carencro, just down the road from my temporary Opelousas home. Another of the original Rockin' Dopsie's sons, Alton (Tiger), plays drums in the Zydeco Twisters band, and a second brother, Anthony, plays accordion and sings. A third brother, Dwayne, fronts his own band, called Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers.

From Heart of Louisiana: The Dopsie Brothers, by Dave McNamara: 

Their real family name is Rubin, but dad became Dopsie when he first started playing music.

"My daddy said he got the name from a guy that danced jitterbug from Chicago," said Rockin' Dopsie Jr. He used to be a jitterbugger and his name was Dopsie, and when he died, my daddy took the name as a young kid and started playing accordion and he call himself Duped , little Dopsie."

Rockin Dopsie (original), aka Alton Rubin. Source: All About Blues Music.

(In the photo above, what do you notice about how Rockin' Dopsie, Sr. held his accordion?)


Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters get your blood racing, sha.

South Louisiana Musicians: Mary Tweedel

Mary Tweedel at Vermilionville, Lafayette, Louisiana. June 2015.

Mary Tweedel has been playing her accordion in the public eye for a long time. Since she was five, in fact. When she was only 10, she was a "Young Ace of Cajun Music," performing on stage with other talented young'ns, a protégé of Helen Boudreaux.

A sidebar on Helen Boudreaux. She is a Cajun singer and songwriter, a former over-the-road truck driver, a traiteuse, and the mother of eight kids. 

Now 25, Mary Tweedel fronts her own band, Mary Tweedel and the Louisiana Cajun Mixers. I saw her at Vermilionville back in June.

Give a listen to Mary at a 2014 gig in Baton Rouge below: