Quick Q and A with Ralph Tufo (Squeezebox Stompers)
 by Kathy S-B  ·  8 November 2007

How much fun is attending a Squeezebox Stompers show? I dare to say that it’s so much fun that the band should be banned in Boston and made illegal. Nawwwww. . . . then we wouldn’t get to listen to their rollicking tunes and do the two-step and swirl around like we were all born on the bayou. Catch a glimpse of the band in action at their website.

How would you define and describe Cajun and Zydeco music?

Traditional Cajun music comes from the French Acadians who were forced to leave Nova Scotia after the English won the French and Indian War in the mid 1700’s; many of Acadians or “Cajuns” settled in Louisiana bringing their two-steps and waltzes with them. Cajun music has evolved over time but has consistently featured the fiddle, the Cajun style one row button accordion, and the triangle. The lively 2 step emphasizes the 2 and 4 beats while the Cajun waltz places stress on the one beat of the three beat waltz. At a Fais-Do-Do (a Cajun dance) the dancers move counter-clockwise across the dance floor some employing intricate varieties of the basic two steps and waltzes. The songs are traditionally sung in French. The end result is everyone lets the “Bon Temps Rouler “and “passes a good time.”

Zydeco originates from the Creoles of Southwest Louisiana who combine an exciting mix of Caribbean rhythms, Cajun melodies, and contemporary blues to cook up syncopated and high energy dance music. Zydeco comes from the song title, “Les Haricots Non Pas Sale” which means the snap beans aren’t salted. The title of this song got shortened to Zydeco and became the representative rhythm of this style of music. Clifton Chenier, the King of Zydeco, brought this music to the forefront as he toured the United States and Europe in the 60’s – 80’s. He played the piano accordion and was accompanied by his band which included his brother, Cleveland, on the rub-board. The hypnotic beat of Zydeco music relies on the pulsing bass and electric guitar along with the driving back beat of the drums underneath the melody lines of the accordion. Clifton Chenier used to call Zydeco, “Boogie-Woogie on the accordion.”

When did you first hear about this kind of music? It’s not exactly a New England genre of music!

Coincidentally, I heard about Zydeco while playing in the New England band, The Gloucester Hornpipe and Clog Society. One of the band members heard Clifton Chenier when he was in England in the early 70’s. He told me about him, and I went out and immediately bought some of his albums. I was “blown away” by this music; I had never heard the accordion being used in this way, and I had played the accordion since I was five. “Move over Lawrence Welk,” I said to myself here comes some Rockin’ accordion music. I then went to a Cajun festival in Rhode Island and jammed with Marc Savoy who is a renowned accordion player and builder of accordions; I also met the late great John Delafose, a Zydeco master. Inspired by these experiences, I hooked up with some other local musicians, and we formed the Boogaloo Swamis which later went on to win 4 Boston Music Awards. I’ve been playing and writing songs in the Cajun/Zydeco style for the past 25 years.

Please tell us about the musical you’ve written. What inspired your work on this project?

I’m currently working on the musical “Rockin’ Ralph’s Roadhouse” which is about the characters at a hurricane party in a New Orleans bar; they ride out the storm (Hurricane Katrina) and have to face their uncertain future in the aftermath. It has 15 of my original songs woven into the drama. The plan is for the production to be performed in December, 2008, at North Shore Community College, 300 Broad St., Lynn, MA. It’s off Broad Street, not quite off Broadway.

Last January, I accompanied a group from the college that volunteered to do gutting of houses in the neighborhoods of New Orleans. I met several individuals who told me their stories of survival and the problems they were having with the rebuilding and recovery of their lives. This experience had a tremendous impact on me. Combined with some characters and themes that had appeared in earlier songs I had written, I began thinking of the idea of this play. Then I heard (on one of the news shows) a report about a Bourbon Street bar that remained open during Katrina and actually did a great business (in fact, it never closes). New Orleans has been known for its tradition of hosting hurricane parties in the past. Anyway, these ideas seemed to come together for me in the concept of “Rockin’ Ralph’s Roadhouse.” I’ve been working on the first draft, and I’m now submitting it to a few collaborators / editors. I’ll be testing it out with drama classes at the college this semester, and I hope to have a “final draft” ready by May, 2008. All the songs and their arrangements have already been completed to date.

Do you and the Squeezebox Stompers have any plans for 2008?

Right now, we are in the process of recording the 15 songs that will be in the musical. We’ve finished the rhythm tracks and are now at doing the lead instrumentals and vocals at Tom Eaton’s studio in Newburyport. We hope to have the new CD available sometime in the spring of ‘08. We plan to have a CD release party then. It will be in the Boston or North Shore area. Proceeds from the CD and ticket sales from the play will go to NSCC’s Katrina Relief Fund which supports the travel expenses of our college students who volunteer in the recovery and rebuilding of New Orleans during the semester break. I’ll be going with another volunteer group from NSCC this January. I’m looking forward to this project; I plan to do more primary research for the play while I’m there. I plan to check out a few bars while I’m there- research only.

The band is looking forward to 2008 as a breakout year. We’ve been together as a trio for two years (Larry Plitt, Captain Fiddle, and myself); we released our first CD in 2005. In the past few months we have added Ron Chane on bass and Mike Migliozzi on drums. This has added a whole new dimension to our sound which we are really excited about. We’re having a great time playing together. That now makes for three former Boogaloo Swamis in the band. Brennish, Captain Fiddle’s son, has been accompanying us on rub-board at gigs and stealing the show. For the future, we’re planning on doing a number of Mardi Gras parties in February. We’re booking festivals and outdoor concerts again for this spring and summer. Fans can log on to our website at squeezeboxstompers.com to catch our gig schedule and keep abreast of exciting new developments.

Do you have any special plans for the November 16th dance at the me&thee?

First of all, Captain Fiddle will be giving Cajun dance instruction before the dance (8:15 pm) for those of you who want to learn the basic two-step and waltz. During the evening, we’ll be featuring some traditional Cajun and Zydeco music, along with some originals from the upcoming musical, and some down home country blues from our guitarist, Larry Plitt. Maybe, we can convince Larry to sing his award winning song “It Don’t Matter” which won the WUMB Boston Folk Festival Songwriting Contest. He’s actually never performed the song in public, and we think it’s about time, so the audience will have to insist upon this. We expect a good crowd, so arrive early and catch the dance instruction as well.