Acadiana Profile April-May 2017

Home: Kitchens & Baths That Wow!

Top Lawyers: Plus Toughest Cases

On the Record Ma ki n g M us i c in Ac adian a

PG. 44

Saul Pickett of Magnetic Arts and Analog Recording Studio in Lafayette

features CĂŠlĂŠbrer le mode de vie acadien

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heavenly hill country A luxurious Texas-style trek from Austin to San Antonio

By Helen Anders

44

recording gold rush Making records in Acadiana is alive, well and growing

by Suzanne Ferrara & photographs by Denny Culbert

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top lawyers of acadiana + My Toughest Case

contents april/may 2017 | volume 36, number 2

8 lagniappe

A little Extra 10 note de l’editeur

Editor’s Note

food+drink 31 sur le menu

News Briefs

Family Style: Children of Vietnamese Immigrants Evolve Their Ancestral Cuisines to Impact Acadiana

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34

12 nouvelles de villes

le visiter

Calendar of Events

de la cuisine

Seasonal Sharing: April showers, May flowers and dining alfresco 38 recettes de cocktails

home+style

A Tall, Cool Two-Step: A festival-inspired cocktail that evokes a lighter side of spring

17 la maison

Dynamic Details: Inspired kitchen and bath elements are showcased to stir inclinations for refreshing spring renewals

culture

26 pour la maison

Raise the Bar: Rat Pack Essentials 28 À la mode

Springtime Bling: Don’t Be Afraid To Sparkle + Shine

77 les artistes

The Cover-Up: Lafayette artist Nicole Touchet’s nude portraits shine a spotlight on emotional duality 82 les personnes

On the Cover Saul Pickett of Magnetic Arts and Analog Recording Studio in Lafayette uses refurbished equipment to track records.

Our music feature on pg. 44 delves into how and where musicians in Acadiana make and record their music. The DIY spirit of Cajun Country is strong within the music community.

The Storyteller’s Story: Olivia Spallino Savoie tales preserves and publishes stories of the past for future generations 84 la musique

Pure Cajun: The Cajun Music Preservation Society keeps tradition alive 88 en français, s’il vous plaît

La Marque D’eau Haute

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lagniappe

Learn French ‘tit-fer (n.) triangle.

what is your favorite way to listen to music

to “I like to listen

Editor in Chief Managing Editor Associate Editor Copy Editor Art Director Lead Photographer Web Editor

music on my smart phone during my run.

Vice President of Sales daily morning It’s my alone time, so I can really crank it up. I listen to everything,

Sales Manager from ‘80s rock to Broadway show tunes, country music

and classic oldies.

Music takes my mind off the miles, helps Account Executive me run faster and

changes my outlook for the day in a positive way.”

Sales Intern

Director of Marketing & Events

Event Coordinator

digital media associate

example: David va jouer le ‘tit-fer pendant le show à soir.

Errol Laborde Melanie Warner Spencer Ashley McLellan Amanda Orr Sarah George Danley Romero Kelly Massicot

translation:

Colleen Monaghan (504) 830-7215 Colleen@acadianaprofile.com Rebecca Taylor (337) 298-4424 (337) 235-7919 Ext. 230 Rebecca@acadianaprofile.com Nikole Reich (337) 552-4258 (337) 235-7919 Ext. 231 Nikole@acadianaprofile.com Kaila Jackson

“In the morning, I like to read and cue up a playlist or put a record on the turntable.

The fragrances of coffee or breakfast and the sounds of my favorite bands all over the house make for the perfect, cozy start to the day.”

David will play the triangle during the show tonight.

Did You Know?

Accoding to louisianatravel.com, Cajun music is one of the top reasons people visit Acadiana. Early recordings of this homegrown style date to the 1920s. Accordian, fiddle and lyrics written and sung in French are hallmarks of Cajun music, which was created by the French-speaking Acadians of Canada.

Behind The Scenes

Cheryl Lemoine Whitney Weathers Mallary Matherne

For event information call (504) 830-7264

Production Designers Monique DiPietro Demi Schaffer Molly Tullier Traffic Coordinator Terra Durio

Distribution Manager John Holzer

office manager Mallary Matherne

Subscription Manager Sara Kelemencky For subscriptions call (504) 830-7231

Chief Executive Officer President Executive Vice President

“I love to listen to music on my phone while cooking dinner.

This is the part of my day when I relax and enjoy me time. My music choice varies depending on my mood. But listening to music always puts me in a good mood. ”

Todd Matherne Alan Campell Errol Laborde

2016 AWARDS Award of Merit to Melanie Warner Spencer for Single Story Award of Merit to Danley Romero for Single photo Bronze to Will Kalec for Magazine Writer of the Year Bronze to Danley Romero for Portrait Series Silver to Denny Culbert for Photo Series Gold to Denny Culbert for Magazine Photographer of the Year Gold to Sarah George for Art Direction of a Single Story Gold to Sarah George for Overall Art Direction Finalist for Magazine of the Year

For this issue, we thought it fitting to call upon one of our regular contributors, reporter Suzanne Ferrara to pen the feature about making music in Acadiana. Lafayette-based Ferrara is not only seasoned journalist, but also the daughter of Louisiana Hall of Fame musician, Paul Ferrara. Since last year, Ferrara has been digging into the recording scene throughout the region. We were concered about setbacks some studios may have faced related to the historic flooding last spring, but in true Acadian spirit, the music and the recording never stopped.

Renaissance Publishing LLC • 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123 • Metairie, LA 70005 • (504) 828-1380 • (877) 221-3512 128 Demanade, Suite 104 • Lafayette, LA 70503 • (337) 235-7919 ext. 230 Acadiana Profile (ISSN 0001-4397) is published bimonthly by Renaissance Publishing LLC, 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005 (504) 828-1380 and 128 Demanade, Suite 104, Lafayette, LA 70503 (337) 235-7919 ext. 230. Subscription rate: One year $10; Foreign Subscriptions vary. Periodicals postage paid at Lafayette, LA, and additional mailing entry offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Acadiana Profile, 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005. Copyright 2017 Renaissance Publishing LLC. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of the publisher. The trademark Acadiana Profile is registered. Acadiana Profile is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photos and artwork, even if accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. The opinions expressed in Acadiana Profile are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the magazine or owner.

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Like us on Facebook (facebook.com/acadianaprofile) and follow us on Twitter (@acadianaprofile) for daily updates, happenings in the area and other news! Please consider our planet and recycle this (and every) magazine.

note de l’editeur

my earliest memories of cajun culture came from a song

celebrating it. The song wasn’t written by a Cajun or sung in French, and I’ve since learned it was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, but in time Cajun musicians have made it their own (and translated it, naturally). The song is, of course, “Jambalaya,” written by Hank Williams and released in 1952. Williams was a favorite singer of my dad’s, and I often overhead him singing it in his shop or around our house in Kentucky. The rolling green hills of the Bluegrass State are a very far cry from the bayou — and never having seen or tasted jambalaya, much less crawfish pie, filé gumbo or any other kind of gumbo — the song nonetheless stirred my childhood imagination as only music can do. As an adult, and especially since moving to Louisiana, I’ve come to love Cajun music, especially the songs sung in Cajun French. I suppose it’s the fiddle, but when listening to Cajun music, I’m often reminded of the Bluegrass music I grew up with in my home state.

Music is integral to the culture of Acadiana, which makes our yearly music issue such a joy to create.

For this installment, we decided to focus on how music is being made in Acadiana. From DIY to traditional recording studios, musicians across the region are making their music in an array of genres as diverse as the methods and the people creating it.

In Acadiana, Grammy winners are ubiquitous and despite success — or in spite of it — local musicians don’t see fit to go elsewhere to make their magic. Maybe it’s all of those things Williams sang about in his since co-opted song, but both historically and today, Acadians are content to write, play and record right here at home.

Another place that’s known for its music is Austin, Texas. Be sure to check out our tour of the Texas Hill Country. We’re confident that even if you take the trip we’ve plotted out, in no time you’ll be back here having fun on the bayou.

sales team

Rebecca Taylor Sales Manager (337) 298-4424 (337) 235-7919 Ext. 230 Rebecca@AcadianaProfile.com

Nikole Reich Account Executive (337) 552-4258 (337) 235-7919 Ext. 231 Nikole@AcadianaProfile.com

Melanie Warner Spencer, Managing Editor (504) 830-7239 | Melanie@AcadianaProfile.com Colleen Monaghan Vice President of Sales (504) 830-7215 Colleen@AcadianaProfile.com

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nouvelles de villes

by lisa leblanc-berry

Danser, Manger, Répéter

Maegan Berard and Kristi Guillory of Bonsoir Catin at the 2015 Festival International de Louisiane

Allons a Lafayette!

More than 300,000 visitors and some of the world’s most influential musicians from 20 countries are descending on downtown Lafayette during the 31st Festival International de Louisiane April 26-30. New to the festival this year is the ethereal, transcendent fusion music of Indian diva Falu, the high-energy funk rock of Flow Tribe (New Orleans) and the L.A.based Las Cafeteras (combining son jarocho music with Afro-Caribbean marimbol, zapateado dance and edgy political messages). The festival’s big Sunday night closing act includes Givers with Tom Tom Club, Louisiana jazz saxophonist/artist/ photographer/pecan farmer Dickie Landry (who had his first solo painting show last summer in New York at age 77); and Zimbabwe’s Mokoomba performing those infectious, dancehall rhythms that always get people on their feet. The jubilant, young six-piece band made the April 2017 cover of the international music magazine Songline. (festivalinternational.org)

carencro

vinton

Tablets for Deserving Students

A Better Delta Downs

The Academy of Information Technology at Carencro High was recently awarded 114 Samsung Galaxy tablets through a grant from the National Academy Foundation and corporate partner JP Morgan Chase Foundations. National Academy works with deserving communities to transform the high school experience through industryspecific curricula that includes work-based learning experiences and building relationships with local business professionals.

Boyd Gaming’s much-anticipated $45 million expansion of Delta Downs Racetrack Casino Hotel in Vinton (initiated in 2015) has been completed. The centerpiece of the expansion is an elegantly appointed, all-new 167-room hotel tower accented with abstract art; a new fitness center, plus a new dining concept, Rosewater Grill & Tavern, featuring steaks and seafood and a sweeping view of the racetrack.

The original 200-room hotel also underwent a complete redesign and refurbishment. Guests can now relax poolside in well-appointed cabanas or daybeds near an outdoor bar with a state-of-the-art sound system. Delta Downs has a quarter horse race season from April through July; the Calcasieu Parish casino also features soaring interior views, casual dining and the Gator Lounge with free local entertainment (deltadowns.com).

vermilionville

Cultural Immersion on the Bayou

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photos by: david simpson

There’s nothing like Vermilionville’s upcoming series of week-long summer camps, On Voyage dans le Temps à Vermilionville. The programs will focus on the Acadian, Creole and Native American cultures on the banks of the bayou in Lafayette. Sessions in English are held June 19-30; sessions in French are held July 10-21 (all French immersion campers must either be fluent in French or must have completed at least one year of French immersion). Registration: vermilionville.org or call Markie Belanger at 337-233-4077.

Vermilionville’s action-packed Kids Music Camp June 12-16 features music classes, band labs, singing and dancing, plus performances and a graduation with a camper-parent dance. Open to experienced and novice players ages 8-14; students must bring a guitar, a fiddle or a 10-button diatonic accordion to camp.

Don’t miss Acadiana’s other top spring festivals, including the 60th anniversary of Lake Charles’ Contraband Days (contrabanddays.com) complete with swarthy pirates, Cajun food and amazing fireworks May 4-14; the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Fest’s toe-tapping zydeco and swamp pop bands (bbcrawfest.com) May 5-7 (check out the Cajun music workshops in the heritage tent and the delicious free samples after the etouffée cook-off); Bastrop native Dylan Scott singing his latest country western hits as the 2017 headliner during Thibodaux’s 133rd annual Fireman’s Fair, May 4-7 (firemensfair.com); and the tantalizing aroma of whole pigs slowly roasting over glowing embers in the tiny town of Mansura during the Cochon de Lait Festival (cochondelaitfestival.com) featuring carnival rides and street dances May 11-14. Don’t miss the greasy pig and ladies’ beer drinking contests, cracklin’ cook-off and unforgettable kids hog-calling competition. The colorful porkcentric festival is sponsored by Marksville’s Paragon Casino and Resort, the family-friendly summer spot where children can experience live alligator shows, a nature trail and the new Kids Cyber Quest while parents enjoy the spa and tropical pool with a swim-up bar, lavish accommodations, dancing and live entertainment (STYX April 29, Aaron Lewis May 13, and Smokey Robinson May 28 via Ticketmaster).

Recommended: the succulent bacon-wrapped jumbo shrimp appetizer, large fresh lobster tails with drawn butter and the mouthwatering 28-ounce. Tomahawk ribeye (opt for a side of crawfish mac-and-cheese) served at the elegant Legends Steakhouse; also recommended are the smoky grilled oysters and boiled crawfish served in 3-lb. portions on weekends at Big Daddy’s (paragoncasinoresort.com).

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calendar by kelly massicot

around acadiana Bon temps in and around Cajun Country

April 1-2. EggstravaganZoo. Broussard.

337-837-4325. zoosiana.com 3-9. Cajun Classique.

Breaux Bridge. 337-3660337. cajunclassique.com 4. Rain. A Tribute to the Beatles. Lafayette. 337-2915555. heymanncenter.com 6-8. Louisiana Railroad Days Festival. DeQuincy. 337-7868241. larailroaddaysfestival.com 7. CyPhaCon Pub Crawl. Lake Charles. cyphacon.org 7-9. CyPhaCon 2017. Lake Charles. cyphacon.org 7-9. Downtown Lake Charles Crawfish Festival. Lake Charles. downtowncrawfest.com 8. ReALLIEty Challenge Mud Run. Lake Charles. reallietychallenge.com 8-13. Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week.

Lafayette. 337-234-8360. lafolkroots.org/events/balfa-week 8. Southdown Marketplace Arts and Crafts Festival. Houma. southdownmuseum.org 19-23. Cycle Zydeco. Lafayette.

337-781-9416. cyclezydeco.org 20-23. Fashion Week Lake Charles. Lake Charles. fashionweeklc.com 22. 2017 Dragon Boat Races.

Lake Charles. stpatrickfoundation. org/events/dragon-boat-race-2016 22. Southern Garden Festival. Lafayette 22. Crawfish Boil-off & 5K. Houma. 985-8767126. boiloff5k.com 26-30. Festival International de Louisiane. Lafayette. festivalinternational.org

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28. Spring Art Walk. Lake Charles. 337-439-2787. artsandhumanitiesswla.org 28-30. Etouffee Festival.

Arnaudville. 337-754-5912.

29. Boogaloo 2017. “Boogaloo Goes Blue.” Lake Charles. imperialcalcasieumuseum.org 29-30. Flea Fest. Flea Market. Lake Charles. 337502-8584. fleafest.com

May 4-14. Contraband Days Louisiana Pirate Festival. Lake Charles. contrabanddays.com 4-7. Thibodaux Fireman’s Fair.

Thibodaux. firemensfair.com 5-7. Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival. Breaux Bridge. 337332-6655 bbcrawfest.com 13. TFAE Run For Excellence 5K and Food Fest. Houma. tfae.org 18-20. Starks Mayhaw Festival.

Starks. mayhawfest.com 18-20. Cruisin Cajun Country. New Iberia. cruisincajuncountry.com 20. Healing Traditions in Acadiana. Vermilionville. vermilionville.org 21. 6th annual Bayou Vermilion Festival & Boat Parade.

Vermilionville. vermilionville.org 25-27 Krotz Springs Sportsmen’s Heritage Festival. Krotz Springs. kssportsmensheritagefestival.com 25-June 4. Cajun Heartland State Fair. Lafayette. cajundome.com 27. Splash Bash. New Iberia.

337-339-5903. iberiatravel.com

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home+Style Inspiration, dĂŠcoration et accessoires chic pour la vie

la maison The art of designing

dynamic details Inspired kitchen and bath elements are showcased to stir inclinations for refreshing spring renewals

By Lisa LeBlanc-Berry Photos by sara essex bradley

appealing kitchens and baths that express an owner’s vision often rests with the all-important details. Like pieces of a puzzle, architects and designers build on a framework that gains an edge when precise personal elements spark each other and make the house become a home. The following kitchens and baths from throughout Acadiana magnify collaborations that will have you longing for long baths and evenings spent hearthside.

Modern Farmhouse Kitchen Rather than building the Alys Beach-style residence originally planned for a newly acquired lot, architect and interior designer Tanya Zaunbrecher and her architect husband, Gil (of the award-winning Zaunbrecher Design firm) dramatically altered their

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domain’s direction soon after their daughter was born.

