The Pine Leaf Boys: real Cajun

"Whenever you hear the old time music and then you listen to zydeco, you can tell there's something missing," Watson says. "A lot of the people that played French, like Bois Sec (Ardoin) and the Carriere Brothers, they all had a certain swing that's not there today.

"I'm obsessed with that old rhythm and also the language itself. How can you say you're French Creole and you're not speaking French? I think that's one of the most important things because the culture is the language. You learn French, you can learn the soul of the music."

Being a cultural rebel has come at a price. Family in Texas sometimes made fun of Watson for trying to speak French. He remembers a high school speech project on ancestry that brought an unexpected reaction.

"I talked about my mom's ancestors and how they got into that area. Then I started hitting on my dad's side and said my daddy's side is Creole and they speak French because they're mixed people--Native American, African, Spanish and French.

"This one boy says 'They ain't no Creole. They niggers.' He said that and everybody was laughing. The teacher didn't say much. I just kept going.

"It was really stupid of him to say that because he was black. It just showed me he had a narrow point of view."

Race has lurked beneath the surface of Pine Leaf Boy success. Although Jim Crow laws in Louisiana went the way of 8-track tapes many decades ago, the Boys are one of the few integrated bands on the music scene. For the most part, white Cajuns stick with Cajun music and black Creoles play zydeco, although a growing number of young Cajuns are adopting zydeco.

"We were in Florida and ran into this interracial couple from Alexandria (Louisiana)," says Watson. "They asked how it was in Louisiana now because they haven't been back in a long time? I said what are you talking about? What do you think? We're playing together in a band and we're integrated."

"Wilson and I went to a bar one time and everyone just turned around a looked at us," adds Watson. "You could see women dancing with their husbands and they would be whispering in their ears, then they would turn around and look at us. I was just laughing.

"I didn't get to play but I just went in and watched some other guys that were playing. The people at the bar thought it was better that I didn't play."

The band makes it a point to avoid what they call "redneck" bars. But they say any racial slights have been exceptions rather than the rule.

In fact, their growing celebrity has far outweighed any negatives. They've been featured in numerous local newspaper articles and have played live on area TV shows.

They are relentless promoters with a Web site that has constant updates, including an honorary, tongue-in-cheek Pine Leaf of the Week. Savoy was the driving force behind a recent Save the Music festival, a fundraiser for a Lafayette record shop and jam session hot spot that was about to close its doors. But the huge music and food event raised $10,000 to keep the business afloat.