Three decades of being deeply rooted in southern Creole and Cajun music has kept Ida Guillory's band alive.
Today Queen Ida and her Zydeco Band will play at Popejoy Hall for fat Tuesday.
"The style of music is actually more on the folk side," Guillory said. "It's lively music, happy and danceable. The way we play it, we have different elements from different walks of life in the music world."
The band incorporates two accordions, a saxophone and a washboard among the typical guitars and drums. Despite its departure from the mainstream, Guillory said the band was never at a loss for a devoted fan base, which she attributes to her diverse and ever-changing style.
"Music does become different after playing for so many years," she said. "You have to branch out into other fields of music. And by branching out, we are able to reach more people."
Branching out entails her and her band's exploration and incorporation of folk, blues, Latin and Caribbean styles into their music alongside the traditional Cajun waltzes and two steps.
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Guillory's career began 30 years ago with the clear intention of keeping zydeco music from falling off the culture's radar.
"I didn't start playing until my mom brought albums from Louisiana back to San Francisco," she said. "She told me and my brothers to keep the music alive. The
elders were dying off, and the youngsters were not picking it up. She just wanted the music to stay alive."
Even at this stage of her career, Guillory said she is nowhere near burned out.
"The audience has been so receptive that it just energizes us," she said. "We get our energy from the audience. Heads are bobbing, and feet are tapping. It's a
high-energy music that represents good times and celebration."
Opening for Queen Ida and her Zydeco Band are Bayou Seco, a zydeco band based in Silver City. The band will provide a free concert in the lobby of Popejoy at 6 p.m.
Formed in 1982, Bayou Seco has since created a hybrid of traditionally Hispanic and Cajun music, with lyrics in French, Spanish and English.
Jeanie McLerie, who co-founded the band and sings and plays the fiddle, said the performance at Popejoy will be entirely acoustic.
"Rather than set up a whole sound system, we'd rather be there and play," she said. "We love playing acoustic. It's very liberating to just rely on your own energy rather than energy coming out of a wall."
Bayou Seco's music has a distinct flavor, McLerie said, because of the associations it conjures.
"Something that sets us apart from younger bands is we learned the music from people rather than records or books," she said. "When we play a song, we remember the person who taught us, the night we learned it, the food we ate. The memories are so much deeper than if you just read it off a page of music."
Coming attraction
Queen Ida and her Zydeco Band with Bayou Seco
Popejoy Hall, Tonight at 6pm
