Finding The Swamp

“How can I help you sir?” saxophonist Dickie Landry asks sharply after the most minimal of pleasantries are exchanged, mere seconds into our conversation. He's in his loft apartment in downtown Lafayette, Louisiana, an area he refers to as DisGraceland.

Landry is a vital piece of the unique tapestry that makes up Louisianan swamp pop group Lil' Band O' Gold. He, by all reckoning, is a terrible choice for a band that plays the kind of music that this band plays, in fact, he's never even really liked it.

“Not at all, I was into jazz,” he says of his musical upbringing. “I never listened to swamp pop in the early days, I didn't listen to Cajun music. I started listening to classical music and jazz in the ninth grade, swamp pop and Cajun music was like a lower class music as far as I was concerned, I had no interest in it at all. Nothing. Yet here I am 40 years later playing with a great swamp pop band.

“I left Louisiana 40 years ago not to play this music. I went through jazz – you know, Charlie Parker, Ornette Coleman, Coltrane to Stravinski, Bach, Beethoven… but this band is fun and it's a great band. If it would be boring I wouldn't be here. And if Warren [Storm] wasn't playing drums then I wouldn't be playing in the band.”

Landry's story is a fascinating one; he was on probation for a number of years in the mid-'50s for growing pot, but as soon as he could ditch town, he did, seeking the bright lights of New York City where he hooked up with the legendary Philip Glass and played in his ensemble for a number of years.

“Once I left Louisiana I didn't look back,” he recalls. “I went to New York and fell into the Philip Glass thing and the art world and Louisiana music was the furtherest thing from my mind. I was finally in the place where I wanted to be, [playing] the music I wanted to play and liked to play. I was very involved in the art world and with the Philip Glass Ensemble; it was what I wanted to do.”

When asking questions about Landry's past achievements, he's very firm in saying he's by no means hanging up his horn any time soon.

“It's not over yet! It's not over yet! Like Dylan said in an interview some time back, I woke up one morning in Switzerland and realised I couldn't play anything and I realised it was a little bit too early for me to retire because I haven't done anything yet. That's how I feel; I haven't done jack shit yet!”

But there aren't too many other musical styles he feels he needs to tackle.

“I already play punk, zydeco, rock'n'roll, reggae, classical… what else is there? I don't play Cajun music, I just don't, that's the only music I don't play. I'd love to do some work with the Indigenous people in Australia, with didgeridoos and all that kinda stuff.”

Landry's work in the jazz and avant-garde worlds didn't exactly prepare him well for the swamp pop of Lil' Band O' Gold, but he adapted quickly.

“I had to learn how to do my solo, how to do a 30 second solo instead of an hour solo,” he says. “That took me a while, but I'm a fast learner. But it was easy, the other saxophone player Pat Breaux is a good friend of mine and I know he's a great saxophone player and everyone in the band, it's not like you have to teach anyone anything. Everybody knows what they've got to do, there's no slouching, no bad notes, it's all good.”

Besides his incredible musical aptitude, Landry played a large part in getting the band to form. The band's younger guns CC Adcock and Steve Riley wanted to start a swamp pop band with the legendary Warren Storm, one of the kings of the genre, on drums. Storm, who's now 75, sought Landry's advice.

“Warren came up to me and said, 'Are you gonna be in the band?' and I said I probably would, so he said, 'Well, if you're in the band then I'm in the band.'”

The respect each member of the band has for Storm is obvious when Landry speaks; they clearly see playing alongside this musician as a real privilege.

“Most of us [play music] for money but sometimes the money's not so great with this band. But playing with Warren Storm and all the great musicians… it's an all-star band.

“You have to understand that the first time we went [to Australia] we had no idea what to expect, but after the concerts, people were lined up – not one or two, a dozen or more – waiting with albums and photographs of Warren Storm, they know their history of South Louisiana music very well. It's interesting. Warren has said he'll have to bring more photographs to sign.”

The band return to Australia with a new record on the shelves; Plays Fats is, as it says on the label, 13 Fats Domino songs covered by Lil' Band O' Gold in truly stellar fashion. When asked how the idea to make this record came about, Landry says it was simply natural.

“We're all admirers of Fats Domino, I used to steal my mom's car when I was 14 or 15 and drive to the local nightclub about ten kilometers away and listen to Fats Domino. Of course I was too young to get into the club but I was behind the club behind the back door listening,” he recalls. “We have a connection through Bobby Charles to Fats Domino and we've always admired his music and it was natural for a band like this to cover Fats, it was a natural thing to do. We grew up with these songs; they're like nursery rhymes for us.”

As far as their return performances go, Landry is cooking up something special. Literally.

“I'm trying to put together some kind of cooking thing at one of the venues; meet, greet and eat,” he says. “I don't know where or when but I'm sure that word will get out. I'm a great cook and I love to cook.”

As far as the future goes, Landry says it's just too hard to plan ahead with a band of their size and with members as in demand as they are.

“With this band, everybody's got their own schedule,” he says. “Putting shows together for this band is a nightmare, so you'll be one of the lucky ones to see us live. Y'all are very lucky. And y'all get to see Warren Storm. He's the man.”