The Daily Reveille sits down with Grammy Award Winner Terrance Simien of Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience for a quick Q&A. The Louisiana Zydeco band performed Saturday night at “Only in Louisiana,” a show celebrating this year’s Grammy nominees from Louisiana.
How many years have you and the Zydeco Experience been active?
Terrance Simien: ”I started my band in 1981 and it became a full time job in 1984.”
How long have you been playing the accordion?
TS: ”I started playing the accordion when I was 13 and I’m 48 now so a long time.”
What made you decide to pick up an accordion out of all of the other musical instruments?
TS: ”Well, I grew up in Mallet which is rural creole country. We grew up with the music there. I fell in love with it. I fell in love with some of the older musicians like Clifton Chenier.”
“I really had an appreciation for our music and our culture. The music has brought us through all kinds of changes. Different rules and laws, you name it we went through it. We always had our music to keep us going and it was the love for that music that got me into it.”
How did the band come together?
TS: ”Different guys came in at different times. Danny, my keyboard player, has been in the band since 1990. My drummer Keith has been with me for about eight years. Stan (bass) has been with me for about three years and Eric (guitar) has been here about a year and a half. Stan may actually have been here about four years now.”
You and the Zydeco Experience have been around for quite a while. How have you tried to remain relevant as the times change?
TS: “Just the love of the music. Hearing other people create music that inspires other people. Just the love of the culture. I feel a dedication to tell the story of my ancestors. There’s a lot of missing information out there and I feel a need to keep the story going for the next generation of great musicians. I try to reinvent myself when things get old.”
You guys are going to the Grammy Awards at the end of the month. You already have one Grammy from 2008. There are two other Louisiana acts nominated in your category this year. How does that make you feel? Is it more of a happiness or a spirit of competition between you all?
TS: “Well, it’s more of a happiness. It’s an honor to be nominated alongside the Hot 8 Brass Band and Zachary Richard. Also, I listen to the Hawaiian and Native American artists that are nominated as well. These are great musicians who have been playing for a long time and have mastered their craft. It’s an honor to be with them.”
“I don’t really care who wins. I hope it’s someone from Louisiana but I’d be just as happy for any of those guys. I have some guys in my band who weren’t around for the last Grammy but that one is all I need. It’s a privilege and an honor.”
“I just want to enjoy it because these things happen very few and far between. This may never happen for me again so I’m just going to have a good time. I always approached music as an expression not a competition. We are all artists. We all create. One is not better than the other.”
Louisiana is becoming more and more noticed recently. More movies are being filmed down here and people are paying attention to our music. What do you think about our culture is so appealing to these other people that makes them want a piece of what we have?
TS: ”It’s different and a lot of people can relate to it. Everything about Louisiana is based on it being multicultural. You hear it in all of our music. It’s in our food. We’ve got African influences, French influences and German influences. Heck, my DNA is Louisiana. I’m French, African, Spanish, Native American and German. We are a world culture. Anytime someone visits Louisiana, they’re reminded of something else. We are a multiracial, multicultural fusion of ideas and expression and inspiration.”

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Charles Champagne

Hot 8 Brass Band performs for Only In Louisiana at Baton Rouge Magnet High School Saturday, January 11, 2014. The event was presented by Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne and the Louisiana Office of Tourism as they present Louisiana's 2013 Music Ambassadors.