Are there different styles of Zydeco music?
There sure are! The old split was between piano accordion players, the most famous being Clifton Chenier, and button box players, the most famous being Boozoo Chavis. Playing button box used to imply you were country and piano accordion meant you were more urban, but now a days things just aren’t that simple anymore. You can hear kids mixing button box playing with hip hop beats and even a real traditional performer like Geno Delafose will pick up a piano accordion at least part of the night. Basically everybody has a certain idea of what makes their music Zydeco music, but they all season it differently to fit their taste. The Encyclopedia of Cajun Culture lists Zydeco as follows: Zydeco is a popular accordion-based musical genre hailing from the prairies of south-central and southwest Louisiana. Contrary to popular belief, it is not Cajun in origin; rather, Zydeco is the music of south Louisianas Creoles of Color, who borrowed many of Zydecos defining elements from Cajun music. (In t
