David Greely was born of Irish/Cajun ancestry on June 12th,
1953, in Baton Rouge Louisiana. His parents were Roscoe and Mable Theriot
Greely.
Roscoe was a salesman and Mable a
homemaker. Mable’s father, Eddie Theriot, was an Acadian descendant who hailed
from the small town of Darrow on the bank of the Mississippi River.
Eddie played the fiddle at local bals de maison (house
dances).
David recalls singing at the age of
three for guests at his home. He sang in church choirs and gospel quartets
throughout his childhood. In his teens, he learned to play a little guitar and
would incorporate it with his singing, learning to play mostly rock'n'roll like
many his age in the 1960s. At the age of seventeen, he and some friends attended a rock
concert in New Orleans to see the headliner band Black Sabbath, a very popular
heavy metal rock band at the time, along with a couple other bands that fronted
them that day. One band in particular that caught David's attention was called
Seatrain, a folk-rock group that featured former bluegrass musicians. One of
the members was playing the fiddle and it immediately got him “hooked”.
Needless to say, his rock'n'roll days were behind him. He went to a Baton Rouge
pawnshop and bought a Japanese plywood fiddle and two bows the very next day.
Not knowing how to tune a fiddle and that it was tuned in open G, he took the fiddle home and discovered it
was the easiest instrument he'd ever tried to play.
With no fiddle teachers around, he
copied fiddlers on recordings of Seatrain, Flatt and Scruggs, Bob Wills, and
others. He soon met a band called Cornbread who were very popular in Hammond
and played country and bluegrass while traveling with them for years.
After their breakup, he moved to
Nashville and performed in nightclubs and recording sessions. While there, David met up with Cajun/Country musician Jo-El Sonnier, who recommended that he get some Balfa Brothers records to learn the music. Upon hearing them, David knew what direction he wanted to take musically. It was the sound he was looking for and it became his obsession. In 1980, he relocated to South Texas to work in a country music dance hall. In San
Antonio David noticed the crowds that were lining up at a Cajun restaurant
called Boudreau's, on the River Walk. He approached the owner and was
contracted to play on their patio. This allowed him to focus on Cajun music,
something he'd wanted to do for years.
At first, he tried to sing the songs
phonetically, and his audience was happy, until Blackie Forestier and his wife Pat stopped in on vacation. Blackie said, "Your music is beautiful, but I
can't understand a word you're singing!" David then realized he'd have to
work harder. If he didn't understand these songs, he would ruin them. Here was
his chance to learn his grandfather's language. He bought a paperback French
grammar and read it. Then he studied the lyrics on his album covers until he
understood and sang them as perfectly as he could.
In 1986, he returned home to Louisiana
where he could learn the music and history of his ancestors firsthand. He
eventually met Cajun folklorist Barry Ancelet, who gave him access to the Cajun
music and language archives at the USL library in Lafayette LA. There he could
study songs and storytelling in depth, particularly the stories of Felix
Richard. In 1991, thanks to an apprenticeship grant from the Louisiana
Department of the Arts, David studied Cajun fiddle one-on-one with Dewey Balfa,
which was the most important turning point in his entire career.
He continued his “Create-a-Gig’ style of
music playing at venues such as Mulate’s Cajun Restaurant in Baton Rouge and
Patout’s in New Orleans. Around 1987, a friend of his took him to Marc Savoy’s
music store in Eunice, where he met numerous notable Cajun musicians including
fiddler Dennis McGee and multi-talented Steve Riley. Steve was a native of the
town of Mamou and was attending college in Baton Rouge at the time and would
sit in with David playing music at Mulate’s. Steve introduced David to many other
notable Cajun musicians such as the Balfa Brothers. Eventually they would go on
to form a band called Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys. The initial group
would consist of Steve on accordion, David on fiddle, Mike “Chop” Chapman on
drums and Michael Dupuy on guitar. After some time, Michael moved on and was
replaced by Kevin Barzas, a former member of the original group The Mamou
Playboys, which was once founded by Kevin’s grandfather Maurice Barzas and his
father Vorance Barzas. Vorance gave Steve his blessing to take on his band’s
name.
The band began playing the club and
dancehall circuit in rural Louisiana and then folk festivals throughout the
United States and overseas. It is the old dance hall performances that
particularly hold fond memories for David as he is very aware of their historical
value- they've nearly all disappeared. Through the years the Mamou Playboys
have made double digit recordings and earned multiple Grammy nominations. They
continue to be immensely popular throughout the National and international
music scene.
Current band members include Steve Riley
accordion, David Greely fiddle, Sam Broussard guitar, Thomas David bass, and
Burke Riley (Steve’s son) drums and guitar.
David is the recipient of many awards
including fiddler of the year by the CFMA (Cajun French Music Association) in
conjunction with the LeCajun Music Awards, the Louisiana artist fellowship in
folklife performance from the Louisiana Department of the Arts in 2004, and has
performed Cajun music worldwide in small acoustic formats including solo
performances as well as a duo with Joel Savoy, with Christopher Stafford and Jo
Vidrine, and with Blues Cajun crossover group called Golden Triangle with
Johnny Nicholas and Sam Broussard. Greely has been an adjunct instructor of
Cajun fiddle at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and continues to teach
at various music camps and universities around the world. Although David has been influenced by different musicians through the years, his association with Dewey Balfa had a resounding impact on his career and his approach to Cajun music.
***Note*** Thanks to the people and
sources who helped contribute to this story, including David Greely himself, in
a personal interview held at the Center for Louisiana Studies, on the campus of
ULL with the assistance of employees Chris Segura and Pudd Sharp, photographer
and special assistant Jerry Devillier,
Steve Riley and The Mamou Playboys, book author and fiddle authoritarian Ron
Yule, The Eunice News archives, and The Opelousas Daily World archives.
