CD, DVD and more in the future for Castille clan
Herman Fuselier
hfuselier@theadvertiser.com
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Life is good for fiddler Hadley J. Castille and family. Sarah Jayde Williams, Castille granddaughter and the family's fourth generation to play music, has released her debut CD, Cajun and Texas Swing.
Castille, his son Blake, Sarah Jayde and the rest of the Sharecroppers Band are one of the featured bands today at the Louisiana International Music Exchange, part of Festival International. Local artists perform before booking agents, talent scouts, festival presenters and VIPs from the United States, Canada and France. Twenty-four hours later, the band plays the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. A gig at St. Landry Parish Days on Wednesday at the Pentagon Barracks in Baton Rouge follows, along with the Pensacola (Fla.) Crawfish Festival May 2-4. Castille is set to release an instructional DVD on Cajun fiddling through Mel Bay Publications. Since 1947, Mel Bay has reigned as one of the largest distributors of how-to music guides in the world. Guitar books written by founder Mel Bay have reportedly sold more than 25 million copies.If those accomplishments aren't enough, Castille and crew are writing new songs for a family band CD. "Things are going really well for us," said Castille. "Sarah Jayde has a real good CD and a lot of good things are happening. We're very excited." With the looks of a model and brains of a scholar, Sarah Jayde is a success story. Trained at the age of 4 as a classical violinist, Sarah Jayde soon began following in the fiddling footsteps of her grandfather. This senior at Westminster Christian Academy graduates next month with a 3.8 grade-point average. She's already earned a seat with the UL Symphony, the Distinguished Freshman Scholarship and other academic awards. She plans to major in biology at UL. Before attending UL, Sarah Jayde will attend a five-week, French immersion program at the Université Sainte-Anne in Nova Scotia. The strict program bans students from speaking any language other than French. If the student breaks the rule three times, he or she is sent home - without a refund. Sarah Jayde's CD lives up to its name with 15 songs that include Cajun standards like Bosco Stomp, Bayou Pon Pon and Harry Choates' legendary version of Jole Blon. Blue Bonnet Lane and Keeper of My Heart represent the Bob Wills swing sound. Time Stands Still is a Sarah Jayde original. "I like it," said Sarah Jayde about her CD. "It took some work to get it out. "I'm just glad we finally finished and we can put it out." Congratulations and continued success to the Castille clan.
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