Four UL Lafayette faculty members will test their musical chops Saturday, when their band, the Rex Street Rounders, helps raise money for the university's Archives of Cajun and Creole Folklore.
Archive Aid 9, the annual fundraising concert for the ACCF, is set for Saturday, Sept. 15, at the Blue Moon Saloon, 215 E. Convent St. The event will begin at 7 p.m.
Drs. Jordan Kellman, Michael Martin, Chad Parker and John Troutman formed the group last year.
"In creating the band, we had one overarching principle — to have fun. Now, we also have an opportunity to help meet an important need," said Kellman, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and an associate professor of history. He's the band's drummer.
Martin, director of the Center for ÃÞ»¨ÌÇÖ±²¥ Studies and an associate professor of history, plays guitar. Parker and Troutman are assistant professors of history. Parker plays bass and Troutman plays guitar.
Dr. Pearson Cross, head of the Political Science Department and an assistant professor of political science, will also perform with the quartet Saturday. He'll play the piano.
The ACCF receives no state or university funding. Donations and grants support the AACF's activities, which include the acquisition, preservation and distribution of one-of-kind materials. The archives hold photographs, paper documents, and audio and video recordings that document Southwest ÃÞ»¨ÌÇÖ±²¥'s cultures. These include folktales and legends, and recordings of ballads, dance tunes and oral histories.
"We are, quite literally, the keepers of the culture," said Jennifer Ritter Guidry, director of the ACCF. Its collections include the work of folklorists, ethnomusicologists, linguists, musicians and historians.
One of its goals is to digitize and catalog its audio and video recordings. To date, archivists have digitized more than 12,000 hours of analog recordings. Those materials are available to students and researchers through a searchable database that can be accessed in Edith Garland Dupré Library on campus.
"These concerts are a critical source of funding. We use the money in our day-to-day operations, to hire student workers and to purchase and maintain equipment," Guidry said.
Admission to this year's event, which includes free food, is a $10 donation.
Five groups will perform on two stages.
On the main stage:
Rex Street Rounders
Les Malfacteurs
Balfa Toujours
On the side porch:
Goldman Thibodeaux and Zydeco Joe Citizen
Gumbojet (featuring David Greely, Chris Stafford and Jo Vidrine)
Musicians are invited to join in a jam session, which will close out the evening. Archive Aid 9 will be broadcast live on KRVS 88.7FM/ from 7:30 p.m. until midnight.