Instead, they decided to create a single-story, modern farmhouse with a fluid and open living area adjoined by a kitchen with a view. An abundance of filtered sunlight finds its way through a clerestory and the 16-foot long glass door system that extends the living area onto a courtyard. The combined foyer, living and dining areas segue into the modern kitchen, with its gray stained wood ceiling that pays homage to a hay loft.

Bright accents of orange and lime green provide punches of color, from the glass subway tile backsplash, the art and lime green Eames-inspired molded wire base chairs. Island pendants are by Kichler; cube lighting is by World Imports; modern cabinets are from Acadiana Kitchen and Bath.

A Chic Suite The Zaunbrecher’s master bath, located at the far end of the house in a sleek and minimalist master suite, was designed for a dual purpose. It doubles as a pool house bath, and opens onto a tropical poolscape. Walls of cashmere gray tile are laid out in a subtle stripe pattern by alternating honed and glossy rows for textural interest. Since the couple gets ready for work at the same time, they designed two showers, two water closets, two floating vanities and two ample walk-in closets in one space. Large windows allow plenty of natural light. The shared shower wall is appointed with a bronze metal-finish tile from Daltile. Custom removable film window coverings by 3form shield the doors for a subtle, modern feel.

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Familial Culinary Proclivities Designed to accommodate children and family-oriented entertaining with the added allure of multiple backyard and patio views, Colin and Lauren Bercier’s two-story, split plan home bridges the exterior with the interior by incorporating

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the same stacked stone into the kitchen walls which seamlessly continue into the dining room.

The gray glazed white cabinets that are stacked from floor to ceiling are meant to draw the eye up to the coffered kitchen ceiling. The architects from Zaunbrecher Design divided the spaces with a stone arc, while incorporating gray and white granite countertops that are highlighted by industrial pendant fixtures from Kichler.

The cathedral ceiling renders an added sense of space for the built-in family breakfast table that was deemed an essential kitchen component. A dark, bold backsplash directs interest to the cooking wall, which showcases a gas cooktop, arched-wood hood, pot filler, hidden refrigerator and double oven. Appliances by Whirlpool Gold, Thermador and Bosch; modern stainless farm sink by Kohler.

Quiet Luxuries Transitional in style, the Bercier’s ensuite master bath sets the tone for ultimate relaxation. A shimmering crystal chandelier serves as an elegant centerpiece. The luxurious parental retreat is flanked by a double vanity and tub with a window above that lets sunshine pour into the large walk-in shower mosaic-tiled floors. Equipped with multiple showerheads, the soothing shower echoes a relaxing spa-like experience.

Modern sconces are positioned on either side of the vanity that integrates white cabinets with a gray glaze, Carrera marble countertops and a stackedstone backsplash. The shower walls feature the same stacked stone as the vanity.

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Harmonious Hues Utilizing a cheerful color palette of creams, blues and yellows, principal interior design consultant Mindy Gromer Bernard (of the full-service design studio and retail showroom Entre Nous) set the tone for this warm and inviting kitchen with country charm. Centered around a 48-inch Thermador six-burner stove, the spacious room is enhanced with antique wood beams and floating antique wood shelves that display the owners’ beloved confit jars and cookbooks collected through years of exploring gastronomy.

Entry to the kitchen is through a large, framed case opening topped with glass transoms. Taj Mahal quartzite countertops create a durable and functional work surface, while glass schoolhouse-style pendants finished in antique brass illuminate the island. The brick backsplash with whitewash finish lends a textural element.

A knotty alder appliance garage accented in blue is accented with antique brass hardware.

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Serene Escape The master bath in the country chic retreat was transformed into a relaxing retreat by Entre Nous. The designers utilized a palette of calming, serene colors that reflect the creams and blues of the kitchen. Tall French Tangier-style dual mirrors with starburst studs create an elegant feel above two sinks that flank the lower vanity area in the center of the divided hand

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basins. The floor is embellished with a 6-inch wide marble border with an intricate marble hexagon mosaic inlay. A custom shutter installed at the far end of the master bath leads the eye through an intimate, blue-hued space that links a private oasis to a large soaker tub nook. Bianco Dolomiti marble counter tops and mixed metals of antique brass and polished nickel give an Old World feel to this serene, soothing milieu.

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style+home

pour la maison

raise the bar

1. Perfect for opening bottles of your favorite cola to mix with rum or bourbon, this horn bottle opener by Two’s Company is available at The Kitchenary, 456 Heymann Blvd., Lafayette. 337264-1037. thekitchenary.net

Rat Pack Essentials

2. Take your drink on the rocks, but do it in style with this whiskey wedge by Corksicle.

The Kitchenary, 456 Heymann Blvd., Lafayette. 337-264-1037. thekitchenary.net

by amanda arceneaux photo by romero & Romero

Rumor has it Frank Sinatra

requested he be buried with his favorite brand of whiskey.

You can enjoy your number one drink your way with these classy barware must-haves.

3. This modern Metropolis Decanter by Ralph Lauren is crafted from gleaming lead crystal and features beveled, engine-turned grooves sure to reflect any host’s fine taste.

Pick yours up at Pieces of Eight in the Oil Center. 902 Coolidge Blvd, Lafayette. (337) 232-8827. piecesofeightgifts.com 4. If you head out to a BYOB event you can carry your beverage-ofchoice in style with this 6 ounce stainless screw-top hip flask wrapped with genuine alligator hide by Cocodri. Available at Kiki in River Ranch, 1910 Kaliste Saloom Road, Ste. 600, Lafayette.

337-406-0904. shopkikionline.com 5. Display your stunning barware accessories on this versatile studded wooden tray. Found at Pieces of Eight in the Oil Center.

902 Coolidge Blvd., Lafayette. 337232-8827. piecesofeightgifts.com

The durable glass comes with a silicone mold that displaces water.

Place in freezer for a few hours, remove the mold, pour and enjoy!

3 4

2 1

5

3

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style+home

À la mode

1

spring bling Don’t Be Afraid To Sparkle + Shine by amanda arceneaux photo by romero & Romero 2

Whether you are stepping out to

grab dinner and drinks with friends or you have an elegant cocktail event to attend, these spring accessories will be sure to catch someone’s eye.

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1. Make a statement with these Swarovski crystal-studded, crescent-shaped Native Gem earrings with mother-of-pearl inlays from Hemline in River Ranch, 1910 Kaliste Saloom Road, Ste. 200, Lafayette. 337406-1119. shophemline.com 2. This 18k yellow gold “Windley” clasp

by Erica Courtney has your name on it; or it could! Stop by Kiki in River Ranch to order your custom diamond clasp bracelet.

Kiki in River Ranch, 1910 Kaliste Saloom Road, Ste. 600, Lafayette. 337-4060904. shopkikionline.com 3. This leather glitter-finished clutch with Anya Hindmarch’s signature bow on the sleek turn-lock closure is the perfect way to carry your evening party essentials.

Find it at Kiki in River Ranch, 1910 Kaliste Saloom Road, Ste. 600, Lafayette. 337406-0904. shopkikionline.com

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4. Also from Hemline by Native Gem is this 14k gold vermeil mother of pearl ring with gunmetal and gold ilume crystal embellishment. 1910 Kaliste Saloom Rd., Ste. 200, Lafayette. 337-406-1119. shophemline.com 5. Be one-of-a-kind in this 1950s era necklace with attached brooch from the ‘30s. MADE in the Deep South gathers jewelry from estate sales to create unique pieces tagged with a “story card” that provides its very own biography. Hemline in River Ranch, 1910 Kaliste Saloom Road, Ste. 200, Lafayette. 337-406-1119. shophemline.com

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Just like this necklace was MADE with pieces from two different estates, you can combine your family heirlooms into one by contacting MADE at info@madeinthedeepsouth.com

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food+drink Ça c’est bon

Sriracha Kimchi Fries from Blu Basil

sur le menu

family style

Children of Vietnamese Immigrants Evolve Their Ancestral Cuisines to Impact Acadiana

by Jyl Benson Photos by denny culbert

The first Vietnamese

immigrant-exiles came to the United States in 1975, following the fall of Saigon. Catholic Charities relocated many to areas outlying New Orleans where inexpensive housing, a subtropical climate and an established fishing industry

welcomed the permanent settlement of thousands of families.

At first, most settled in the Versailles neighborhood of New Orleans East and on the city’s West Bank.

Upon arriving, the Veietnamese immigrants took whatever work they could find,

in factories, in the service industry or by doing odd jobs. As the group became more established, the first Vietnamese-owned restaurants and groceries began to open. Two generations later our Vietnamese brethren have forever impacted Louisiana’s culinary culture.

food+drink

sur le menu

Vermicelli Noodle Bowl with Grilled Pork, Shrimp, and Egg Roll from Blu Basil

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Dang Nguyen’s ancestors experienced a more circuitous path to their Louisiana home.

In 1975, after piling into boats headed out of Vietnam for places unknown, they ended up in Thailand. Here they remained for 10 years until relatives in Los Angeles sponsored them for relocation. Dang’s parents ultimately moved to Alexandria, in Central Louisiana. Ten years ago on a visit Dang — then a student living in Arizona — met his bride-tobe, Tam, who was then working at Tsunami sushi restaurant in Lafayette, where the two ultimately made their home.

In 2011, Dang and his brother-in-law, Chris Nguyen, who settled in Lafayette by way of Hawaii, opened Saigon Noodles, an inexpensive and unassuming pho and bahn mi joint on Ambassador Caffery Parkway. They offered generous portions and thrifty prices for soul-warming foods that were then-still-exotic to the area. With a background in construction and business, Chris designed and built the restaurant while Dang focused on designing a menu and heading up the kitchen.

“While Saigon Noodles was under construction we learned there was another Vietnamese restaurant under construction,” Dang says, “So we opened at just about the same time.”

A trend was born.

So robust was their success that, in 2012, the Nguyens opened a second location in Baton Rouge. By 2014, they were ready to undertake opening a more ambitious

Blu Basil 5451 Johnston St. Lafayette, 337-456-1120, blubasilwineandgrill.com Rock-n-Sake Bar & Sushi 107 Stonemont Road, Lafayette, 337-408-8920, rocknsake.com Saigon Noodles 2865 Ambassador Caffery Parkway, Lafayette, 337-456-3317, saigonnoodleslafeyette.com

Bonus Bite Known for its funky vibe and vast menu, New Orleans based Rock-N-Sake recently opened an outpost in Lafayette’s River Ranch neighborhood. The sushi deviled eggs and Rainbow Seafood Salad are not to be missed. The latter combines tuna, yellowtail, salmon and crabstick with cucumber, avocado, tomatoes, smelt roe, green onions and Ponzu sauce for a virtuous take that seems decadent.

second venture in downtown Lafayette.

Since its opening, Blu Basil has been a hotspot for the beautiful people, merging an array of traditional Vietnamese classics (thin, crispy, savory Vietnamese crepes filled with pork, bean sprouts and onions to be eaten wrapped in lettuce leaves with pickled carrots and cucumber then dipped in nuoc cham sauce) with other Asianinfluenced dishes with American rifts (grilled Bugolgi beef nachos with crab and avocado).

Waterfall glass sets the mood at the entryway and the striking décor, dramatic lighting and a strong craft cocktail program create a very adult tone making it an easy choice for a successful date or a night out with friends.

The depth of the menu ensures enough selections to appease everyone including vegans, vegetarians and pescatarians who eschew other forms of animal protein.

House favorites include Pork Belly Sliders (steamed Vietnamese buns, braised pork belly and Asian slaw), Shaken Beef (stir-fried tender steak cubes with sweet onion, bell pepper and fried egg) and the Dang Rib-eye (grilled rib-eye steak with housemade citrus-y Blu Basil sauce with white rice, asparagus and zucchini).

Future plans for the successful family duo include the expansion of Saigon Noodles into a regional brand based on locally-sourced ingredients.

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food+drink

de la cuisine

seasonal sharing April showers, May flowers and dining alfresco by marcelle bienvenu photo & styling by eugenia uhl

Do not substitute butter for the margarine, or the butter fat will cause fire flare-ups and you could end up with blackened chicken.

The smoke point for butter is 300F while the smoke point for margarine is 495F. The smoke point is a straightforward measurement determined by heating the oil until visible smoke appears coming off the surface.Â

April and May are my

favorite months of the year.

The days are getting longer, the temperatures are mild and the landscape is in full greening mode. It’s an ideal time to dine on the patio or deck, in the backyard by the pool or under the whirling ceiling fans on a wide, screened-in porch.

Home gardeners tend to their tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, zucchini and an abundance of warm-weather herbs like basil, thyme, mint, parsley and rosemary. I can usually count on the vendors at the local farmers’ markets to supply me with what I don’t have in my garden, such as Louisiana strawberries and blueberries.

(I pick blackberries along my neighbor’s fence line, with his permission, of course.)

This time of year is also the season when I remember our family outings at our camp on Catahoula Lake near the Atchafalaya Basin. The yearly ritual found Mama and Papa heading out to the lake on the Monday before Easter Sunday. It was up to my siblings and me to clean out the flowerbeds and rake the carpet of leaves to the corner of the property where Papa’s worm bed thrived in the compost.

Zinnias, petunias and impatiens provided colorful accents here and there among the centuries-old oak trees, willows and pecan trees. Elephant ears and palms shaded the rustic terrace that Mama and Aunt Lois laid out years ago and was surrounded by wild ferns and palmetto plants.

It was the food, however, that really brought all of us together for weekend gatherings and informal parties. There were fish fries, barbecues, seafood boils and the annual Father’s Day fried chicken cook-off that pitted Papa and my brothers against the sons-in-law and male cousins who tried, year after year, to best Papa and his group.

Mama was the queen of potato salad with homemade mayonnaise and she also reigned over the homemade ice cream.

My sister was in charge of having several watermelons iced down in ice chests (every Sunday).

I was in charge of setting the mood. That was easy enough.

There was always music, even if it meant wearing down the batteries in Papa’s truck. Colorful tablecloths covered the picnic tables (unless they were covered with newspaper for the seafood boils). Hanging baskets of ferns attached to trellises and tree branches swayed in the breeze.

Alas, the camp is no more, and Papa and Mama are gone, but I can boast of a lovely yard in a rural area of St. Martin Parish on the banks of Bayou Teche where we (along with our ever-growing family) can gather to share a meal.

Of course, we always turn to our parents’ menus and recipes that never fail to please our palates. These are very simple and basic, but certainly delicious. Feel free to kick them up as you wish.

Papa’s Barbecued Chicken This will not work on a grill — do this on a real barbecue pit (fired with charcoal or wood) that has a lid.

3 plump fryers, each about

3 pounds, cut in half 2 tablespoons Creole seasoning mix 2 sticks margarine 1 bottle (6-ounces) hot sauce

Rub the chicken well with the seasoning mix. In a small saucepan melt the margarine and add the hot sauce. Put the chickens on the pit and baste frequently with the sauce.

Be sure to turn the chickens about every 20 minutes, but keep the lid closed in between. The chickens will take about 2 ½ hours to cook.

Makes 6 servings

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food+drink

de la cuisine

Potato Salad Mama never chilled the salad.

The potatoes and eggs were at room temperature. The mayonnaise was chilled for about an hour or so, then immediately added to the salad right before serving.

3-4 pounds red potatoes, scrubbed 8 eggs hard-boiled, chopped ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Optional ¼ cup minced celery ¼ cup finely chopped green onions 2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

In a pot, boil potatoes in lightly salted water until tender.

Remove from heat and drain.

Cool.

Put the eggs in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then turn off heat, cover saucepan and let sit for 15 minutes. Drain, cool and peel.

Chop eggs and potatoes.

Transfer chopped potatoes and eggs in a large serving bowl. Mama put them in layers, i.e., a layer of potatoes, a layer of eggs, a bit of seasoning, then continued the layering until all was used. Add mayonnaise and whatever condiments you wish and toss gently (so as not to break up the potatoes) to mix.

QUICK MAYONAISE Blend 1 large egg plus another egg yolk and 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice in a food processor or electric blender for 15 seconds. With the processor or blender running, slowly pour in 1 cup vegetable oil through the lid funnel. You may need to add two to four more tablespoons of oil so that the mixture thickens.

Add salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste and pulse to blend. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before using. Since the mayonnaise is made with a raw egg, it’s best to use within 24 hours.

Makes about 1¼ cups

MY FRIEND MATT’S TARTAR SAUCE Mix 1 cup mayonnaise (preferably homemade), 1 large mashed pod of garlic, 1 large sweet pickle (minced), 5 drops Tabasco sauce, 3 good shots Worcestershire sauce and 1 teaspoon grated onion together and chill for one hour before serving.

