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SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 31
BY SENATOR PERRY
A RESOLUTION
To commend The Band Courtbouillon for winning the Grammy Award for Best Regional
Roots album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards.
WHEREAS, The Band Courtbouillon of Valcour Records is a Cajun band from
Lafayette, Louisiana, that consists of Wayne Toups of Crowley, Louisiana, Steve Riley of
Mamou, Louisiana, and Wilson Savoy of Eunice, Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, Wayne Toups, age fifty-five, first picked up an accordion when he was
thirteen and quickly began winning local accordion contests; he has combined Cajun music,
zydeco, rhythm and blues, and rock into a genre he calls zydeCajun; and
WHEREAS, Wayne sings in both English and French and was inducted into the
Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2010; in 2011, he entered both the Gulf Coast Hall of Fame
and the Cajun French Music Hall of Fame; and
WHEREAS, Steve Riley, age forty-three, began playing accordion when he was
thirteen, and enjoyed a three-year apprenticeship playing accordion in the band of fiddle-
playing Cajun legend Dewey Balfa; and
WHEREAS, in 1991, Steve started his own band, Steve Riley and The Mamou
Playboys, who have recorded seven albums, won countless awards, and have been
nominated for three Grammy Awards; he is widely considered one of the world's premier
accordion players; and
WHEREAS, Wilson Savoy began his musical career in 2000 with the Savoy Family
Band, consisting of his father Marc, mother Ann, and brother Joel Savoy; he has played
accordion for most of his life, having been given as a child a hand-built accordion by his
father; and
WHEREAS, Wilson has taught Cajun music ensemble at the University of Louisiana
at Lafayette for three years and continues to teach one-on-one lessons through the university,
all through the Tommy Comeaux Endowment; and SR NO. 31 ENROLLED
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WHEREAS, the band's 2011 debut album, The Band Courtbouillon, won the
Grammy Award, the highest honor a recording act can receive for outstanding achievement
in the music industry, for Best Regional Roots album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards,
on February 10, 2013; and
WHEREAS, the album consists of fourteen songs with a mix of new songs and some
classic Cajun hits; and
WHEREAS, The Band Courtbouillon is only the second Cajun band to win a
Grammy, following in the footsteps of BeauSoleil, who won a Grammy for Best Traditional
Folk album in 1997; and
WHEREAS, in April 2013, The Band Courtbouillon was awarded the key to the city
of Lafayette by Mayor Joey Durel; and
WHEREAS, The Band Courtbouillon merits a sincere and heartfelt measure of
commendation for their outstanding professional achievements and for the tremendous honor
and pride that they bring to their family, friends, and community, the state of Louisiana, and
all who know them.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby commend The Band Courtbouillon upon winning their first Grammy award at
the 55th Grammy Awards, does hereby recognize their exceptional accomplishments and
manifold contributions to the Cajun and folk music industry, does hereby record for posterity
the extraordinary careers they have had thus far, and does hereby extend to them every good
wish for continued success, prosperity, and happiness in the future.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to The
Band Courtbouillon.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE