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A Twist On Cajun Dance
Music
Filé’s songs may come from a variety of influences, but the band’s tunes all have one thing in common – they get people up and dancing. From waltzes to swamp-pop, the songs lure everyone to the dance floor. Wherever the band plays, Filé creates a party.
In 1983, Ward Lormand, Pete Stevens and Kevin Shearin came together to start Filé. The name comes from the word for the ground sassafras used to thicken Louisiana gumbo. The lead singer, Lormand grew up in the prairie Cajun, French-speaking town of Ossun. He brings knowledge of traditional Cajun songs, performed with a modern slant, to his roles on accordion, percussion and vocals. Shearin has played bass professionally for more than 25 years, starting in New York’s Catskill Mountains. When he moved to Louisiana, Shearin quickly joined the local music scene and toured France with the band Cush-Cush before joining Lormand to start Filé. Along with bass, he plays acoustic guitar and sings. On several songs, the band’s sound reflects Shearin’s love for Celtic music. The bluegrass influence comes from drummer Pete Stevens, who hails from Appalachia. His percussion expertise extends to spoons, bones and the ti-fer (Cajun triangle). Stevens, Lormand and Shearin played mainstream Cajun music for several years, and Filé had people dancing from the beginning. But the band didn’t develop its truly unique sound until the two newest members joined. Creole fiddler D’Jalma Garnier was born in Minnesota, but his father’s Creole family introduced him to Louisiana music from New Orleans, Plaquemine and St. Martin Parish. Garnier formally studied music with a master composer, then earned a grant to study with legendary Creole fiddler Canray Fontenot. Garnier, Lormand and Fontenot became quick friends. Soon, Fontenot began to show up where Filé would play and sit in with the band. He often stole the show, and his influence on Garnier and Filé continues to please crowds everywhere. Filé really hit their stride with the addition of pianist David Egan. The piano is very rare in Cajun music, but Egan may be leading the way in establishing the instrument in the genre. Born in Shreveport, Egan studied music before playing with swamp R&B band A-Train and with country Cajun singer Jo-El Sonnier. Egan’s piano adds to the soulful flavor of swamp-pop and New Orleans R&B in Garnier’s music. Filé also benefits from his songwriting talents, which have been tapped by Joe Cocker, John Mayall, Tracy Nelson and Percy Sledge. Both Garnier and Egan can be heard on guitar and vocals, and Garnier picks up the banjo from time to time. Filé’s five members combine to give life to a full spectrum of Cajun, Creole and swamp-pop songs. Listeners hear rock-n-roll, blues and Dixieland in their sound, but locals don’t hesitate to refer to them as a Cajun band. The band remains respectful of its roots and the traditions in the music. At the same time, Filé expands on the traditional Cajun sound. It’s this type of innovation that keeps Cajun music alive, instead of relegating it to a museum shelf in the name of preservation. While Filé travels for festivals and shows across the world, the band keeps a regular gig at Mulate’s. The show has been captured on the albums Filé Live at Mulate’s and La Musique Chez Mulate’s, a compilation on which Filé has two cuts. Filé and Mulate’s are another winning combination – a great dance band at a great place to dance. Cover Story: Barry Ancelet’s Book |
Filé’s sound is strongly
rooted in traditional Cajun music, but the tunes are accented with a range
of styles, including rhythm-and-blues, Creole and swamp-pop. The band owes
its active mix to the right combination of band members, a combination
that took several years to develop.