Papa’s Fried Catfish

Mama’s Ice Cream

3

pounds catfish fillets

salt and cayenne to taste

Use fruits such as peaches, strawberries, or bananas and toss them with ¼ cup rum or bourbon to prevent the fruit from freezing too hard.

¾ cup yellow cornmeal 1

cup milk

1½ cups vegetable oil 1

medium-size yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced (separate into rings)

6

eggs, beaten

4

cups milk

lemon wedges

1

cup sugar

tartar sauce

1

tablespoon vanilla extract

2

cups chopped fruit

Rinse catfish in cool water and pat dry. Season the fish generously with salt and cayenne. Combine flour and cornmeal in a shallow bowl and season with salt and cayenne. In another shallow dish, pour milk.

Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet to about 360 degrees.

Dip catfish, two to three at a time, in the milk, then dredge in cornmeal mixture, tapping off any excess. Let sit for about one minute, then fry (two to three pieces at a time) in the hot oil.

Cook for about three minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Scatter several onion rings over the fish as they cook and squeeze lemon juice over them.

Repeat the steps until all the fish is cooked.

Serve warm with tartar sauce.

In a saucepan over mediumlow heat, combine the eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla.

Stirring constantly, cook until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Remove from heat. Chill in refrigerator for two hours then add fruit.

Remove from the ‘fridge and add the fruit. Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer’s directions.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Makes about 1½ cups

Makes 10 to 12 servings

tips!

FOR THE FISH AND TARTAR SAUCE: Rather than frying fillets of the catfish, you can cut the fillets into strips, each about 3 inches by 1 inch. When cut in this fashion, the fried fish can serve as an appetizer course — a wonderful finger food for a casual gathering. Be sure to pass the tartar sauce around as well.

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for mama’s potato salad: Rather than chopping the hardboiled egg, make it an easier task by grating the hardboiled eggs on the large hole side of a box grater. This is a big time saver when having to chop dozens of eggs.

for Mama’s Ice cream: Fresh peaches, strawberries and bananas are great to add to the homemade ice cream. Around July 4th, when figs are at their peak, soak peeled figs in Grand Marnier before adding it to the ice cream mixture.

food+drink

recettes de cocktails

a tall, cool two-step A festival-inspired cocktail that evokes a lighter side of spring

By Lisa LeBlanc-Berry photo by romero & romero

Creole cowboys and

cowgirls in starched jeans show off their sassiest Mamou twostep, Cajun jitterbug and zydeco slide during competitions at the annual Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival, which attracts 30,000 visitors the first weekend in May. Considered the “crawfish capitol of the world,” Pont Breaux’s super-sized local crustaceans affirm the legend that their lobster ancestors crawled here from Canada long ago.

A couple of hours before the bands get started in Parc Hardy at 10 a.m. on Saturday, locals will have been dancing up a storm at Buck & Johnny’s during the rollicking zydeco breakfast. By 8 a.m., the tables have been moved aside and folks are storming the dance floor, while knocking back stiff Stuffed Cajun Bloody Mary’s garnished with stuffed crawfish heads as lagniappe during the season. Popular for nightly live music, the intimate Filling Station bar and Cajun-Italian fare (try the creamy crab-portabella-brie soup and generous crawfish etouffée), Buck & Johnny’s introduced their new zydeco breakfast in January after Café des Amis (longtime host of the original Saturday morning zydeco breakfast that drew crowds to Breaux Bridge) announced it was closing for renovations last year.

In honor of the festival, the bar team created the new Lemon Berry TwoStep cocktail. Served in a tall Collins glass over ice, the utterly refreshing drink fuses tart and sweet with an enticing basil fragrance.

Lemon Berry Two-Step Muddle 3 basil leaves and 5 blueberries in 1 ounce of simple syrup. Add 2 ounces Skyy Blueberry Vodka, 5 ounces Chambord Raspberry Liqueur, 2 ounces club soda and a splash of Sprite. Squeeze a lemon wedge, shake and pour over ice.

Garnish with fresh blueberries, basil and a lemon zest twist. Serve in a Collins glass.

Buck & Johnny’s 100 Berard St., Breaux Bridge, 337-442-6630, buckandjohnnys.com

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Heavenly HILL A luxurious Texas-style trek from Austin to San Antonio

By Helen Anders

y IN springtime, Texas Hill Country roads meander through blankets of bluebonnets and peach-laden trees as well as outcroppings of prickly pear, live oaks, post oaks and mesquite trees.

Sheep, goats and beef cattle dot the landscape — as do wineries, restaurants of every style and the occasional spa. There’s no better time to fly into Austin, rent a car and drink in the joys of Louisiana’s neighbor.

Austin Vibes

Spa Time

Laid-back and chic Texas hospitality

Start in the heart of Austin by checking into the South Congress Hotel (1603 Congress Ave., southcongresshotel. com), where floor-to-ceiling windows draw the neon-bedazzled, people-parading “SoCo” scene into your room. Décor melds midcentury-modern luxury with industrial touches such as concrete ceilings, dropping in Texas warmth with leather pulls on doors and drawers.

The sleek lobby bar’s energy lures in locals as well as visitors, and the hotel’s restaurants will enchant your palate, whether you choose a juicy steak or plump Gulf shrimp at Central Standard, risotto with butternut squash at the California-inspired Café No Sé or a tasting of about 20 Japanese-inspired bites at Otoko, where you’re perched atop one of 12 coveted stools.

Join the avenue’s shopping throng, and buy something with Austin flair.

Across from the hotel, you’ll find footwear at Allen’s Boots and crazycool embroidered shirts (Sasquatch, anyone?) at Triple Z Threadz.

After the sensory impact of South Congress Avenue, you’ll need the serenity of a spa and there’s none better than Lake Austin Spa (1705 S. Quinlan Park Road, lakeaustin. com), less than an hour west of the city on Lake Austin. Not only does the spa offer more than 100 treatments from a calming river-rock massage to a new “weekend warrior” massage-andstretch; but also you’ll find a salon, pools, hot tubs, aquatic gardens, nature trails and fitness and wellness classes. Herbs grown on property season healthy, French-inspired cuisine and 40 elegant guest rooms facing the lake or hills offer an invitation to reflection.

Fredericksburg Wine and Dine Head west to Fredericksburg, a limestone German town best known for 15 wine-tasting spots along U.S. 290.

Among the best: Becker Vineyards

(464 Becker Farms Road; beckervineyards. com; Tempranillo and Viognier are favorites) and Messina Hof (9996 U.S. 290; messinahof.com; try the

Sangiovese).

Fredericksburg’s restaurant sophistication might surprise you. Enjoy lunch at Vaudeville (230 E. Main St., vaudeville-living.

com), a downstairs speakeasylike space that becomes a supper club at night.

Quiches (artichoke-chorizomanchego was divine) arrive

in a crunchy phyllo cup with a piquantly dressed salad. For dinner, Cabernet Grill (2805 Texas 16, cabernetgrill.com) showcases an extensive Texas

wine list (try a flight sampler if you can’t decide) paired with Angus beef, Texas quail or Gulf red snapper.

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Resort Life

Cozy Comfort

Rest your head in the quiet of the hills, where only an owl or dove might wake you. Perched off County Road 2242 halfway between Fredericksburg and Mason, Tres Lunas Resort (4887 Bucks Run Road, Mason; treslunasresort. com) is a quiet hacienda with a suite on each side of an infinity-edge pool that drops off into a meadow, showcasing the purple hills beyond. Enjoy a glass of wine (bring it with you from Fredericksburg; the inn doesn’t have a liquor license) at sunset, when deer prowl the property. A separate threebedroom house is also available.

Get lost in the fluffy bedding and drift off in absolute quiet. But, first you can opt for a house-made, three-course dinner that might be a Grand Marnier-sauced shrimp salad followed by perfectly smoked pork tenderloin and a tender chocolate bread pudding. This place knows how to spoil you with a hearty breakfast, too.

Drive south on U.S. 87 and find Comfort — the town, as well as the feeling. High Street, the three-block main street, offers a taste of true small-town Texas with upscale flair. Check into Hotel Faust (717 High St., hotelfaust.com), built in 1880 with a second wing added in 1894. It’s been a hotel since day one, and the charm persists with lovingly chosen period furnishings such as wingback chairs and four-poster iron beds.

Stay in one of eight rooms in the hotel and carriage house, the innkeeper’s cabin, or an 1820s log cabin, all elegantly decorated with posh bathrooms.

You’ll find surprises along High Street such as Bending Branch Winery (try the Texas Tannat) and a shop called Elephant Story, which donates part of its profits from its Asian-sourced clothing and gifts to elephant conservation efforts. You’ll discover deftly prepared cuisine at 814: A Texas Bistro (713 High St., 814atexasbistro.com), right next to the hotel. Don’t miss the soy-ginger-glazed Bandera quail.

Shop in Mason Then drive on into Mason and stop at Country Collectibles (424 Fort McKavitt St., masoncountrycollectibles.com) to shop for jewelry made with topaz found in the riverbeds and ravines of Mason County, Texas Topaz varies in color and clarity, like all gems, but pale blue dominates. Gaze upon the shop’s (not for sale) 587-carat Grand Azure topaz.

Surprising San Antonio So, now to San Antonio, with its myriad choices for luxury accommodations.

Golfers might opt for the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa (23808 Resort Parkway, marriott. com/hotels/travel/satjw-jwmarriott-san-antonio-hillcountry-resort-and-spa/) on a hill north of the city, with its two PGA-tour courses as well as a water park, a 30-room spa and first-rate

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steaks in its fine-dining room, 18 Oaks.

On the Upper River Walk, the 27-room, intimate Hotel Havana (1015 Navarro St., havanasanantonio.com) is all about character, from the shabby-chic décor with ‘50s-style Smeg refrigerators to its clubby basement bar.

The split-level penthouse, with its veranda and massive soaking tub, feels like a private retreat in the city.

Then there’s Hotel Emma (136 E. Grayson St., thehotelemma.com) the crown jewel of the the ever-expanding Pearl Brewery complex just north downtown. Built in and around a former brewery, the Pearl’s warren of restaurants, bars (including the new Jazz, TX) and shops requires a map, which Emma is pleased to provide.

As for the hotel, it’s hard to imagine an 1880s

brewery would somehow be redesigned, employing everything from an air-compression engine (in the lobby) to bottling and labeling machines (what fine chandeliers they make), to the point where it screams “Opulence!” to the high, wooden rafters. But, here you have exactly that.

Guests — and only guests — have access to a cozy two-story library where

New BraunfelsBound From here, San Antonio’s just a hop-skip away, but first, throw on a pair of jeans and swing by New Braunfels for an afternoon of Texas-roots music and dancing at Gruene Hall (1281 Gruene Road, gruenehall.com). There’s nothing fancy about Gruene (say “green”) Hall. It’s simply the oldest continuously-operating dance hall in Texas and the perfect place to scoot a boot (you did buy a pair at Allen’s back in Austin, didn’t you?) and raise a longneck.

margaritas are served in the afternoon and coffee and breakfast treats (little pastries and parfaits) in the morning. Rooms, some in the original brew factory, add creative elegance (a frame around the flatscreen) to the turn-of-century, Southwestern theme. A sleek pool overlooks the Pearl complex.

There’s no on-property spa, but this spring, a Hiatus Spa is due to open in the building behind the hotel.

It’s hard to choose among the Pearl’s dinner offerings — the hotel’s

own Supper (prime rib or duck confit), upscale Italian Il Sogno (creamy risotto or bronzed branzino), reimagined Mexican street food at La Gloria (creative ceviches) shine among the dozen or so — but, first, do walk inside Hotel Emma’s Sternewirth bar, curl up in a cozy banquette inside a fermentation tank (indeed, it is, and it’s beautiful), and order your favorite classic cocktail. — yes, even a Sazerac. We promise, the Hill Country’s got this.

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Recording Gold Rush Making records in Acadiana is alive, well and growing

by Suzanne Ferrara photographs by Denny Culbert

Acadiana’s musical recording world

has always been an island unto itself, and it’s no wonder — this is a magical place that turns out Grammy winners and is the home of a music culture unlike any other in the world.

“Music is a way of life here; it’s every single weekend in Acadiana and you can’t escape it,” says Chris Stafford, owner of Staffland Studio in Lafayette’s historic Freetown. “It is as important as food and everything we have here culturally, it is so ingrained in who we are.”

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Joshua “Bubba” Murrell, owner of Treehouse Recording in New Iberia, has a similar take on it.

“Our musicians have heart, and they give 150 percent,” says Murrell. “The bar is certainly set higher here as far as musical standards go, and there are so many talented people; the whole cultural attitude translates to the music.”

While that sprit has remained steadfast for more than a century, Acadiana’s recording industry is being rocked by an explosion of DIY studios. This has transformed the art of sound recording, making it simple, accessible and affordable for just about everyone.

“Instead of having four people create a song, it’s just me,” says songwriter and producer Alex Voorhies of Lafayette, who makes house calls with his portable recording equipment. Like most musicians, Voorhies got into the recording side of the business because he couldn’t afford to hire a studio engineer to archive his own music. Murrell says technology has now made the whole process almost effortless. “All you need is a microphone to plug into your computer and you go from there, incorporating sounds available through software.”

While most making recordings use live instruments and then incorporate digital sounds, Voorhies is the quintessential example of a DIYer who uses technology to its fullest capability.

“It’s unbelievable what you can do and I’m 100 percent digital; I can transpose it, pitch it, and that doesn’t include all the reverberations and modulating it with more crazy plug-ins.”

Voorhies, who is currently working on a record for rapper Lil Wayne, says he likes to use all virtual instruments when he tracks a tune.

In a contrast of style, Murrell’s DIY method is to record musicians live wherever they are performing then add in the editing and mixing, a two-part process.

Left 29-year-old Christ Stafford recording at his Staffland Studio in Lafayette’s historic “Freetown” Top Songwriter Dwight Roy with producer and drummer Zack Rhey recording hand claps Middle Stafford, a musician himself, discussing recording with fellow musicians.

Bottom Stafford recording from the control room.

Top Leap-Studios’ handmade CD chandelier middle Paul Broussard working with producer Jonathan Romein (sitting). Bottom Leap-Studios rack unit for amplifying microphone signals. Right: Leap-Studios’ Paul Broussard focused on fine tuning sound for a Brother Jac recording.

“I want to get the best recording, and I find they play better in a live environment like the clubs — that’s when they kick ass — but in the studio they stiffen up because the clock is ticking.”

The proliferation of these DIY studios in Acadiana is evident, and has far outnumbered traditional studios 10 to one. While a handful of local studios are still going strong, the DIY shops are more attractive to those who are looking for a cheaper way record their music. Today, there are hundreds of DIYers in Acadiana, and most of them are coming out of the bands themselves.

“Every band is a DIY studio because somewhere in the band is a computer geek under the age of 40, and he is going to be pushing the record button on some type of recorder,” says Murrell.

There are different levels of DIYers, from the singer/songwriter who records from his or her bedroom to the mid-level DIYers, who have built studios inside their homes or garages. That’s where Paul Broussard, with Leap-Studios comes in to play. Broussard’s studio, which was damaged during the August 2016 floods, is back up and running and attached to his Lafayette home.

“I spent about $150,000 for my studio, and I use state of the art equipment with high quality microphones and monitoring,” says Broussard.

The legendary La Louisianne Records and Studio has been in operation since 1948, but has taken a hit because of DIYs and downloading capabilities.

“Truthfully, there’s no more room with the way the industry has gone now over last 10 years with digital streaming is cutting a lot of us out,” says La Louisianne owner David Rachou. “There are still many out there touring and making money; it’s just the merchandising that has dropped tremendously.”

Rachou’s father, the late Carol Rachou, founded La Louisianne and recorded Acadiana legends such as Nathan Abshire,

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Aldus Rogere and Rufus Thibodeaux, and Rachou says his father would not believe the recording capabilities of today.

“When my dad started out it was live recording; that is all he had,” says Rachou.

“You couldn’t go in and overdub on computers” Rachou says his downtown Lafayette studio, which is chock-full of high-end vintage and digital equipment, is primarily involved in smaller recording projects.

“There are no more larger projects with a label budget, says Rachou. “The recording process and the bands recording an album is becoming more of a promotion than a stream of income.”

While Rachou is churning out recording masters that his clients can upload, down on the banks of the Bayou Vermilion in Maurice is the iconic Dockside Studio, where owner Cezanne “Wish” Nails says the calendar if full of recording appointments. Dockside, a revered studio that has won several Grammys, sits on 23 scenic acres and seems untouchable, despite the integration of technology.

“Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, Leon Russell and actress Scarlett Johannsson have recorded here, and we have three Grammys for B.B. King,” says Nails. Dockside was also hit by the August 2016 flood. But, says Nails, “Thank God the Neve (console) was saved. People were thanking me for opening back up saying we really need you and what Dockside does for us.”

After all, the Dockside compound radiates a magical vibe where musicians can be comfortable, concentrate and clear their minds while recording their art.

While you would think the infiltration and growth of DIYers would bring about guarded competition between rival recording producers and engineers, it’s

Left Steve and Suzanne (Wish) Nails, the pillars of Dockside, in front of the old barn out of which they built a dream. Top The Neve console, the heart and soul of Dockside. middle top Bassist Charlie Wooton’s gear sitting in Dockside’s Live Room. middle bottom Dockside’s control room also designed by Steven Durr. Bottom The Ampeg, vintage amplifier.

Top Joshua “Bubba” Murrell’s Grammy shines amid his recording equipment. middle 62-year-old Murrell passionately talks music and recording from his New Iberia office. bottom Murrell fine-tuning recording. Right Murrell holds his “blessing”, a Grammy he won for producing/mixing the Best Zydeco/ Cajun Music album.

actually quite the opposite. Just as musicians have the innate desire to share their music through performing, producers and engineers are eager to help each other capture and document tunes for their fellow musicians.

“It’s not like New York or Los Angeles,” says Stafford, who is also a musician in the band Feufollet. “We are all friends and we want to see each other succeed in Acadiana.”

This feeling is echoed by Muller, who says, “It’s karma, and I’ve been given a lot. I got a Grammy for producing and engineering, and I consider myself very blessed and the best thing for me to do is to turn it around and help the fellow next to me.”

Musicians who’ve been on the scene for decades acknowledge that this gold rush of DIY recordings has created opportunities they were never afforded when they arrived on the music scene. They are now able to document their music with little or no budget, and at a pace that doesn’t involve any time constraints. Whether in the comforts of a home or on location, many DIYers say the digital age of duplication allows musicians to play with heart and not so mechanically, something sound engineers can actually feel during a recording. Whatever the methodology, these recordings can be instantly shared with the world on YouTube or any other social media site.

This alone has spearheaded a massive change in the industry, and has spread the music of Acadiana to millions of mainstream listeners. At the same time, this capability has contributed to the evolution and melding of Acadiana’s musical genre for outside ears.

“All local folks are modifying music styles to popular music but not changing fundamentals, and we are getting the music closer to what they are used to,” says Muller.

Artists from around the globe have made their way to Acadiana to capture some of the distinctive sounds they first heard on Spotify or Pandora; in fact, the digital mixing sessions of today are done via the internet without anyone having to cross the ocean by sharing digital audio files. The DIY world is radically and rapidly changing, and this year local manufacturers are creating mixers that have internal recording capability.

“Now you can have four to eight channels for two-hundred dollars with the computer interface and mixing board all in one little cute box,” says Murrell.

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While the technology improves, there’s another movement creeping back in Acadiana: analog recording, where engineers use authentic methods and refurbished equipment to track records. Saul Pickett reigns in Acadiana with his Lafayette analog studio Magnetic Arts and Analog Recording, which he began six months ago to help fellow musicians like himself who can’t afford to pay a recording studio.

“I have nothing but respect for the traditional music scene here, but there has been a fledging independent music scene which gets little exposure, and I want to help those people capture their music and store it for an indefinite time,” says Pickett.

The painstaking task of working with the analog equipment is far from easy.

“To literally get the most out of a piece of gear, you have to go and cut out parts, replace parts and almost redesign and modifiy it,” and that’s exactly what Pickett, who is also an audio engineer, does with all of his vintage gear.

This growing interest among millennial musicians rediscovering vinyl, who are awestruck by the old-style recording process, is a phenomenon Rachou hopes will gain popularity. Rachou has the same capabilities with his vintage equipment at La Louisianne.

“Vinyl is making a little bit of surge and coming back; it has a different feel, a different sound,” says Rachou. “Who knows? It may go back to recording live in a studio.”

So, what’s around the corner for the art and business of recording? Nails believes there are numerous possibilities.

“I think it’s a vast amount of anything that can happen because the music industry has been turned upside down several times,” says Nails. “It’s not fully developed, and who knows where it’s going. But we are happy to take the ride.”

The overall tone about making and recording music in Acadiana seems to be one of hopeful excitement.

“People are always going to want their recordings, and it’s going to become easier and easier,” says Broussard. “Every time the next generation comes in, they grab the torch and the music moves them and they’ll want to record that art. I know that I want to be there to help myself and others express themselves artistically. We are the vessel to make it possible.”

Left 21-yearold Saul Pickett conducts analog recordings and uses refurbished equipment to track records. Top Pickett and his assistant, Ethan Brasseaux, inside Pickett’s Magnetic Arts and Analog Recording studio in Lafayette. middle Pickett and Brasseaux, inside the studio which opened seven months ago.

Bottom Some of Pickett’s reel-to-reel analog gear used in his recordings.

top lawyers METHODOLOGY Each year, Acadiana Profile publishes its Top Lawyers list, along with the stories of compelling cases fought by three of the year’s qualifying lawyers. In determining the Top Lawyers of Acadiana we use Professional Research Services, a Detroit-based survey company. The voting for the PRS survey to determine the 2017 top attorneys for Acadiana Profile magazine was open to all licensed attorneys in the Acadiana, Louisiana market area. Each attorney was asked which attorney, other than himself or herself, they would recommend in the Acadiana area. Each attorney was allowed to recommend up to three colleagues in each given legal specialty. Once the online nominations were complete, each nominee was carefully evaluated on the basis of the survey results, the legitimacy of their license and their current standing with the State Bar Association of Louisiana. Attorneys who received the highest number of votes in each category are reflected in the list by legal specialty.

top lawyers Administrative/ Regulatory Law Michael D. Hebert Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 mhebert@lawbecker.com Richard W. Revels Jr. Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette 337-232-7424 rwrevels@liskow.com Leslie J. Schi Schi, Scheckman & White LLP 117 West Landry St. Opelousas 337-942-9771 leslie@sswethicslaw.com Jeremy B. Shealy Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 shealyj@onebane.com Randall C. Songy Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 songyr@onebane.com Chris A. Verret Attorney at Law 325 Audubon Blvd.

Lafayette 337-237-4600 chris@verretlawoffice.com

Admiralty & Maritime Law Emily C. Borgen Larry Curtis, APLC 300 Rue Beauregard Building C Lafayette 337-235-1825 emily@larrycurtis.com Alan K. Breaud Breaud & Meyers 600 Jeerson St. Lafayette 337-266-2200 alan@breaudlaw.com

Lucas S. Colligan Gaar Law Firm 617 S. Buchanan St. Lafayette 337-366-0982 lucas@gaarlaw.com Kevin R. Duck Duck Law Firm, LLC 5040 Ambassador Caery Pkwy.

Suite 200 Lafayette 337-406-1144 krd@ducklawfirm.com Jacob Houston Hargett Gaar Law Firm 617 S. Buchanan St. Lafayette 337-366-0982 jacob@gaarlaw.com Richard J. Hymel Mahtook & LaFleur, LLC 600 Jeerson St. Floor 10 Lafayette 337-266-2189 rhymel@mandllaw.com Roger E. Ishee Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 isheer@onebane.com Mark A. Lowe Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette 337-232-7424 malowe@liskow.com Kevin P. Merchant Neuner Pate 1001 W. Pinhook Road Suite 200 Lafayette 337-237-7000 kmerchant@neunerpate.com P. Craig Morrow Jr. Morrow, Morrow, Ryan & Bassett 324 W. Landry St. Opelousas 337-948-4483 patm@mmrblaw.com David J. Norman III Allen & Norman 303 Verret St. Houma 985-876-2474 davidnorman@allen-norman.com Edwin G. Preis Jr. Preis, PLC 102 Versailles Blvd.

Suite 400 Lafayette 337-237-6062 epreis@preisplc.com

James Parkerson Roy Domengeaux Wright Roy Edwards Colomb, LLC 556 Jeerson St. Suite 500 Lafayette 337-233-3033 jimr@wrightroy.com Elwood C. Stevens Jr. Domengeaux Wright Roy Edwards Colomb, LLC 556 Jeerson St. Suite 500 Lafayette 337-233-3033 elwoods@wrightroy.com Randall K. Theunissen Allen & Gooch 2000 Kaliste Saloom Road Suite 400 Lafayette 337-291-1000 randytheunissen@allengooch.com Douglas W. Truxillo Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 truxillod@onebane.com Jonathan L. Woods Preis, PLC 102 Versailles Blvd.

Suite 400 Lafayette 337-237-6062 jwoods@preisplc.com

Alternate Dispute Resolution Edward C. Abell Jr. Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 abelle@onebane.com David S. Cook David S Cook, APLC 313 Beverly Drive Lafayette 337-234-4155 davidscook@bellsouth.net Robert S. Dampf Stockwell, Sievert, Viccellio, Clements & Shaddock, LLP 127 W Broad St. Floor 4 Lake Charles 337-436-9491 rsdampf@ssvcs.com Patrick A. Juneau Jr. Juneau David, APLC 1018 Harding St.

Suite 202 Lafayette 337-269-0052 paj@juneaudavid.com Thomas R Juneau Sr Juneau David, APLC 1018 Harding St. Suite 202 Lafayette 337-269-0052 trj@juneaudavid.com Andrew D. McGlathery III Stockwell, Sievert, Viccellio, Clements & Shaddock, LLP 127 W Broad St. Floor 4 Lake Charles 337-436-9491 admcglathery@ssvcs.com James T. Rivera Scofield & Rivera, LLC 100 E. Vermilion Suite 301 Lafayette 337-235-5353 jim@scorivlaw.com

Appellate Practice James H. Gibson Allen & Gooch 2000 Kaliste Saloom Road Suite 400 Lafayette 337-291-1000 jimgibson@allengooch.com W. Alan Lilley Goforth & Lilley, APLC 109 Stewart St. Lafayette 337-237-5777 allilley@bellsouth.net J. Daniel Rayburn Jr. Daigle Rayburn LLC 303 W. Vermilion Suite 210 Lafayette 337-234-7000 jdaniel@djrlawfirm.com Mark D. Plaisance Mark D. Plaisance, Attorney at Law P.O. Box 796 Thibodaux 985-227-4588 mark@louisianaappeals.com Lawrence P. Simon Jr. Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette 337-232-7424 lpsimon@liskow.com

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top lawyers my toughest case

gerald block Life and death cases define Lafayette attorney's career

By Fritz Esker Photograph by Romero & Romero

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acadiana profile april/may 2017

M

ost people outside of the medical profession never face an instance where someone’s life depends on how good they are at their jobs, but Lafayette attorney Gerald Block found himself in that scenario in 1984 when he defended a man facing the death penalty on a murder charge.

Block, now 71 years old, started his career as a plaintiff ’s attorney and in 1983 switched to the public defenders office in the Lafayette area. Shortly after making the switch, he had a capital murder trial. The client, an African-American man, was charged with murdering a white man attempting to buy drugs.

It was a daunting task.

Beforehand, Block sought the counsel of others who tried similar cases. He felt the jury selection would be critical. He requested sequestered voir dires, meaning that each juror should meet individually with the lawyers and judge. That request was not granted, but the judge allowed them to interview four jurors at a time.

“The selection of the jury was really important,” Block says. “We needed open-minded people.”

During the trial, Block sought to poke holes in the prosecution’s witness testimony.

One witness was a drug user high on the drug Preludin (which is also known as Phenmetrazine) at the time of the murder. Another was a drug dealer. A third was the owner of the gun used in the murder.

The gun owner claimed Block’s client gave him the gun after the murder. The gun owner said he then immediately threw the weapon in the nearest body of water. Block argued that no one in his right mind would take back a gun that was just used in a murder.

Through it all, Block felt the weight of the case on his shoulders. He constantly questioned his decisions and evaluated his performance.

“I kept asking myself questions like ‘Am I doing everything I possibly could be doing?’ and ‘Why did I sleep those five hours when I could have gotten by with three instead?’” Block says.

The self-recriminations were unnecessary. After a twoand-a-half week trial, Block’s African-American client was acquitted by the all-white jury after a deliberation of only an hour. Block still sees his client periodically. He’ll be out on a walk for exercise and hear “Hey, Block!” then see his former client riding by on a bicycle or driving in his car.

Block has remained in criminal defense. When asked what keeps the work interesting after 41 years of practicing law, he said it’s both the people and the ever-changing nature of the law.

There are different prosecutors and facts of the case, changing laws and other factors that make each day distinct.

Born in Lafayette, Gerald Block graduated from Loyola University of New Orleans in 1971 with a BCS degree. He earned his doctor of jurisprudence degree from Louisiana State University in 1971. He has been married to his wife Linda for 48 years. They have two children (Jennifer and Pamela) and one grandson (Thomas).

When he’s not practicing law or spending time with his family, Block loves to travel. He visited Europe for the first time in 2011 and is fascinated by the Roman ruins. In June, he and his wife will take a Baltic cruise and hit stops like Copenhagen and St. Petersburg. A former recreational athlete, Block no longer plays sports but still enjoys watching.

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top lawyers Banking and Finance Law

Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law H. Kent Aguillard M. Terrance Hoychick, APLC & H. Kent Aguillard 141 S. 6th St. Eunice 337-466-4419 kaguillard@yhalaw.com

Kyle M. Bacon Jones Walker LLP 600 Jeerson St. Suite 1600 Lafayette 337-593-7600 kbacon@joneswalker.com

Ronald J. Bertrand Ronald J. Bertrand, Attorney at Law 714 Kirby St. Lake Charles 337-436-2541 rjblawoffice@aol.com

Richard L. Becker Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 richard@lawbecker.com

Gerald J. Casey Gerald J. Casey, Attorney at Law 613 Alamo St. Lake Charles 337-474-5005 gcasey@caseylaw.net

Yvette Dumas Bradley Moreau Howay Stagg APLC 1318 Camellia Blvd.

Lafayette 337-235-4660 yvette@bradleymoreau.com Steven G. Durio Durio, McGoin, Stagg & Ackermann 220 Heymann Blvd.

Lafayette 337-233-0300 durio@dmsfirm.com Sue Tannehill Mann Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 manns@onebane.com Steven T. Ramos Andrus, Boudreaux, Landry & Coussan, APLC 1301 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 401 Lafayette 337-984-9480 sramos@andrus-boudreaux.com Craig A. Ryan Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 ryanc@onebane.com

Harold L. Domingue Jr. Harold L. Domingue, Jr., APLC 711 W. Pinhook Road Lafayette 337-234-6003 hdomingue@bellsouth.net Sue Tannehill Mann Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 manns@onebane.com Christopher J. Piasecki Davidson, Meaux, Sonnier, McElligott, Fontenot, Gideon & Edwards, LLP 810 S. Buchanan St. Lafayette 337-237-1660 cpiasecki@davidsonmeaux.com Craig A. Ryan Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 Gerald H. Schi Gordon, Arata, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan, LLC 400 E. Kaliste Saloom Road Suite 4200 Lafayette 337-237-0132 gschiff@gordonarata.com William C. Vidrine Vidrine & Vidrine 711 W. Pinhook Road

Lafayette 337-233-5195 williamv@vidrinelaw.com

Lafayette 337-593-7600 cboudreaux@joneswalker.com

Adam Young Young, Cotter and Meade, LLC 315 S. College Road Suite 163 Lafayette 337-261-8800

Nadia de la Houssaye Jones Walker LLP 600 Jeerson St. Suite 1600 Lafayette 337-593-7600

Bet-the-Company Litigations

James P. Doherty III Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407

Cli A. LaCour Neuner Pate 1001 W. Pinhook Road Suite 200 Lafayette 337-237-7000 clacour@neunerpate.com Douglas C. Longman Jr. Jones Walker LLP 600 Jeerson St. Suite 1600 Lafayette 337-593-7600 dlongman@joneswalker.com Frank X. Neuner Jr. Neuner Pate 1001 W. Pinhook Road Suite 200 Lafayette 337-237-7000 Gary J. Russo Jones Walker LLP 600 Jeerson St. Suite 1600 Lafayette 337-593-7600 Adam Young Young, Cotter and Meade, LLC 315 S. College Road Suite 163 Lafayette 337-261-8800

Commercial Litigation H. Kent Aguillard M. Terrance Hoychick, APLC & H. Kent Aguillard 141 S. 6th St. Eunice 337-466-4419 kaguillard@yhalaw.com George Arceneaux III Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette 337-232-7424 garceneaux@liskow.com Charles J. Boudreaux Jr. Jones Walker LLP 600 Jeerson St. Suite 1600

Lamont P. Domingue Voorhies & Labbé 700 Saint John St. Floor 5 Lafayette 337-232-9700 Theodore G. Edwards IV Davidson, Meaux, Sonnier, McElligott, Fontenot, Gideon & Edwards, LLP 810 S. Buchanan St. Lafayette 337-237-1660 gedwards@davidsonmeaux.com Kay Karre Gautreaux Kay Karre Gautreaux, LLC 405 W Convent St Lafayette 337-232-7747 Joseph C. Giglio Jr. Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette 337-232-7424 jcgiglio@liskow.com Jeremy A. Hebert Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 Michael D. Hebert Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 mhebert@lawbecker.com Cli A. LaCour Neuner Pate 1001 W. Pinhook Road Suite 200 Lafayette 337-237-7000 clacour@neunerpate.com Steven C. Lanza Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 lanza@onebane.com

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top lawyers my toughest case

TODD ALAN TOWNSLEY Personal injury is personal for Lake Charles attorney

By Will Kalec Photograph by Romero & Romero

D

on’t let the big credentials and track record of winning big-figured settlements against the big boys of Corporate America fool you.

