I live in Bozeman, Montana, and am the DJ of the radio show: The Audio Etouffee, since 1999. The show features Cajun and Zydeco music, sprinkled with other blues roots music: from Texas swing to the Delta blues, R&B and the island sounds of Cuba and Latin America. I only play the stuff I like — and hope my listeners will like it too.

People often ask “Are you from Louisiana? Why do you like that music so much?” I usually default back to a Clifton Chenier quote: “If you can’t dance to Zydeco, you just can’t dance.”

Honestly, I remember where I was when I heard my first “gateway” zydeco song: Buckwheat Zydeco’s, Ma ‘Tit Fille, the opening song to his 1987 CD, On A Night Like This. It was 1989 and I was at a year-end ski party in Colorado, hosted by a friend from Louisiana. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing — it set me alive, feet dancing! Ten years later, after finishing my radio apprenticeship at KGLT, I vowed to share these great sounds with Southwest Montana, weekly on my radio show, The Audio Etouffee: A smothering of sounds.

I moved from Minnesota to Montana in 1987. Currently I own a bike tour business called, Bozeman Bike Tours, showing people around town daily all summer long. Each year I try to make it to Cajun Country for Mardi Gras, visiting my friends Steve and Craig, snorkel around Acadiana, meeting the amazing people there, eating boudin and cracklin, and hearing the amazing music played by the people who make up the fabric of this wonderful culture.