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Kelly Thibodeaux — Fiddle Music of Louisiana Culture

  • Kelly Thibodeaux is a professional fiddle player from Louisiana and is the founder and front man for the popular band Etouffee. For the past 30 years, he has performed throughout the U.S. and Canada and has written, recorded and published four CDs of original songs. Kelly's composition "Cassine Swamp" was included on the 20th Oregon Governor's Arts Award CD "Cascadia," and two of his other compositions were included in a 2003 PBS broadcast program.
  • With Kelly, students learn enough basic playing techniques to perform at least one complete tune and learn the fiddle part to their own original song composition. Students also learn how to present their newly acquired musical skills through performances with guitar and vocal accompaniment. All instruments supplied by the artist.
  • The art of songwriting and "tunesmithing" is presented and utilized to complete the students musical experience. The program is flexible to students' different grade levels and time and schedule constraints, but at least four contact hours is necessary for successful participation in the instrument instruction.
  • (All 5 stars) "Kelly was Great! We loved his enthusiasm, energy, interesting content. He was Awesome. We will definitely have him back! Kids loved his stories and when he brought another member of his band with him to perform for the kids." Dennis Gray, Principal, Walterville School
  • "Kelly taught everyone so much about music and fiddling! This was a highlight of our school year. Every student was successful. All students were given a chance to shine through Kelly's patient and encouraging guidance. Many students have been inspired to continue playing the violin." Carmen Robinson, 4th Grade Teacher, Lacomb Elementary
  • "A wonderful experience for every student! We had a benefit dinner where students played for a crowd and then Kelly played. It was fantastic!" Jennifer Meckley, Principal, Lacomb
  • "I had a talent young guy that can "drum" - Kelly let him attend additional classes and drum for them and also at our benefit dinner. It really meant a lot to the young man and his family. He struggles with many parts of school so having this very positive experience was wonderful for him." Lorie Shafer, Lacomb Elementary
  • "Kelly is a warm, funny, skilled artist. It was a great pleasure to have him come to our school. I was amazed he could teach such a large number of kids, with varying skill levels, and keep them all engaged. He has terrific systems to keep control and make it fun. I'd love to thank him for being such a delight! There were plenty of fiddles. We enjoyed his story telling through his music. He made everyone feel successful. We had great parent turn out for the recitals. I love his humor and good energy with the kids." Andrea Harwood, 4/5 teacher Family School
  • "Rather than a culminating activity, we had Kelly and his guitar player come the day before the residency started and they did a kick-off assembly. It was excellent. With almost no exceptions, every student was engaged in the instruction and thoroughly enjoyed working with Kelly. We had a couple of students who had previous background with the violin, and they were as enthralled as those who had had no training. It was wonderful and Kelly was encouraging to all teachers and students." Cindy Cady, Title I teacher Cascades Elementary School (Lebanon)
  • "It was great! He arrived with all instruments tuned and ready to go, hooked the kids with his story telling and play, and then had them playing the first time he met with them. I don't think any of my students (or I) had ever even held a fiddle before. I don't think that they will ever listen to violin/fiddle music the same again. We had lots of parents come hear the recital and every student in my class was willing to perform! It was great!" Candy Vickery, 5th grade teacher, North Douglas Elem/MS
  • "The students loved the residency and wrote in their daily journals how they could not wait until the next day, and were sad when it was over. The students all were very successful and the parents were delighted at the recital." Bonnie Bradley/5th grade/Title I ,North Douglas Elem/MS
  • Recent Artist Residenciesinclude
    Family School, Coburg Elementary, Charlemagne (repeat), Cascades (Lebanon), North Douglas (Drain), Walterville (Springfield), Elkton, Lacomb (Lebanon), Adams, Camp Creek, Territorial, and Arts & Technology Academy.
  • Performance Assembly
    A 40-minute musical and story-telling presentation of Louisiana culture with Kelly Thibodeaux on the fiddle and accompanied by a guitarist. Kelly plays original and traditional fiddle tunes and sings original songs to illustrate the various cultural highlights of life down in southern Louisiana .... songs about alligators, swamps, fishing, and eating crawfish ("mudbugs" ). Also included in the show is a brief demonstration of the violin and the many magical sounds that it can produce, such as the imitation of the sound of hurricane winds. (Kelly was in New Orleans when Katrina hit in 2005.) Recent Performance Assemblies include Coburg, Creslane.