Attorney Todd Alan Townsley identifies with The Little Guy — a fact he believes becomes crystal clear the moment clients sit down in his Lake Charles office.

There’s a trace of Horatio Alger in his story. As a child growing up in Bloomington, Indiana, Townsley’s father worked hard and drove a bread

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acadiana profile april/may 2017

truck. His mother never went to college. No one on her side of the family ever went to college, actually. The road map toward the legal profession was actually laid out by Townsley’s uncle, Rex Townsley, an attorney in southwest Louisiana at the time and still to this day (Townsley’s family originally hails from Louisiana).

When it came time to pick a college, Rex pushed his young nephew to apply to the Top 10 law schools in the country, and when Townsley got accepted to all of them, his uncle insisted his nephew attend Harvard — despite the pre-planned notion that Townsley would work for his uncle’s firm post-graduation.

“I could have worked anywhere in the world,” Townsley says. “I had offers in London and Paris, New York and Los Angeles. I think in that point in time, my uncle started getting nervous that I might not come work for him, but I always wanted to do this kind of work.”

The reason is simple. For Townsley, this type of law is personal.

When Townsley was 10 years old, an 18-wheeler ran a stop sign and slammed into Townsley’s father who was out making a bread delivery, breaking his leg in nine places, dislocating his kneecap and injuring his back to the point it required surgery.

“I lived through that, so it’s the type of law I wanted to do,” Townsley says. “It’s rare to go to Harvard and do this type of work. It’s not the most glamorous or prestigious (law) to get groomed for, but I stuck with the plan I always wanted to do.”

Not more than a month after passing the Louisiana Bar and being sworn in, Townsley was thrown to the fire — placed smack in the middle of the types of cases he sought to practice, and now has practiced

for more than 25 years — representing a homeowner who lost their residence in a fire. The insurance company alleged arson and refused to pay damages. The case, which was held in U.S. District Court with legendary Judge Edwin Hunter presiding, went to trial. After 30 minutes of deliberating, the jury wrote a note to the judge, which was later announced in chambers to the lawyers.

The note read: “Can we award more than the amount the plaintiff asked for?”

“When you’re representing the plaintiff, which I was,” Townsley says, “those are good questions to hear from the jury.”

The answer, by the way: Yes. In hindsight, one of his first cases remains the most memorable.

“There are a lot of lawyers who are second or third generation lawyers, but my background and family is blue collar. In my practice, those are the people I’m representing — people working jobs where you’re more likely to be injured,” Townsley says. “I feel I can identify with them from my own story and background.

I’ll let them know I understand where they’re coming from and what they’re going through.

‘Hey, I lived that as a child myself ’.”

Todd Alan Townsley participated in five cases that resulted in verdicts or settlements in excess of $10 million. Townsley attended Harvard Law School at the same time as former U.S. President Barack Obama.He credits his uncle, Rex Townsley, as his inspiration to go into law.

After earning a B.A. at Indiana University (summa cum laude) in 1988 he continued on to earn a J.D. from Harvard University (cum laude) in 1991.

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top lawyers Jed M. Mestayer Neuner Pate 1001 W. Pinhook Road Suite 200 Lafayette 337-237-7000 Frank X. Neuner Jr. Neuner Pate 1001 W. Pinhook Road Suite 200 Lafayette 337-237-7000 fneuner@neunerpate.com Joseph R. Pousson Jr. Plauché, Smith & Nieset, LLC 1123 Pithon St. Lake Charles 337-436-0522 jrpousson@psnlaw.com Matthew J. Randazzo III Randazzo Giglio & Bailey LLC 900 E. Saint Mary Blvd.

Suite 200 Lafayette 337-291-4900 April L. Rolen-Ogden Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette 337-232-7424 arolen-ogden@liskow.com Gary J. Russo Jones Walker LLP 600 Jeerson St. Suite 1600 Lafayette 337-593-7600 Donald W. Washington Jones Walker LLP 600 Jeerson St. Suite 1600 Lafayette 337-593-7600

Commercial Transactions/ LLS Law

Lafayette 337-232-7424 jschauvin@liskow.com Yvette Dumas Bradley Moreau Howay Stagg APLC 1318 Camellia Blvd.

Lafayette 337-235-4660 Jeremy A. Hebert Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 W. Alan Lilley Goforth & Lilley, APLC 109 Stewart St. Lafayette 337-237-5777 allilley@bellsouth.net

Communications Law Michael D. Hebert Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407

Construction Law Charles J. Foret Briney Foret Corry, LLP 413 Travis St. Suite 200 Lafayette 337-237-4070 foret@brineyforet.com Jeremy A. Hebert Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 Michael D. Hebert Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 mhebert@lawbecker.com Emile Joseph Jr. Allen & Gooch 2000 Kaliste Saloom Road Suite 400 Lafayette 337-291-1000 emilejoseph@allengooch.com

Richard L. Becker Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 richard@lawbecker.com

Richard D. Moreno Richard D. Moreno, LLC 125 W. School St. Lake Charles 337-656-8654 richard@rdmorenolaw.com

Julie S. Chauvin Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St

James T. Rivera Scofield & Rivera, LLC 100 E. Vermilion

Suite 301 Lafayette 337-235-5353 jim@scorivlaw.com Michael J. Williamson Plauché, Smith & Nieset, LLC 1123 Pithon St. Lake Charles 337-436-0522 mwilliamson@psnlaw.com

Lawrence L. Lewis III Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660

Corporate Law

Marc D. Moroux Juneau David, APLC 1018 Harding St. Suite 202 Lafayette 337-269-0052

Richard L. Becker Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 richard@lawbecker.com

Michael D. Skinner Skinner Law Firm, LLC 600 Jeerson St. Suite 810 Lafayette 337-354-3030 mike@law.glacoxmail.com

Yvette Dumas Bradley Moreau Howay Stagg APLC 1318 Camellia Blvd.

Lafayette 337-235-4660

William P Stubbs Jr. Stubbs Law Firm, LLC 1301 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 401 Lafayette 337-233-9755

Steven G. Durio Durio, McGoin, Stagg & Ackermann 220 Heymann Blvd.

Lafayette 337-233-0300

Lester J. Zaunbrecher Allen & Gooch 2000 Kaliste Saloom Road Suite 400 Lafayette 337-291-1000

Ryan M. Goudelocke Durio, McGoin, Stagg & Ackermann 220 Heymann Blvd.

Lafayette 337-233-0300 Matthew S. Green Preis, PLC 102 Versailles Blvd.

Suite 400 Lafayette 337-237-6062 James J. Hautot Jr. Judice & Adley, APLC 926 Coolidge Blvd.

Lafayette 337-235-2405 jjh@judice-adley.com Jeremy A. Hebert Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 Joseph P. Hebert Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette 337-232-7424 Paul J. Hebert Ottinger Hebert, LLC 1313 W. Pinhook Road Lafayette 337-232-2606

Criminal Defense Alfred F. Boustany II Boustany Law Firm 421 W. Vermilion St. Lafayette 337-261-0225 afb2@boustanylawfirm.com

Criminal Defense Non White-Collar Gerald J. Block Gerald J. Block, Attorney at Law 321 W. Main St. Suite 2E Lafayette 337-233-9296 lblock@block.glacoxmail.com Todd S. Clemons Todd Clemons & Associates 1740 Ryan St. Lake Charles 337-477-0000 todd@toddclemons.com Donald D. Cleveland Donald D. Cleveland, APLC 201 E. Main St. Lafayette 337-205-0319 donaldcleveland@justice.com Tony Carlo Fazzio The Sanchez Law Firm, LLC

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top lawyers my toughest case

YVETTE DUMAS Former litigator in Lafayette now thrives in real estate law

By Will Kalec Photograph by Romero & Romero

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acadiana profile april/may 2017

F

resh out of law school, Yvette Dumas learned early on that litigating is “a fight.”

A green attorney, who transitioned into law later than most after working a decade for an Arkansas CPA in the 1990s, Dumas handled medical malpractice cases (specifically mesothelioma suits) for close to a year. Though she thrived in the role, the demands wore on Dumas. The constant battles began to get old, so Dumas shifted her legal specialization to real estate law and hasn’t strayed since.

What’s the difference between the two gigs?

Well, as Dumas says in a boisterous tone that can push rain clouds away, real estate law is a fight, too. It’s just here — in this arena — there are two winners after the smoke clears: an enthused buyer and a satisfied seller.

“When you go into real estate, everybody’s happy,” Dumas says. “So it’s a different realm. I didn’t like the conflict, and so that’s when I switched to real estate law. The law firm I work for now, this is where I always wanted to work. It’s a great set-up with a bunch of happy clients. It’s a job where you can’t wait to get to work.”

As an attorney for Bradley Moreau Title — the largest real estate law firm in Lafayette — handles pretty much every aspect of the property-buying or property-selling spectrum.

Residential sales, commercial sales, short or relocation sales, refinances and second mortgages, home equity loans and, of course, the closing and title process.

Though Dumas has only been at Bradley Moreau for two years, she brought with her more than a decade of real estate law experience upon her hiring.

“Our goal is to have a buyer that’s not surprised,” Dumas says. “That they know exactly

what they’re purchasing and try to make it a pleasant experience for them.”

That objective is especially true when Dumas takes on a young couple that has been renting for years and are now at a point in life where they’re looking to buy. Always a consummate professional, Dumas takes on a bit of a maternal role in these types of attorney-client pairings, quelling fears and thoroughly explaining every step along the way of this foreign process.

“First-time home buyers are fun to work with, because at that point, that’s probably the biggest purchase of their lives,” Dumas says. “So you’re excited for them. They’re excited, too, but they’re scared at the same time. So we take them through the whole situation, which in the end is fun. We’ll walk them through each stage, and go the extra mile to make this an enjoyable experience. The goal is to get people the home of their dreams and make it an easy process.

“A lot of times, when people buy their first house with us, they’ll come back because they view us almost like a friend,” Dumas says. “It doesn’t matter if they’re coming to re-finance or looking to buy an investment property. We’ll see them time and time again.”

Though Yvette Dumas of Bradley Moreau Title in Lafayette finished her law degree at Louisiana State University, she spent the first year of law school at Loyola University Law School in New Orleans.

Dumas earned a B.A at.

Louisiana Tech University – 1989 and her doctor of jurisprudence at LSU – 2003.

Gardening is one of Dumas' favorite out-of-office passions. She also owns four Chihuahuas.

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top lawyers 1200 Ryan St. Lake Charles 337-433-4405 tfazzio@waltsanchez.com William L. Goode The Goode Law Firm APLC 812 Johnston St. Lafayette 337-240-9630 Thomas E. Guilbeau Thomas E. Guilbeau Criminal Defense Attorney 106 Congress St. Lafayette 337-232-7309 thomasguilbeau@msn.com Joshua S. Guillory The Law Oice of Joshua S. Guillory, LLC 317 E. University Ave. Lafayette 337-233-1303 josh@jsguillorylaw.com Shane K. Hinch Roach Law Firm 2917 Ryan St. Lake Charles 337-433-8504 shinch@larryaroachinc.com Rebecca Jacobs Hunter The Sanchez Law Firm, LLC 1200 Ryan St. Lake Charles 337-433-4405 bhunter@waltsanchez.com Adam P. Johnson Johnson & Vercher, LLC 910 Ford St. Lake Charles 337-433-1414 adam@johnsonandvercher.com Allyson M. Prejean Barry Sallinger 820 E. Saint Mary Blvd.

Lafayette 337-235-5791 allyson@sallingerlaw.com Chaz H. Roberts Chaz Roberts Law 100 Magnate Drive Suite A1 Lafayette 337-504-3202 cr@chazhrobertslaw.com

Barry J. Sallinger Barry Sallinger 820 E. Saint Mary Blvd.

Lafayette 337-235-5791 bjs@sallingerlaw.com Bernard T. Shea The Sanchez Law Firm, LLC 1200 Ryan St. Lake Charles 337-433-4405 tshea@waltsanchez.com Michael D. Skinner Skinner Law Firm, LLC 600 Jeerson St. Suite 810 Lafayette 337-354-3030 John K. Stockstill J. Kevin Stockstill, Attorney at Law 300 Stewart St. Lafayette 337-366-8066 kevin@kevinstockstill.com Donald W. Washington Jones Walker LLP 600 Jeerson St. Suite 1600 Lafayette 337-593-7600 dwashington@joneswalker.com

Criminal Defense White Collar Gerald J. Block Gerald J. Block, Attorney at Law 321 W. Main St. Suite 2E Lafayette 337-233-9296 lblock@block.glacoxmail.com Tony Carlo Fazzio The Sanchez Law Firm, LLC 1200 Ryan St. Lake Charles 337-433-4405 tfazzio@waltsanchez.com William L. Goode The Goode Law Firm APLC 812 Johnston St. Lafayette 337-240-9630 bill@goodelawyer.com Rebecca Jacobs Hunter The Sanchez Law Firm, LLC 1200 Ryan St. Lake Charles 337-433-4405 Bernard T. Shea The Sanchez Law Firm, LLC 1200 Ryan St. Lake Charles 337-433-4405 tshea@waltsanchez.com

Michael D. Skinner Skinner Law Firm, LLC 600 Jeerson St. Suite 810 Lafayette 337-354-3030 John K. Stockstill J. Kevin Stockstill, Attorney at Law 300 Stewart St. Lafayette 337-366-8066 kevin@kevinstockstill.com Donald W. Washington Jones Walker LLP 600 Jeerson St. Suite 1600 Lafayette 337-593-7600

Elder Law Steven M. Jankower Jankower Law Firm, LLC 110 Exchange Place Suite 101 Lafayette 337-289-1745 steve@jankower.com Helen Onebane Mendell The Dill Law Firm 825 Lafayette St. Lafayette 337-261-1408 hmendell@dillfirm.com David L. Sigler Sigler & Raglin Attorneys at Law, APLLC 630 Kirby St. Lake Charles 337-439-2033 dlsigler@siglerlaw.com Kenneth D. St. Pé Kenneth D. St. Pé, APLC 311 W. University Ave. Suite A Lafayette 337-534-4043 kennethstpe@aol.com

Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law James J. Davidson III Davidson, Meaux, Sonnier, McElligott, Fontenot, Gideon & Edwards, LLP 810 S. Buchanan St. Lafayette 337-237-1660 jdavidson@davidsonmeaux.com Michael D. Hebert Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407

Employee Benefits Law Joel P. Babineaux Babineaux, Poche, Anthony & Slavich LLC 1201 Camellia Blvd.

Floor 3 Lafayette 337-984-2505 jbabineaux@bpasfirm.com Robert J. David Jr Juneau David, APLC 1018 Harding St. Suite 202 Lafayette 337-269-0052 Kevin R. Duck Duck Law Firm, LLC 5040 Ambassador Caery Pkwy.

