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LAFAYETTE, La. (WAFB) - I first heard the young Cajun band Feufollet 12 years ago playing in Lafayette. Their lyrics were sung in French, but there was a youthful energy and a new twist on a familiar sound.

“We love what south Louisiana has to offer. We love the French language and we just choose it. We choose to take it and to make of it what we feel in our hearts,” said former Feufollet member, Anna Laura Edmiston.

Since that night, the group has continued to evolve their Cajun themed music. They’ve been Grammy nominated, and they caught the attention of filmmakers, Jeremy and Abby Berendt Lavoi. Jeremy grew up hearing Cajun music in southwest Louisiana.

“I thought of it as like old people music,” said Jeremy.

But the couple heard a recording of this new Cajun sound from Feufollet and went to a live show.

“I’d worked in the music industry, I’d been to a million shows, and to see these young people dancing, there was just something that I had never experienced before, and I just wanted other people to experience this,” said Abby.

The Lavoi’s began a years-long documentary project they called Roots of Fire. They recorded performances and spent time with members of Feufollet and other young Cajun musicians. What were some of the consistent themes that you discovered as you talked to some of these Cajun musicians? The younger musicians who had very active performing careers?

“For us, it was preservation of the French language and how important or not important it was to the music and the culture in general. And also this sort of idea of musicians as culture bearers,” Jeremy said.

As they were wrapping up shooting ‘Roots of Fire’, musician Jourdan Thibodaux lit an emotional fire on stage.

“And Jourdan launches into that speech. And I just, I was like, this seems important, and I just hit record,” said Jeremy.

“Every one of you, every one of us has a choice that you’re gonna get up and you’re gonna preserve the way that your daddy and your grandma and your great-grandparents and everybody that made you, that made you. The fact that if you’re not living your culture, you are killing your culture. And there is no in-between,” said Thibodaux.

That statement set the course for the 90-minute documentary that provides a window into the music, the gumbos and duck stews, and Mardi Gras experience of the young musicians who seem determined to keep their Cajun culture alive.

“If you’re from south Louisiana, I hope you’re proud of it. And if you’re not from south Louisiana, I hope that it sparks your interest in the music and the culture and that you want to explore,” said Jeremy.

“I’m not Cajun, but now I wanna learn a bit more about my history. And it’s important to celebrate, like, it sounds kind of cheesy, but celebrate all of the differences and all of who we are.

‘Roots of Fire’ is a celebration of a unique music language and culture that are struggling to evolve and stay relevant and find a place in the future.

More information on the ‘Roots of Fire’ documentary can be found on Heart of Louisiana’s website.

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