Magnolia Sisters

Ann Savoy began playing guitar at age 10. After college graduation she met her husband, Cajun accordionist Marc Savoy, and moved to be with him to Eunice, Louisiana. After their marriage, she began performing with him on many tours throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Eventually she began to collect and learn all sorts of Cajun songs. The collection led to the publication of her book Cajun Music: A Reflection of a People, which received the American Folklore Society’s Botkin Book Award.

Ann Savoy began playing guitar at age 10. After college graduation she met her husband, Cajun accordionist Marc Savoy, and moved to be with him to Eunice, Louisiana. After their marriage, she began performing with him on many tours throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Eventually she began to collect and learn all sorts of Cajun songs. The collection led to the publication of her book Cajun Music: A Reflection of a People, which received the American Folklore Society’s Botkin Book Award. She recently appeared in the movie “The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood,” and also recorded three songs for the film’s soundtrack. In 2000 she became a record producer for the Vanguard label and produced a highly-acclaimed CD featuring pop stars such as Linda Ronstadt doing traditional Cajun songs.

Jane Vidrine is recognized around Acadiana as a musician, folklorist, cultural activist, and teacher. She has been playing and singing since she was young and has always been drawn to the old masters. She studied ballad singing with the late Almeda Riddle, documented and performed with French fiddlers and singers from the endangered French-speaking area of Old Mines, Missouri. She studied fiddle with the late Lionel LeLeux and Dick Richard. In the 1970s she worked as Folk Arts Coordinator for the National Park Service, planning programs, festivals, and museum exhibitions. Her most recent undertaking is Louisiana Voices, a program which teaches schools how to preserve and present the unique cultural heritage of Louisiana.

Christina Balfa, daughter of the legendary Cajun fiddler, Dewey Balfa, was raised in Basile, Louisiana on her parents’ farm where she was constantly exposed to traditional Cajun music. She began to play it herself, starting with the triangle and later playing guitar and singing. After her mother’s death, she often traveled with the Balfa Brothers. Today she has a renowned Cajun band, Balfa Toujours, organizes year-round cultural workshops in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, and oversees her successful Dewey Balfa Cajun and Creole Heritage Camp at Lake Fausse Point.

Lisa Reed was raised in Scott, Louisiana, and comes from a long line of Cajun musicians, her father being the well-known accordionist Harry Trahan and her great uncle the 1920s recording artist Bixby Guidry. Reed plays guitar, bass, triangle and rubboard, sings Cajun style, and when not playing with the Magnolia Sisters, plays guitar with her husband, fiddler Mitchell Reed, in their group, Vieux Temps. She continues to promote Cajun culture as she operates her Cajun Heritage Gift Shop where her husband teaches Cajun fiddle.

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5/18/03: Magnolia Sisters

All-star Louisiana natives the Magnolia Sisters (Ann Savoy, Jane Vidrine, Christine Balfa and Lisa Reed) celebrate Cajun, swing, blues, acapella ballads, and fiddle duets. A special focus on rare music (outside the normal repertoire) and a female perspective.

Magnolia Sisters

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