The brothers first played together at family gatherings in the 1940s.
This is episode 15 of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Thank you to Sarah at the Caffe for compiling the list of artists and songs.
The Balfa Brothers came to the Caffe in the mid-1970s. Their father, Charles Balfa, a sharecropper, had played fiddle and was a singer. They made their first recordings in 1951. It was the late 1960s that the brothers officially took on the name as The Balfa Brothers. Their mixture of old Cajun tunes and newer sounds was refreshing and in high demand. Before coming to the Caffe, they even played at the Olympics in Mexico City in 1968, and they appeared in the 1972 documentary Spend It All.
Accordionist, singer-songwriter, Sam Reider was brought up in a musical household, son of a musical theatre composer and klezmer musician. After graduating from highschool, Sam was interviewed on Marian McPartland's "Piano Jazz," and has been collaborating with jazz, pop, bluegrass and folk musicians, showcasing his virtuosic performance in every genre.
Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song, a production of WEXT Radio.