Amis du Teche; Translation ‘Friends of the Teche'. Simply named because it's members are friends who grew up around the historic Bayou Teche in Breaux Bridge Louisiana.
Amis du Teche is steeped in the Louisiana Cajun music culture. When we talk about music roots in Louisiana it's fathers, mothers, uncles, grandparents and a long lineage of influences that start in the home and the local community and Amis du Teche was raised in the heart of it all.Now nineteen years of age, Adeline Miller has been playing Fiddle since she was 5 and has performed Cajun music with her younger brother, Robert, as far as Portland, Maine and Nova Scotia, Canada, for their Festival Acadien de Clare. Adeline has attended the Sainte Anne University French Immersion Program in Nova Scotia multiple times; and is currently at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette as part of the Cajun Ensemble and Blue Grass Ensemble. She performs at local venues and festivals as well.Also nineteen, Amelia Powell learned quickly about music at home. Her father Dirk Powell has a lifetime of old tyme musical experience and is also well versed in cajun accordion and fiddle and her mom Christine Balfa who is a prominent cajun musician and vocalist of the bands Balfa Toujous and Grammy nominated Bon Soir Catin. Christine Balfa is the daughter of Dewey Balfa who was invited by Ralph Rinzler in 1964 to play perform at the Newport Folk Festival. Dewey’s strong sense of tradition was based on a deep musical heritage going back generations in his family as well. Together with his brothers Will and Rodney, and later his nephew Tony and daughter Christine, Dewey brought the Cajun sound to countless people around the world and inspired generations of Cajun people with a deep and abiding pride in their cultural heritage and in doing so has reached his granddaughter Amelia and those now in her generation.Robert Miller, brother to Adeline, has been playing Cajun music since he was five with acoustic guitar, bass guitar and upright bass. He has performed with his sister, Adeline, as far as Portland, Maine, in the USA and Nova Scotia, Canada. Robert has also played for local venues and festivals along side his sister for such as the prominent Festivals Acadians et Creoles, Festival International, & Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival.Laykin Usie (16) has been playing drums since he was three years old, and performs a number of other instruments as well. He is the son of accomplished bass player and drummer Gary Usie who has performed cajun music most of his life and performs with well known artists such as Jamie Bergeron and the Kicking Cajuns and Grammy nominated Roddie Romero & the Hub City Allstars.
With a very rich repertoire reaching deep into the archives of cajun music classics and drawing from the best compositions of their contemporary peers, the talent, cultural influences and musical curiosity of Amis du Teche should peak the best of music lovers' and aficionados' curiosity as we watch this young vibrant band emerge!
Also check out other Festivals in Lafayette, Music events in Lafayette, Entertainment events in Lafayette.
