Getting to know Will

The following text was taken from an interview held by Willem Versloot with Will.

How did you come into contact with Cajun Music ?
About 16 years ago, through Herman van Rijn (of the Cajun Company). He Brought along a cassette-tape of his brother with Cajun Music on it. We were very much surprised after listening to it. We thought it was recorded somewhere in a kitchen. We had a good laugh and after further investigation we found out that it came from Louisiana. The music on the tape was from Adam & Ciprien Landreneau.

When did you begin playing the fiddle? Are you a self thaught man or where you thaught?
About 8 years ago, and I thaught myself. It was Like this : Herman (who plays 'tit fer' and sings with the Cajun Company) is an old friend of mine, and he took me along to a cajun session at the home of Bas van de Poll. Ik played the guitar. Bas heard that I had an old violin at my place, and asked to bring it with me the next time. I said that I could not play a single note on it. "Never mind", said Bas. So with the next session I had my violin with me and Bas gave me a little stencil with fingerin for 4 strings foe simple chords. "Give it a try", he said. "Alright then", I said and then I started a lot of sawing on my instrument, liking it so well that I locked my guitar away and took up the violin!

Who are your musical examples on the fiddle and why?
Dennis McGee, Dewey Balfa and Wade Frugé.
Why?
Because these people had the most traditional way of playing.
Which are your favorite groups?
The Balfa Brothers and furthermore I like almost any traditional Cajun Music. Traditional means to me: No drums,No base with some reservation.
Do you have favorite records or CD's that you think should be in any collection of Cajun Music? At least a Dennis McGee CD, for instance the "Complete Early Recordings 29-30", a CD 's by the Balfa Brothers, such as: "J'ai vu le loup, le renard et le belette" of "Concerts New York" and a CD by Wade Frugé: "Old style cajun music"

Do you also like Zydeco? If so, which groups or records do you prefer?
Yes, I do and I like Beau Jocque, Boozoo Chavis and the new Horace Trahan. Especialy the new CD by Horace Trahan's New Ossun Express "Get on board".

How did you end up with the Cajun Company? Was it fun?
Herman and I Took the initiative to start a band with a couple of people we played with on Wednesday nights at Bas van der Poll's. I had a great time playing in the C.C. and thanks to the C.C. I nave been to Louisiana for times! Our CD: "Testing One One" ( one hour of traditional CAJUN dance music) is a nice C.D. , only I just never listen to it. It's a pity it sounds a bit "dry", that probably happened during mastering, for the orginal sounds much better.

What is the reason that you are no longer part of them?
In the words of Bas van der Poll: He always wanted a four man band! Apart fron that there was so to speak: an incompatibilty of characters. In addition to that there was the restriction of only playing second fiddle. And I found out I can handle playing lead. In fact it is curious that I play in all the numbers on the new CD of the C.C. Together with Paulien I played one studio-box in Louisiana, so that there was tuning between the two fiddles. I'd like to know how well they have been able to "touche up " my part.

What future do you see for cajun music?
For example more traditional?
Or do you foresee a development towards more elektrically amplified (plugged versus unplugged) music?
How can we promote cajun music?
Cajun music is not very popular in Holland. I don't know how we can improve that, but in my opinion there should be many more jam-sessions and less elektrically played Cajun. That problem is that there are so few musicians. As far as fiddlers are concerned I estimate there are only some 7 in all and on top of that, they are also scattered all over the country. Where to hold these session, I wouldn''t know yet. I''d like to call upon the readers to put new life into getting these sessions organized.