Suite 200 Lafayette 337-406-1144 Gregory Guidry Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, PC 603 Silverstone Road Suite 102A Lafayette 337-769-6583 Gregory K. Moroux Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 moroux@onebane.com Robert E. Rowe Rowe Law Corporation 113 Oil Center Drive Lafayette 337-266-9626 rob@rowelawcorp.com

Energy Law George Arceneaux III Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette 337-232-7424 garceneaux@liskow.com Robert L. Cabes Milling Benson Woodward, LLP 101 La Rue France Suite 200 Lafayette 337-232-3929 rcabes@millinglaw.com Susan A. Daigle Daigle Rayburn LLC 303 W. Vermilion Suite 210 Lafayette 337-234-7000 susan@djrlawfirm.com

Billy J. Domingue Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette 337-232-7424 bjdomingue@liskow.com Amy Duplantis Gautreaux Gordon, Arata, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan, LLC 400 E. Kaliste Saloom Road Suite 4200 Lafayette 337-237-0132 agautreaux@gordonarata.com Patrick W. Gray Johnson Gray McNamara, LLC 200 W. Congress St. Suite 900 Lafayette 337-412-6003 pwg@jgmclaw.com Julie Deshotels Jardell Gordon, Arata, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan, LLC 400 E. Kaliste Saloom Road Suite 4200 Lafayette 337-237-0132 jjardell@gordonarata.com James N. Mansfield III Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette 337-232-7424 jnmansfield@liskow.com Samuel E. Masur Gordon, Arata, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan, LLC 400 E. Kaliste Saloom Road Suite 4200 Lafayette 337-237-0132 Jennifer E. Michel Lewis Brisbois 100 E. Vermilion St. Suite 300 Lafayette 337-205-4739 jenny.michel@lewisbrisbois.com Richard W. Revels Jr. Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette 337-232-7424 rwrevels@liskow.com Jamie D. Rhymes Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette 337-232-7424 jdrhymes@liskow.com George H. Robinson Jr. Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette

337-232-7424 ghrobinson@liskow.com April L. Rolen-Ogden Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette 337-232-7424 arolen-ogden@liskow.com Bryan D. Scofield Scofield & Rivera, LLC 100 E. Vermilion Suite 301 Lafayette 337-235-5353 bryan@scorivlaw.com Jeremy B. Shealy Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 shealyj@onebane.com Lawrence P. Simon Jr. Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette 337-232-7424 Paul B. Simon Gordon, Arata, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan, LLC 400 E. Kaliste Saloom Road Suite 4200 Lafayette 337-237-0132 psimon@gordonarata.com Randall C. Songy Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 songyr@onebane.com

Environmental Law

Valerie V. Guidry Ottinger Hebert, LLC 1313 W. Pinhook Road Lafayette 337-232-2606 Paul J. Hebert Ottinger Hebert, LLC 1313 W. Pinhook Road Lafayette 337-232-2606 pjhebert@ohllc.com Mark A. Lowe Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette 337-232-7424 Ben L. Mayeaux Neuner Pate 1001 W. Pinhook Road Suite 200 Lafayette 337-237-7000 bmayeaux@neunerpate.com

Family Law James D. Bayard Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 bayardj@onebane.com Alfred F. Boustany II Boustany Law Firm 421 W. Vermilion St. Lafayette 337-261-0225 afb2@boustanylawfirm.com David L. Carriere The Law Oices of David L. Carriere 322 S. Market St. Opelousas 337-948-6217 dlclaw@bellsouth.net

John E. McElligott Jr. Davidson, Meaux, Sonnier, McElligott, Fontenot, Gideon & Edwards, LLP 810 S. Buchanan St. Lafayette 337-237-1660

Laura L. Davenport Law Oice of Laura L. Davenport 730 Jeerson St. Lafayette 337-231-1397 lldavenportlaw@gmail.com

Thomas M. McNamara Johnson Gray McNamara, LLC 200 W. Congress St. Suite 900 Lafayette 337-412-6003 tmm@jgmclaw.com

Dean A. Doherty Law Oice of Dean A. Doherty, LLC 405 W. Convent St. Lafayette 337-232-7747 deandohertylaw@gmail.com

Ashley E. Philen Simien & Simien, LLC 1 Lakeshore Drive Suite 1270 Lake Charles 337-436-2121

Bradford H. Felder Huval, Veazey, Felder & Renegar, LLC 2 Flagg Place Lafayette 337-446-2709 bfelder@hvfr-law.com

George Arceneaux III Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette 337-232-7424 garceneaux@liskow.com

Christopher J. Piasecki Davidson, Meaux, Sonnier, McElligott, Fontenot, Gideon & Edwards, LLP 810 S. Buchanan St. Lafayette 337-237-1660 cpiasecki@davidsonmeaux.com

Michael G. Durand Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 durandm@onebane.com

Matthew J. Randazzo III Randazzo Giglio & Bailey LLC 900 E. Saint Mary Blvd.

Suite 200 Lafayette 337-291-4900 matt@rgb-llc.com

Patrick W. Gray Johnson Gray McNamara, LLC 200 W. Congress St. Suite 900 Lafayette 337-412-6003 pwg@jgmclaw.com

Melissa Theriot Neuner Pate 1001 W. Pinhook Road Suite 200 Lafayette 337-237-7000 mtheriot@neunerpate.com

Kay Karre Gautreaux Kay Karre Gautreaux, LLC 405 W. Convent St. Lafayette 337-232-7747 kaygautreaux@cox.net Rachel B. Godley Rachel B. Godley, Attorney at Law, LLC 315 S. College Road Suite 225 Lafayette 337-456-3457 rachel@rgodleylaw.com Rebecca Jacobs Hunter The Sanchez Law Firm, LLC 1200 Ryan St. Lake Charles 337-433-4405 bhunter@waltsanchez.com acadianaprofile.com

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top lawyers Jonathan L. Johnson Johnson & Vercher, LLC 910 Ford St. Lake Charles 337-433-1414 jonathan@johnsonandvercher.com Philip C. Kobetz Philip C. Kobetz, LTD APLC 120 Representative Row Lafayette 337-291-1990 pckltd@aol.com Ann Dore Latour Attorney at Law 405 W. Main St. Lafayette 337-235-3878 annlatour@bellsouth.net Lindsay Meador Young Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith, APLC 328 Settlers Trace Blvd Lafayette 337-735-1760 lmeador@gallowayjohnson.com Dona K. Renegar Huval, Veazey, Felder & Renegar, LLC 2 Flagg Place Lafayette 337-446-2709 drenegar@hvfr-law.com Walter M. Sanchez The Sanchez Law Firm, LLC 1200 Ryan St. Lake Charles 337-433-4405 wsanchez@waltsanchez.com Bernard T. Shea The Sanchez Law Firm, LLC 1200 Ryan St. Lake Charles 337-433-4405 tshea@waltsanchez.com John Wesley Tilly Keaty & Tilly, LLC 2701 Johnston St. Suite 303 Lafayette 337-347-8995 70 |

acadiana profile april/may 2017

First Amendment Law Thomas L. Lorenzi Lorenzi & Barnatt, LLP 518 Pujo St. Lake Charles 337-513-0886 tlorenzi@lblegal.com

Government Relations Practice Burton P. Guidry Burton P. Guidry & Associates 111 Concord St. Suite B Abbeville 337-740-0834 burtonguidry@gmail.com Michael D. Hebert Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407

Health Care Law A.G. (Alec) Alexander III Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, L.L.P. 301 Main St. Suite 2300 Baton Rouge 225-387-4000 alec.alexander@bswllp.com Paul J. Breaux Paul J. Breaux, Ltd. 600 Jeerson St. Suite 503 Lafayette 337-266-2270 info@paulbreaux.com Ross A. Brupbacher Young, Cotter and Meade, LLC 315 S. College Road Suite 163 Lafayette 337-261-8800 rb33@runbox.com Nadia de la Houssaye Jones Walker LLP 600 Jeerson St. Suite 1600 Lafayette 337-593-7600 ndelahoussaye@joneswalker.com Nicholas Gachassin Jr. Gachassin Law Firm 200 Corporate Blvd.

Suite 103 Lafayette 337-235-4576 nick3@gachassin.com

Christopher C. Johnston Gachassin Law Firm 200 Corporate Blvd.

Suite 103 Lafayette 337-235-4576 chris@gachassin.com

Anna M. Grand Pecoraro Law 600 Jeerson St. Suite 810 Lafayette 337-446-2453 agrand@pecorarolaw.com

Gary McGoin Durio, McGoin, Stagg & Ackermann 220 Heymann Blvd.

Lafayette 337-233-0300 gary@dmsfirm.com

Holly Lamarche Galloway & Jefcoat, LLP 1925 Dulles Drive Lafayette 337-984-8020 hollyl@gallowayjefcoat.com

Nicole Reynolds Judice & Adley, APLC 926 Coolidge Blvd.

Lafayette 337-235-2405 nicole@gachassin.com

Gregory R. Mier Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 mierg@onebane.com

Michael R. Schulze Sullivan Stolier LLC 1042 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 2 Lafayette 337-233-6210 mschulze@sullivanstolier.com

Elena Arcos Pecoraro Pecoraro Law 600 Jeerson St. Suite 810 Lafayette 337-446-2453 elena@pecorarolaw.com

Michael D. Skinner Skinner Law Firm, LLC 600 Jeerson St. Suite 810 Lafayette 337-354-3030 mike@law.glacoxmail.com

Insurance Law

Kenneth D. St. Pé Kenneth D. St. Pé, APLC 311 W. University Ave. Suite A Lafayette 337-534-4043 kennethstpe@aol.com Berryl F. ThompsonBroussard II Gachassin Law Firm 200 Corporate Blvd.

Suite 103 Lafayette 337-235-4576 healthlaw@gachassin.com

Immigration Law Ashley Foret Dees Ashley Foret Dees, LLC 343 Broad St. Lake Charles 337-214-0354 ashley@afdees.com Grant Fulton Freeman Pecoraro Law 600 Jeerson St. Suite 810 Lafayette 337-446-2453 gfreeman@pecorarolaw.com

Michael P. Corry Sr. Briney Foret Corry, LLP 413 Travis St. Suite 200 Lafayette 337-237-4070 corry@brineyforet.com Robert J. David Jr. Juneau David, APLC 1018 Harding St. Suite 202 Lafayette 337-269-0052 rjd@juneaudavid.com James P. Doherty III Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 james@lawbecker.com Charles J Foret Briney Foret Corry, LLP 413 Travis St. Suite 200 Lafayette 337-237-4070 Kyle L. Gideon Davidson, Meaux, Sonnier, McElligott, Fontenot, Gideon & Edwards, LLP 810 S. Buchanan St. Lafayette 337-237-1660 kgideon@davidsonmeaux.com

Marc W. Judice Judice & Adley, APLC 926 Coolidge Blvd.

Lafayette 337-235-2405 mwj@judice-adley.com Michael Juneau Juneau David, APLC 1018 Harding St. Suite 202 Lafayette 337-269-0052 Michael G. Lemoine Jones Walker LLP 600 Jeerson St. Suite 1600 Lafayette 337-593-7600 mlemoine@joneswalker.com John E. McElligott Jr. Davidson, Meaux, Sonnier, McElligott, Fontenot, Gideon & Edwards, LLP 810 S. Buchanan St. Lafayette 337-237-1660 jmcelligott@davidsonmeaux.com Timothy J. McNamara Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 mcnamart@onebane.com Jennifer E. Michel Lewis Brisbois 100 E. Vermilion St. Suite 300 Lafayette 337-205-4739 jenny.michel@lewisbrisbois.com James L. Pate Neuner Pate 1001 W. Pinhook Road Suite 200 Lafayette 337-237-7000 jpate@neunerpate.com Richard J. Petre Jr. Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 petrer@onebane.com Gary J. Russo Jones Walker LLP 600 Jeerson St. Suite 1600 Lafayette 337-593-7600 grusso@joneswalker.com

Tammy B. Scelfo Allen & Gooch 2000 Kaliste Saloom Road Suite 400 Lafayette 337-291-1000 tammyscelfo@allengooch.com

Intellectual Property Law Ryan M. Goudelocke Durio, McGoin, Stagg & Ackermann 220 Heymann Blvd.

Lafayette 337-233-0300 ryan@dmsfirm.com

International Arbitration Gary J. Russo Jones Walker LLP 600 Jeerson St. Suite 1600 Lafayette 337-593-7600

Labor and Employment Law Joel P. Babineaux Babineaux, Poche, Anthony & Slavich LLC 1201 Camellia Blvd.

Floor 3 Lafayette 337-984-2505 jbabineaux@bpasfirm.com

Gregory K. Moroux Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 moroux@onebane.com

Land Use and Zoning Law Richard L. Becker Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 richard@lawbecker.com Stuart R. Breaux Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 sbreaux@lawbecker.com Jonathan R. Davis Turnkey Title 91 Settlers Trace Blvd.

Bldg. 1 Lafayette 337-326-4830

Legal Malpractice Law David J. Ayo Allen & Gooch 2000 Kaliste Saloom Road Suite 400 Lafayette 337-291-1000 davidayo@allengooch.com

Robert J. David Jr Juneau David, APLC 1018 Harding St. Suite 202 Lafayette 337-269-0052

James H. Gibson Allen & Gooch 2000 Kaliste Saloom Road Suite 400 Lafayette 337-291-1000

J. Michael Fussell Jr. Gordon, Arata, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan, LLC 400 E. Kaliste Saloom Road Suite 4200 Lafayette 337-237-0132 mfussell@gordonarata.com

Scott D. Webre Webre & Associates 2901 Johnston St. Suite 307 Lafayette 337-237-5051 scottwebre@webreandassociates.com

Gregory Guidry Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, PC 603 Silverstone Road Suite 102A Lafayette 337-769-6583 greg.guidry@ogletreedeakins.com Michael D. Hebert Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407

Mass Tort Litigation/ Class Actions Derrick G. Earles Laborde Earles 203 Energy Pkwy.

Building B Lafayette 337-777-7777 digger@onmyside.com John E. McElligott Jr. Davidson, Meaux, Sonnier, McElligott, Fontenot, Gideon & Edwards, LLP

810 S. Buchanan St. Lafayette 337-237-1660 jmcelligott@davidsonmeaux.com Patrick C. Morrow Morrow, Morrow, Ryan & Bassett 324 W. Landry St. Opelousas 337-948-4483 patm@mmrblaw.com Edwin G. Preis Jr. Preis, PLC 102 Versailles Blvd.

Suite 400 Lafayette 337-237-6062 epreis@preisplc.com James Parkerson Roy Domengeaux Wright Roy Edwards Colomb, LLC 556 Jeerson St. Suite 500 Lafayette 337-233-3033 jimr@wrightroy.com James P. Ryan Morrow, Morrow, Ryan & Bassett 324 W. Landry St. Opelousas 337-948-4483 jamesr@mmrblaw.com Elwood C. Stevens Jr. Domengeaux Wright Roy Edwards Colomb, LLC 556 Jeerson St. Suite 500 Lafayette 337-233-3033 elwoods@wrightroy.com Bob F. Wright Domengeaux Wright Roy Edwards Colomb, LLC 556 Jeerson St. Suite 500 Lafayette 337-233-3033 bobw@wrightroy.com

Medical Malpractice Law Alan K. Breaud Breaud & Meyers 600 Jeerson St. Lafayette 337-266-2200 alan@breaudlaw.com David S. Cook David S Cook, APLC 313 Beverly Drive Lafayette 337-234-4155 Kenneth W. DeJean Law Oices of Kenneth acadianaprofile.com

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top lawyers W. DeJean 417 W. University Ave. Lafayette 337-326-4582 kwdejean@kwdejean.com James Domengeaux Domengeaux Wright Roy Edwards Colomb, LLC 556 Jeerson St. Suite 500 Lafayette 337-233-3033 jimmyd@wrightroy.com Rebekah R. Huggins The Glenn Armentor Law Corporation 300 Stewart St. Lafayette 337-233-1471 rhuggins@glennarmentor.com Marc W. Judice Judice & Adley, APLC 926 Coolidge Blvd.

Lafayette 337-235-2405 mwj@judice-adley.com James P. Lambert Jim Lambert Law Firm 315 S. College Suite 146 Lafayette 337-446-2766 jim@jimlambert.com Daniel C. Palmintier Assistant Attorney General, Litigation Division 556 Jefferson St. 4th Floor Lafayette 337-262-1700 palmintierd@ag.louisiana.gov Sera H. Russell III The Law Oices of Sera H. Russell III 111 Mercury St. Lafayette 337-205-9786 Elizabeth Fontenot Shea Fraser Wheeler & Bergstedt, LLP 4350 Nelson Road Lake Charles 72 |

acadiana profile april/may 2017

337-478-8595 eshea@fraser-law.com

337-446-2407 sbreaux@lawbecker.com

Lafayette 337-232-2606

Todd A. Townsley The Townsley Law Firm 3102 Enterprise Blvd.

Lake Charles 337-377-0584

Sara Rodrigue Buggs Neuner Pate 1001 W. Pinhook Road Suite 200 Lafayette 337-237-7000 sbuggs@neunerpate.com

Matthew J. Randazzo III Randazzo Giglio & Bailey LLC 900 E. Saint Mary Blvd.

