Ann Savoy
Old Farm Pond, Eunice, Louisiana
I know Ann Savoy (French pronunciation, ‘Savoie’) through her son Joel (French Pronunciation ‘Jo-el’), whom I have yet to meet in person. They are a family of Cajun musicians.
Joel was a connection out of a night in the Bywater neighborhood in New Orleans where I found myself in a backyard party fundraiser for a lost canoe. I overheard a woman mention my hometown of ‘Albuquerque’ and met April Goltz. She also knew several flamenco musicians who’d played in Tinyboatsession, Season 3. April’s knowledge and connections in the musical world are on an academic level, and cross country. She liked the idea of songs in tinyboats and introduced me to Ann’s son, Joel.
Joel and I were never able to get our schedules to match, but he liked the idea enough to introduce me to his mother, the accomplished Ann Savoy. A lifetime in cajun and folk music. Grammy-nominated, done music for movies (like ‘Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood’), acted, performed, and produced multiple albums, and is married to a fellow musician Marc Savoy, raising other amazing musicians (Joel and his brother) and one of her bands naturally, the ‘Savoy Family Band.’
Joel suggested Ann do a tinyboatsession and we met at Joel’s family farm in Eunice, Louisiana. I put the boat in a small pond. Ann wore a yellow jumper a black jacket and a sunhat and looked the part of the grand dame of cajun music. She could have been going to a cocktail party on the French Riviera. Instead, she was in my tinyboat named Clarabelle in rural Louisiana. She told me this farm had been in the Savoy family for seven generations and I think this pond may have been hand dug. It had a small pier with a large alligator head on each side.
It was almost evening but the sun still burned. A broad tree provided some shade. Ann played happy songs that reminded me of places and times I’d never been myself, but sure felt a lot like home. @cleomaann