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Members of The Revelers who will be performing on Friday, May 19 in Wellsboro include: Daniel Coolik, Glenn Fields, Blake Miller, Chris Miller, Chas Justus and Trey Boudreaux.

At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 19 the Wellsboro Community Concert Association will present the Southwestern Louisiana-based six-member super group The Revelers performing their brand of zydeco, Cajun and swamp pop music on the Deane Center’s Coolidge Theatre stage at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro. The rhythms of both their fast and slow-paced tunes will keep the audience moving in their seats or dancing all night long.

This is the sixth and final concert of the WCCA’s 2022-2023 season.

Band members include: songwriter Blake Miller on accordion and fiddle; Chas Justus on guitar, Daniel Coolik on fiddle and guitar, Glenn Fields on drums, Trey Boudreaux on bass guitar and Chris Miller on saxophone. Based on the tune played, each member sings lead or harmony vocals.

“We play a mix of musical styles from Southwest Louisiana, which are different from those from New Orleans and Northern Louisiana,” said Chris Miller. “In Wellsboro, we will play and sing original tunes from our most recent album ‘At the End of the River’ (Au Bout de La Rivière) along with traditional Cajun and zydeco songs and may throw in some blues, country, western swing or honky tonk, Miller said.

“‘At the End of the River’ was released on Nov. 8, 2019 and is our arrival record,” said Chris Miller, one of the band’s arrangers. “Our sound is easily recognizable because of the way we play saxophone, fiddle and accordion together,” he noted. “On stage, we enjoy talking about where we come from and where our songs originated. Many people don’t realize there is a difference between music from Southwest Louisiana. They think all of this type of music is from New Orleans.”

In 2005, 18 years ago, some members of this band started the Blackspot Festival in Lafayette, Louisiana, a cultural nexus point for Cajuns and Creoles (French-speaking African-Americans). Musicians from both groups living in that area recorded some of the earliest racially integrated music in the nation. Held each October, the event begins with a weeklong teaching camp leading up to a weekend of festivities.

“The Revelers was formed in 2011, 12 years ago when Chas and Glenn, founding members of the Red Stick Ramblers, and Blake, founding member of the Pine Leaf Boys and also a member of their band, got together with another Ramblers’ member, Daniel. Those two bands were at the vanguard of the Louisiana cultural renaissance. As individuals, they were each in high demand having performed and recorded with Natalie Merchant, Linda Ronstadt, Preston Frank, Mamadou Diabate and Tim O’Brien, to name a few.

“I wasn’t a permanent member until 2013 but played on their debut album released in 2012 and was with them as a guest artist from the beginning,” Chris Miller said. “Trey joined later on in 2018.”

Everywhere they perform, the Revelers invite their audiences to come to Lafayette to experience the culture in person, the foodway traditions, the authentic American music and the dancing.

Admission at the door is $25 for adults, $5 for students ages 13 to 18, and free for children 12 and under. For more information or tickets call (570) 724-6220 or visit www.wellsborocca.org.

Diane Eaton
dianetn@ptd.net
(570) 724-3800