Suite 200 Lafayette 337-291-4900

Donald W. Washington Jones Walker LLP 600 Jeerson St. Suite 1600 Lafayette 337-593-7600

Mergers and Acquisitions Law Jeremy A. Hebert Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407

Michael D. Hebert Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 mhebert@lawbecker.com Patrick C. Morrow Morrow, Morrow, Ryan & Bassett 324 W. Landry St. Opelousas 337-948-4483 patm@mmrblaw.com

Steven C. Lanza Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 lanza@onebane.com

Natural Resources Law

Samuel E. Masur Gordon, Arata, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan, LLC 400 E. Kaliste Saloom Road Suite 4200 Lafayette 337-237-0132 smasur@gordonarata.com

Jeremy B. Shealy Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660

William P. Stubbs Jr. Stubbs Law Firm, LLC 1301 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 401 Lafayette 337-233-9755 bill@stubbslawfirm.com

Lauren L. Gardner Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 gardnerl@onebane.com

Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law Craig A. Ryan Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 ryanc@onebane.com

Municipal Law Stuart R. Breaux Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette

James N. Mansfield III Liskow & Lewis 822 Harding St. Lafayette 337-232-7424

Oil and Gas Law

Joseph C. Giglio III Randazzo Giglio & Bailey LLC 900 E. Saint Mary Blvd.

Suite 200 Lafayette 337-291-4900 William E. Kellner Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 kellnerw@onebane.com Patrick S. Ottinger Ottinger Hebert, LLC 1313 W. Pinhook Road

Jeremy B. Shealy Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 Thomas G. Smart Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 smartt@onebane.com Randall C. Songy Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660

Personal Injury Litigation Glenn J. Armentor The Glenn Armentor Law Corporation 300 Stewart St. Lafayette 337-233-1471 Elizabeth C. Austin Brown Sims 600 Jeerson St. Suite 800 Lafayette 337-484-1240 eaustin@brownsims.com Taylor J. Bassett Morrow, Morrow, Ryan & Bassett 324 W. Landry St. Opelousas 337-948-4483 taylorb@mmrblaw.com Alfred F. Boustany II Boustany Law Firm 421 W. Vermilion St. Lafayette 337-261-0225 afb2@boustanylawfirm.com Robert R. Broussard Attorney at Law 201 Lafayette St. Broussard

337-232-3333 celeste@bbroussardlaw.com Marcus A. Bryant Marcus A. Bryant Attorney at Law 1405 W. Pinhook Road Suite 110 Lafayette 337-504-4106 marcus@warriorjustie.com Brian C. Colomb Gordon McKernan 301 E. Kaliste Saloom Suite 101 Lafayette 337-999-9999 brianc@wrightroy.com Lawrence Curtis Larry Curtis, APLC 300 Rue Beauregard Building C Lafayette 337-235-1825 larry@larrycurtis.com Blake R. David Broussard & David 557 Jeerson St. Lafayette 337-233-2323 blake@broussard-david.com James Domengeaux Domengeaux Wright Roy Edwards Colomb, LLC 556 Jeerson St. Suite 500 Lafayette 337-233-3033 jimmyd@wrightroy.com Kevin R. Duck Duck Law Firm, LLC 5040 Ambassador Caery Pkwy.

Suite 200 Lafayette 337-406-1144 krd@ducklawfirm.com Bernard F. Duhon Bernard F. Duhon, APLC 111 Concord St. Suite B Abbeville 337-893-5066 bernard@bernardduhon.com Derrick G. Earles Laborde Earles 203 Energy Pkwy.

Building B Lafayette 337-777-7777 Anthony M. Fazzio Fazzio Law Firm 4906 Ambassador Caery Pkwy.

Suite 1000 Lafayette 337-366-0919 Joseph F. Gaar Jr Gaar Law Firm 617 S. Buchanan St. Lafayette 337-366-0982 Stephen C. Gaubert The Law Oice of Stephen C. Gaubert 600 Jeerson Blvd.

Suite 1202 Lafayette 337-354-3000 sgaubert@gaubertlaw.com Kay Karre Gautreaux Kay Karre Gautreaux, LLC 405 W. Convent St. Lafayette 337-232-7747 William H. Goforth Goforth & Lilley, APLC 109 Stewart St. Lafayette 337-237-5777 wgoforth@bellsouth.net Joshua S. Guillory The Law Oice of Joshua S. Guillory, LLC 317 E. University Ave. Lafayette 337-233-1303 josh@jsguillorylaw.com Thomas R Juneau Sr Juneau David, APLC 1018 Harding St. Suite 202 Lafayette 337-269-0052 Richard R. Kennedy Law Oices of Richard R. Kennedy 309 Polk St. Lafayette 337-232-1934 ken309@richardkennedy.com

Ian A. MacDonald Jones Walker LLP 600 Jeerson St. Suite 1600 Lafayette 337-593-7600 imacdonald@joneswalker.com

Jimmy Simien Simien & Simien, LLC 1 Lakeshore Drive Suite 1270 Lake Charles 337-436-2121 jimmy@simien.com

Jerome H. Moroux Broussard & David 557 Jeerson St. Lafayette 337-233-2323

Elwood C. Stevens Jr. Domengeaux Wright Roy Edwards Colomb, LLC 556 Jeerson St. Suite 500 Lafayette 337-233-3033

P. Craig Morrow Jr. Morrow, Morrow, Ryan & Bassett 324 W. Landry St. Opelousas 337-948-4483 patm@mmrblaw.com Mark L. Riley The Glenn Armentor Law Corporation 300 Stewart St. Lafayette 337-233-1471 mriley@glennarmentor.com

John Wesley Tilly Keaty & Tilly, LLC 2701 Johnston St. Suite 303 Lafayette 337-347-8995 Jason M. Welborn Gaar Law Firm 617 S. Buchanan St. Lafayette 337-366-0982 jason@gaarlaw.com

James Parkerson Roy Domengeaux Wright Roy Edwards Colomb, LLC 556 Jeerson St. Suite 500 Lafayette 337-233-3033 jimr@wrightroy.com

Jonathan L. Woods Preis, PLC 102 Versailles Blvd.

Suite 400 Lafayette 337-237-6062 jwoods@preisplc.com

Sera H. Russell III The Law Oices of Sera H. Russell III 111 Mercury St. Lafayette 337-205-9786 sera@serarussell.com

Bob F. Wright Domengeaux Wright Roy Edwards Colomb, LLC 556 Jeerson St. Suite 500 Lafayette 337-233-3033 bobw@wrightroy.com

Vincent J. Saitta Colomb & Saitta 428 Jeerson St. Lafayette 337-231-5250 saitta@colombandsaitta.com

David C. Laborde Laborde Earles 203 Energy Pkwy.

Building B Lafayette 337-777-7777 david@onmyside.com

Keith P. Saltzman Anderson Dozier Blanda & Saltzman 2010 W. Pinhook Road Lafayette 337-233-3366 keith@andersondozier.com

James P. Lambert Jim Lambert Law Firm 315 S. College Suite 146 Lafayette 337-446-2766 jim@jimlambert.com

Eulis Simien Simien & Simien, LLC 1 Lakeshore Drive Suite 1270 Lake Charles 337-436-2121 eulis@simien.com

Product Liability Litigation Glenn J. Armentor The Glenn Armentor Law Corporation 300 Stewart St. Lafayette 337-233-1471 garmentor@glennarmentor.com Patrick J. Briney Briney Foret Corry, LLP 413 Travis St. Suite 200 Lafayette 337-237-4070 briney@brineyforet.com Richard C. Broussard Broussard & David 557 Jeerson St.

top lawyers Lafayette 337-233-2323 marie@broussard-david.com Richard D. Chappuis Jr. Voorhies & Labbé 700 Saint John St. Floor 5 Lafayette 337-232-9700 rdc@volalaw.com Blake R. David Broussard & David 557 Jeerson St. Lafayette 337-233-2323 blake@broussard-david.com Anthony M. Fazzio Fazzio Law Firm 4906 Ambassador Caery Pkwy.

Suite 1000 Lafayette 337-366-0919 Charles J. Foret Briney Foret Corry, LLP 413 Travis St. Suite 200 Lafayette 337-237-4070 foret@brineyforet.com Michael G. Lemoine Jones Walker LLP 600 Jeerson St. Suite 1600 Lafayette 337-593-7600 Timothy J. McNamara Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 mcnamart@onebane.com P. Craig Morrow Jr. Morrow, Morrow, Ryan & Bassett 324 W. Landry St. Opelousas 337-948-4483 patm@mmrblaw.com

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acadiana profile april/may 2017

Project Finance Law Richard L. Becker Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 richard@lawbecker.com Jeremy A. Hebert Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 Richard L. Becker Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 richard@lawbecker.com Michael D. Hebert Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407

Railroad Law Kyle L. Gideon Davidson, Meaux, Sonnier, McElligott, Fontenot, Gideon & Edwards, LLP 810 S. Buchanan St. Lafayette 337-237-1660 Elena Arcos Pecoraro Pecoraro Law 600 Jeerson St Suite 810 Lafayette 337-446-2453

Real Estate Law Mark C. Andrus Davidson, Meaux, Sonnier, McElligott, Fontenot, Gideon & Edwards, LLP 810 S. Buchanan St. Lafayette 337-237-1660 mca@andrus.com Richard L. Becker Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 richard@lawbecker.com Philip H. Boudreaux Andrus, Boudreaux, Landry & Coussan, APLC

1301 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 401 Lafayette 337-984-9480 pboudreaux@andrus-boudreaux.com Stuart R. Breaux Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 sbreaux@lawbecker.com Jean-Paul Coussan Andrus, Boudreaux, Landry & Coussan, APLC 1301 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 401 Lafayette 337-984-9480 jpcoussan@andrus-boudreaux.com A. Doug Cox Jr. Stockwell, Sievert, Viccellio, Clements & Shaddock, LLP 127 W Broad St. Floor 4 Lake Charles 337-436-9491 adcox@ssvcs.com Jonathan R. Davis Turnkey Title 91 Settlers Trace Blvd.

Bldg. 1 Lafayette 337-326-4830 Elisa Devall Davis Turnkey Title 91 Settlers Trace Blvd.

Bldg. 1 Lafayette 337-326-4830 elisa@turnkeytitleandescrow.com Yvette Dumas Bradley Moreau Howay Stagg APLC 1318 Camellia Blvd.

Lafayette 337-235-4660 R. J. Fonseca Jr. Fonseca Stockstill, LLP 217 Rue Louis XIV Suite 100 Lafayette 337-456-1163 rjf@fonseca-law.com Jeremy A. Hebert Becker & Hebert, LLC 201 Rue Beauregard Lafayette 337-446-2407 jeremy@lawbecker.com

Shawn P. O'Neill Prime Title, Inc. 1819 W. Pinhook Road Suite 114 Lafayette 337-235-0047 soneill@primetitle.net Craig A. Ryan Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 H.L. "Rye" Tuten III Tuten Title & Escrow, LLC 326 Settlers Trace Suite 101A Lafayette 337-524-1703 rye@tutentitle.com Neil G. Vincent Allen & Gooch 2000 Kaliste Saloom Road Suite 400 Lafayette 337-291-1000 neilvincent@allengooch.com Joan D. Wallace Turnkey Title 91 Settlers Trace Blvd.

Bldg. 1 Lafayette 337-326-4830 joan@turnkeytitleandescrow.com

Tax Law Jean C. Breaux Jr. Jean Breaux, Jr. & Associates PO Box 51108 Lafayette 337-233-4447 jean@breauxfirm.com Ted W. Hoyt Hoyt & Stanford, LLC 315 S. College Road Suite 165 Lafayette 337-234-1012 thoyt@hoytlaw.com Lawrence L. Lewis III Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 lewisl@onebane.com Joseph M. Placer Jr. Placer Law Firm, LLC 100 E. Vermilion St.

Suite 202 Lafayette 337-237-2530 jplacer@placerlawfirm.com Robert E. Rowe Rowe Law Corporation 113 Oil Center Drive Lafayette 337-266-9626 rob@rowelawcorp.com Russell J. Stutes Jr. Stutes & Lavergne, LLC 600 Broad St. Lake Charles 337-377-0629 rusty@stuteslaw.com Chris A. Verret Attorney at Law 325 Audubon Blvd.

Lafayette 337-237-4600 chris@verretlawoffice.com James A. Watson Roddy, Watson & Everett 400 E. College St. Lake Charles 337-474-4886 jwatson@roddywatson.com Lester J. Zaunbrecher Allen & Gooch 2000 Kaliste Saloom Road Suite 400 Lafayette 337-291-1000 jodyzaunbrecher@allengooch.com

Transportation Law Richard D. Chappuis Jr. Voorhies & Labbé 700 Saint John St. Floor 5 Lafayette 337-232-9700 rdc@volalaw.com Lawrence Curtis Larry Curtis, APLC 300 Rue Beauregard Building C Lafayette 337-235-1825 larry@larrycurtis.com James M. Dill The Dill Law Firm 825 Lafayette St. Lafayette 337-261-1408 jdill@dillfirm.com

Grant Fulton Freeman Pecoraro Law 600 Jeerson St. Suite 810 Lafayette 337-446-2453 gfreeman@pecorarolaw.com Ped C. Kay III Broussard & Kay 909 Garber Road Broussard 337-232-1666 ped@bandkay.com Elena Arcos Pecoraro Pecoraro Law 600 Jeerson St. Suite 810 Lafayette 337-446-2453 elena@pecorarolaw.com Bryan D. Scofield Scofield & Rivera, LLC 100 E. Vermilion Suite 301 Lafayette 337-235-5353

Trusts and Estates Donald A. Capretz Donald A Capretz, APLC 1011 Coolidge St. Lafayette 337-237-9999 don_dacplc@bellsouth.net Jean-Paul Coussan Andrus, Boudreaux, Landry & Coussan, APLC 1301 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 401 Lafayette 337-984-9480 jpcoussan@andrus-boudreaux.com Yvette Dumas Bradley Moreau Howay Stagg APLC 1318 Camellia Blvd.

Lafayette 337-235-4660 Stephen C. Gaubert The Law Oice of Stephen C. Gaubert 600 Jeerson Blvd.

Suite 1202 Lafayette 337-354-3000 Albert J. Leger Leger & Babineaux 309 W Main St.

Lafayette 337-233-7766 babineauxl@bellsouth.net Lawrence L. Lewis III Onebane Law Firm, APC 1200 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 300 Lafayette 337-237-2660 lewisl@onebane.com Betty A. Raglin Sigler & Raglin Attorneys at Law, APLLC 630 Kirby St. Lake Charles 337-439-2033 baraglin@siglerlaw.com Steven T. Ramos Andrus, Boudreaux, Landry & Coussan, APLC 1301 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 401 Lafayette 337-984-9480 Robert E. Rowe Rowe Law Corporation 114 Oil Center Drive Lafayette 337-266-9626 rob@rowelawcorp.com William P. Stubbs Jr Stubbs Law Firm, LLC 1301 Camellia Blvd.

Suite 401 Lafayette 337-233-9755 James A. Watson Roddy, Watson & Everett 400 E. College St. Lake Charles 337-474-4886 jwatson@roddywatson.com Lester J. Zaunbrecher Allen & Gooch 2000 Kaliste Saloom Road Suite 400 Lafayette 337-291-1000

Shannon Dartez The Glenn Armentor Law Corporation 300 Stewart St. Lafayette 337-233-1471 sdartez@glennarmentor.com Stephen C. Gaubert The Law Oice of Stephen C. Gaubert 600 Jeerson Blvd.

Suite 1202 Lafayette 337-354-3000 James D. Hollier Neuner Pate 1001 W. Pinhook Road Suite 200 Lafayette 337-237-7000 jhollier@neunerpate.com Seth T. Mansfield Neuner Pate 1001 W. Pinhook Road Suite 200 Lafayette 337-237-7000 smansfield@neunerpate.com Donovan J. O'Pry II O'Pry Law Firm, LLC 2014 W. Pinhook Road Suite 507 Lafayette 337-415-0007 donnie@oprylaw.com Mark L. Riley The Glenn Armentor Law Corporation 300 Stewart St. Lafayette 337-233-1471 Jonathan L. Woods Preis, PLC 102 Versailles Blvd.

Suite 400 Lafayette 337-237-6062

Workers Compensation Law Glenn Armentor The Glenn Armentor Law Corporation 300 Stewart St. Lafayette 337-233-1471

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culture Joie de vivre

les artistes

“Any painting is more of experimentation with what you can do next. So it was just me exploring what I thought was beautiful at the time — to create something that I could find beautiful.”

the cover-up Lafayette artist Nicole Touchet’s nude portraits shine a spotlight on emotional duality

By William Kalec Portrait by romero & Romero

About a year ago during

the winter, Nicole Touchet (then-owner of Galerie Touchet on the downtown corner of Vermilion and Jefferson) stopped for some sightseeing in Arizona en route to a friend’s wedding in San Diego. Prior to putting foot-to-gas for this ambitious, monotonous and wind-turbine-filled road trip, Touchet hung a few nude portraits (faceless, abstract nude portraits) for that month’s Art Walk. Though the clothes-free figures in the paintings were visible from the main building lobby, they certainly weren’t prominently displayed.

Touchet got an email from the property owner. The gist?

Take down the paintings.

“It’s just a surreal moment where you’re looking at the

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les artistes

acadiana profile april/may 2017

majesty of the Grand Canyon, and people are telling you you need to cover up your art at your own gallery,” Touchet says through several laughs. “It’s just, ‘What?!?!’ It’s one of those profound, random moments in your life that you remember.

“I was extremely infuriated,” Touchet says later. “I was offended both personally and as an artist. I look at that painting and it’s very soft and easy to

look at and very not-in-yourface, so I didn’t understand why they weren’t seeing what I actually created. I got really worked up, and all these ideas (about what to do) started brewing for when I got back. Thankfully, I had another week of vacation, so I had time to think and re-evaluate the situation before I acted, which was good.”

Though she calmed down, Touchet certainly didn’t get quiet.

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“I ended up finding my activist heart in my existing work,” says Touchet, whose activist past also includes being vocal about the animal-food culture in the United States.

Since then Touchet continues to wave the flag against the stigma attached to perceivedrisqué forms of art or displays of art in the South. On April 23, 2016, Touchet produced a real-life art installation that meandered throughout Festival International featuring women who had their bodies painted in “defiance against the societal norms of covering your breasts in public.”

In January 2017, Touchet and Brittany Boudreaux of Gallery 333 organized an artistic rally called Femme Puissance, at which activists were encouraged to paint a 10-foot tall set of bra and panties constructed out of blank canvas.

“I’ve always been very stubborn, so backing down wasn’t really an option,” Touchet says, rewinding back to the nudepainting dust-up from a year ago.

“If people are going to retaliate, then I’m just going to push back.

It’s just in my blood. The fight wasn’t over, so why back down?”

Initially, Touchet’s family covered the paintings while she was out of town, but did show their disapproval by posting a “Censored By Management” sign in the exhibition space window. When Touchet returned, she and a friend cut out overgrown paper-doll clothes for the nude women in the paintings, doing so over a bottle of wine and a lot of laughs.

“I mean, I had toys like that when I was a kid, too — the little fold-over flap,” Touchet says. “It was my adult version of that, so that they’d be made presentable for the public.”

By this time, Touchet’s story gained some traction.

The Lafayette alternative

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newsweekly interviewed the artist and included portions of the back-and-forth email exchange between the artist and property owner, along with the verbatim clauses in the lease agreement. The clauses did not specifically prohibit such displays. In support of Touchet, the local Lafayette art community — particularly the Kelli Kaufman Studio & Gallery, Cajun Spice Gallery, Theatre 810, Gallery 333 and The Vertical Barre — put on a side Nude Art Walk in conjunction with the regular April 2016 Art Walk.

“The community really rallied around me in the right way,” Touchet says. “I just loved that it opened up the dialogue for Lafayette — that this was really an issue and people weren’t aware of it in their own community. It was beautiful.

They turned it into an informative, productive type of way to combat something like that.”

Citing the art of Egon Schiele, Willem de Kooning and Gustav Klimt, Touchet says she has no intentions to stop painting nudes, though much of her recent focus has been consumed with organizing exhibits and event planning.

“The most profound subject matter I came across was the female body,” Touchet says. “It’s just such a loaded image. I feel like you can say so much with just the placement of an arm or a leg, the gaze of the woman in the work. It just seems stronger — if I can channel the use of this image I could push the work further. It gives you a more profound voice.”

To learn more about Nicole Touchet and her work, visit nicoletouchet.com

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culture

les personnes

the storyteller’s story Olivia Spallino Savoie preserves and publishes stories of the past for future generations

By William Kalec | Photo by romero & romero

“Honestly, I think it might be easier for someone to tell their story to someone they don’t know. You don’t have the social pressure. You don’t have the concern that you’re saying something that you’ve already said before.

You’re talking to someone who doesn’t know anything about you, someone who’s there to learn about you and everything you’ve experienced.”

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The history of Acadiana — or, at least,

this very specific and personal chapter of it — is told by a 103-year-old woman who last summer still had enough gumption to cast a reel on a salt-water fishing excursion, and is recorded by a 22-year-old woman who takes notes with pen and paper.

Next week, the topic of conversation and the person sparking it will be completely different. Economic hardship told by a self-made man who now lives in a big, old house. Gruesome military battles recited by the gentlest soul. A first kiss. A meager investment that bloomed into a multimillion dollar corporation. The birth of great-grandchildren. You never know.

The only constant in these scenarios is Olivia Spallino Savoie, the aforementioned note-taker and founder of Raconteur Story Writing Services out of Lafayette — a start-up business venture efficiently offering old-fashioned services like tribute books and memoir publishing that unintentionally preserves the fading history of the diverse and eclectic region.

“I’ve always had a love for history and older people, just going around to nursing homes in the area, or my grandparents, or their neighbors, and just hear their stories,” says Savoie, whose love of writing manifested at an early age. “In college, these are things I’d just do for my own pleasure.

That’s how much I enjoyed it. And the spring before I graduated, I started thinking, ‘How could I make this my reality?’”

“As far as I know, there’s no one else who does this in the South.”

Well, that might be because this isn’t the easiest trick to pull off. Within a week, Savoie, who graduated from University of Louisiana at Lafayette, conducts a wide-ranging interview that touches upon every aspect of a full life, sifts through that extensive transcript, plucking out key details, then pounds out (with her gifted prose, of course) and creates a 50-to 60-page first-person memoir, basically a literary time capsule. From there, the notquite-yet-a-book goes to a proofreader and gets the final thumbs up from the family before it’s shipped to the printer. From first interview question to hardcover finished product takes eight weeks.

“I can’t quite figure that out,” Savoie says when asked why her subjects are so forthcoming. “I consider it a real honor, and I don’t take the responsibility that comes with

that honor lightly. These stories are for their children and their grandchildren, so that 50 years from now, someone in their family can pick up the book and know their story.

“And it’s important that the story not only reads, but sounds like their story. I’ll read aloud a couple times, so that it sounds like the way it sounded when we talked.”

To ensure prompt completion of the finished project, Savoie sticks to a script when interviewing her clients. As you might imagine, the list of inquiries is quite long considering Savoie needs to excavate a lifetime worth of love, laughter and lament — roughly 150 questions.Though there’s wiggle room for nuance and follow-ups in the course of Savoie’s back-and-forth with the people she’s putting in ink, for the most part she doesn’t deviate off-script.

“I literally just write down every word they say,” Savoie says. “And then I go back and spend a few days with the transcript and try to shape these thoughts and memories and everything that’s all jumbled up from our talk, and turn it into a cohesive narrative.”

“I tested the water with this for about six months, before I started going into business for it, and when I’d just walk in and ask people to tell me their stories, we’d end up with massive holes. We’d miss out on their teenage years, or I wouldn’t know where they were born and I felt with the questions, it really gets the broad scope of their life — the biographical framework but also the funny stories, the travel. So the framework really isn’t designed to limit the story but have it be more well-rounded in the end.”

On more than one occasion, a younger family member than the one Savoie is writing about has commented (while fighting through tears sometimes) that the writer has unearthed tales even they haven’t heard before. She’s been privy to acts of selflessness and heroism, moments of paralyzing heartbreak and agony, and oh-so-human snapshots that are timeless.

“The thing that really stands out is how ambitious these people were at my age,” Savoie says. “What they accomplished, a lot of it occurred at a pretty young age.

So of course our lives are different. I’ve interviewed a gentleman who fought in Korea, another who fought in World War II and a woman whose husband fought in World War II, so the issues they faced were a lot different than the issues I face.”

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culture

la musique

pure cajun The Cajun Music Preservation Society keeps tradition alive

By Michael Patrick Welch Photo by romero & romero

When asked to describe

the precise sound of Cajun music, and what separates Cajun music from zydeco, Creole and other Louisiana music, Quenton Fontenot replies, “It would be easier if you asked me the meaning of life.”

“I’ve tried to explain it many times before,” says Fontenot. “In my own words, I’d say zydeco is a little more syncopated, while traditional Cajun has more melody — though there is melody in Creole music as well.

But then Cajun doesn’t usually have a washboard.”

The other difference is Cajun music’s scarcity — or rather, its former scarcity, before Fontenot and several dedicated friends started the Cajun Music Preservation Society in April of 2014, with a stated mission to increase amount of Cajun music publicly played in the Acadiana region.

Fontenot, who works at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, started out helping run the school’s annual Swamp Stomp Cajun Zydeco Music fest.

“I worked getting the artists on and off the stage, and got to talk to the musicians,” says Fontenot.

“A lot of those who played traditional Cajun would pull me aside and say, ‘We used to play lotsa fests in and around the area,’ but they weren’t being invited anymore. Sure enough, I started looking at the band lineups at the fests and I’d see not one traditional Cajun band — maybe hybrid styles, but not pure Cajun music.”

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Quenton Fontenot, Misty Leigh Mcelroy and Tysman Charpentier are keeping Cajun music at the forefront of Acadiana.

Cajun fiddler Tysman Charpentier and photographer Misty Leigh McElroy helped cofound the Cajun Music Preservation society. McElroy shoots photos and videos of the events and Charpentier seeks out and books the acts.

“The past 20 or 30 years Cajun music just continued to die off,” says Charpentier, who has been playing Cajun music for the last dozen years with groups all around the world.

“For a while there, I was the only person in the area playing this music it seemed.”

So, the month after helping found the CMPS, Tysman devised another plan to help grow the Cajun scene.

“One day I showed up in the middle of downtown Thibodaux with a fiddle, and drew a crowd,” says Charpentier. “If two people would have shown up to jam with me, I would have been ecstatic, but I was surprised when it took off like crazy.”

After the jams had been established with dozens of people attending and playing, Nicholls University stopped hosting the Swamp Stomp Festival.

“That’s when we decided to take over the festival,” says Charpentier. “This year will be the eighth festival, but last November was the first one that we produced.”

While the fest once consisted of three days of Cajun, zydeco, swamp pop and everything else under the Louisiana sun, the CMPS narrowed it down to a one day festival featuring only traditional Cajun music.

Meanwhile, Tysman’s open jam, which has continued every other Wednesday at Venetian Food and Spirits in Thibodaux, became a breeding ground, creating a slew of new Cajun musicians.

At the jams, Fontenot even became a musician.

“I learned to play accordion at those jams!” he says. “Not that well, but I do play it now!”

Tysman has since moved to the Northshore, but the

Thibodaux jams have sustained in his absence.

“Three years ago there were zero people doing this, but we invited all kinds of different musicians to come down and learn with us,” says Tysman.

“We have kept a record of all the musicians who have come in, and we’ve had 80 or 90 individual people who have come and jammed. Whether it was just once, or 30 times, we’ve had 90 people total.”

Tysman wasn’t any more enthusiastic about attempting to describe the subtleties of Cajun music, but still gave it a shot.

“Cajun music would be more guitar, plus accordion, fiddle and possibly a triangle,” says Tysman.

“The main thing is that it is front porch music, house party music that is more derived from French culture. Whereas Creole and zydeco are more rhythmic and bluesy, Cajun music is very…straight forward, meaning your waltz, your two-step.”

Tysman hypothesizes that the form had been dying out because young people saw it as “old-person music.”

But at his Wednesday Cajun jams, he says, “We have college students, working people, retired people. I have been able to get Grammy-nominated musicians like Lost Bayou Ramblers to come, so that all these people who think it’s just old men sitting on their porch playing, they see young people and women playing it, they see it’s more than what they assumed it was.”

Now, when not organizing the fest or the jam sessions, the CMPS is also a go-to group for anyone who’d like to hire a Cajun band for their wedding, festival or other function.

“All these fests are now calling us and asking us to hire Cajun bands: the Rougarou Fest, the Best of the Bayou Festival, and Thibodaux has a new stage dedicated to just Cajun music,” he says. “Seeing that happen tells me we are bringing Cajun music back to this area and making it a strong part of our culture again.”

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culture

en français, s’il vous plaît

la marque d’eau haute par david cheramie

« Le déluge mugissait comme

un taureau furieux, les vents hurlaient comme les braiments d’un âne. Le soleil avait disparu, les ténèbres étaient totales. » Ainsi Outa-Napishtim raconte le Déluge à Gilgamesh dans un texte sumérien du milieu du IIIe siècle avant Jésus-Christ. Les histoires de déluge, d’inondation, d’eau haute ponctuent les légendes et récits des sociétés à travers la planète et à travers les âges.

Le conte biblique de l’Arche de Noé, qu’on retrouve également dans le Coran, et la mythologie grecque parlent de grandes inondations dévastatrices qui oblitèrent tout ce qui précédait, ouvrant un nouveau chapitre dans l’histoire humaine. L’eau est essentielle à la vie; mais comme nous avons souvent vu en Louisiane, et encore tout récemment, elle peut ôter la vie ou au moins la rendre extrêmement difficile. Nous aimons profiter de notre proximité de l’eau, de pouvoir se régaler à la pêche, à la nage ou en bateau ou tout simplement prendre une bonne fraîche sur la galerie au bord de l’eau à la fin de la journée. Si on vit assez longtemps dans notre pays, tôt ou tard, l’eau ne restera pas tranquillement dans le bayou ou la rivière et viendra nous exiger le respect qu’on lui doit.

Dans la mythologie américaine, si on peut s’exprimer ainsi, l’Eau Haute de 1927 dont on commémore les 90 ans ce printemps, tient une place similaire à celle de Gilgamesh ou de Noé. À part les ouragans, 88 |

acadiana profile april/may 2017

Downtown Arnaudville inundated by flood waters

les inondations représentent le plus grand danger que la nature nous réserve. Il n’est pas une exagération de dire que l’Eau Haute de 1927 marquait un point tournant dans l’histoire des États-Unis. Le premier domino menant à la catastrophe est tombé en août 1926 quand le bassin central du Mississipi a reçu une quantité énorme de pluie qui a saturé la terre. Une fois par terre, il n’y a qu’un point de sortie pour toute cette eau, le delta du Mississipi. Le 15 avril 1927, quinze pouces de pluie est tombée sur la Nouvelle-Orléans en 18 heures, ajoutant encore de l’eau à une tasse déjà débordant. Ce n’était pas avant le mois d’août que les eaux se sont retirées et que le Mississipi s’est enfin couché dans son lit. Entretemps, plus de 270,000 miles carrés étaient inondés, plus de 500 morts étaient à déplorer et plus de 700,000 citoyens américains se retrouvaient déplacés. Les pertes agricoles et commerciales étaient incalculables. L’ampleur du désastre, à une échelle que personne ne pouvait imaginer,

a inspiré un grand nombre de récits, d’histoires et de chansons. On connaît tous l’histoire de la levée explosée inutilement en aval de la Nouvelle-Orléans, inondant sans raison les paroisses de Saint-Bernard et Plaquemines.

Selon la génération, on connaît soit la version de Memphis Minnie, soit celle de Led Zeppelin ou encore celle de Bob Dylan, de « When The Levee Breaks ». William Faulkner dans « Old Man », adapté plus tard à la télévision, raconte une histoire d’amour pendant les opérations de secours. Même la politique du gouvernement fédéral américain, jusqu’alors hésitant à intervenir dans la vie quotidienne des citoyens, a dû changer de cap devant tant de souffrances humaines. Cette nouvelle attitude envers le rôle du gouvernement dans les affaires domestiques a préparé le terrain pour les grands programmes nationaux comme le New Deal pendant la crise financière des années 30.

L’Eau Haute de 1927 nous a aussi donné le Flood

Control Act de 1928, ce qui a autorisé le Corps des Ingénieurs de l’Armée à concevoir et bâtir les structures nécessaires à s’assurer que le Mississipi n’inflige plus tant de dégâts. En 1937, le déversoir Bonnet Carré s’est ouvert pour la première fois, protégeant le bas du delta des crues. Depuis, on garde un œil vigilant sur « le Père des Eaux » pour qu’il reste entre les levées et on construit selon les mêmes principes sur d’autres cours d’eau avec le même succès.

Néanmoins, 90 ans après, on est en droit de se demander : « Est-ce que ces mesures n’ont pas entraîné des conséquences secondaires imprévues? » La suffocation des estuaires? Plus d’eau haute ailleurs? Les inondations en août dernier nous ont montré que les solutions, quelles qu’elles soient, doivent être elles aussi de taille épique.

For an English translation, visit acadianaprofile.com.

photo courtesy Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Louisiana at Lafayette