Baton Rouge Blues wedding

 
     Saturday, March tenth, at one o'clock CST, Krickett Dawson and Lou Perilloux were wed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The music was all blues, starting with 'Lil' Ray Neal and Chris LeBlanc charming guests with acoustic blues right before the ceremony, then more slow blues for the wedding party to walk in. The blues walk in was a memory by itself. The wedding party was a host of blues artists and enthusiast's, including Marcia Ball and 'Hoodoo' Jimmy Simpson, all old and dear friends of the bride and groom. The minister, Dr.John Blewitt, member and board member of the Baton Rouge Blues Society, officiated. Halfway through the ceremony he passed his glasses to the best man, put on sunglasses, and finished the event with a blues homily. (See homily under artical--too cool!) The transition from traditional wedding message to the homily took everyone by surprise, including the bride and groom. They asked for a blues wedding and got one. It was entertaining, meaningful and awesome. Marcia Ball sang The Power of Love right after the Unity Candle and the crowd was mesmerized. The ceremony ended and 'Lil' Ray and Chris pepped up the blues music as the party sacheted on out. It was the most unique, fun and memorable wedding anyone had ever attended.
     The reception was just a blast. The music began with Chris LeBlanc and a blues jam followed. Many of the blues artists in the area showed up and took turns on the stage. Oscar 'Harpo' Davis, Nelsen Adelard, Sheena, Lawrence Taylor and so many others. Of course Hoodoo and Marcia were part of that jam. There were so many musicians present that everyone there wasn't time for them all to play. The food was exceptional. It was pot luck and there were several traditional Louisiana delicacies as well as a huge jambalaya cooked by George Bowers, the jambalaya expert. There were over 300 in attendance and so much good food that no one went away hungry. The wedding cake was home made by a local friend. It had four tiers and lemon filling, decorated with real rose petals. Only half of the third tier and the top were left.
     Baton Rouge Blues Society members and Baton Rouge Blues Foundation president were all in attendance. The bride, president of BRBS and one of her attendants, Joy Craig, treasurer, had blues society and Blues Week literature at the guest book table. Guitar pics custom printed , Blues 4 u, Krickett and Lou , and personalized  magnets  were the keep sakes.

Presenting

Mr. and Mrs. Perilloux aka Krickett and Lou

more pictures

Blues Homily
By Dr. John Blewitt

 

This is the Blues Homily the minister went into when he put on his sunglasses. No one knew he was going to do this. It was wonderful


            I am glad to be here - we are glad to be here! This is a wonderful day for you. God has brought you together, and I am very pleased God has used the blues in that process!
            There are many who might think that the blues do not belong in church, do not belong in worship, and certainly do not belong in a wedding. But we know better!
            The Blues is about relationships. Son House once complained, “Blues ain’t a plaything, like people think that they are. [Y]oungsters today . . . take anything and make the blues out of it. Just any old somethin or other, and say, ‘This is the such and such blues.’ No, it’s not!
             “Aint but one kind of blues, and that consists between male and female that’s in love. In love. Male and female. Now I been married five times, with my jerky self. Five times! And I had a good expense of what that means! (From the Martin Scorcese film, “Feel Like Going Home,” Chapter 16, 15:20 – 16:08.)
            I used to think that the blues began in 1903, when W. C. Handy transcribed what he heard a blues man playing at night at train station.  John Lee Hooker, however, said “When Adam and Eve first saw each other, that’s when the blues started.”
            People outside the blues culture think that all blues are sad, about heartache and loss. But of course that is not true. There are lots of jubilant blues about - how shall I say it? - the joys of relationships?
            Blues is about the truth. The chief ethic of the blues is honesty. The music tells it like it is! My special fascination is with preachers who were also blues men. Rube Lacey played the blues, then gave it up and went into the gospel ministry. Years later he said that blues songs he used to sing contained more truth than in a lot of church music.
            Truth and honesty are important in any relationship; they will help you in your life together!
            Here is the most important thing - this is the most profound truth about the blues: Blues is about healing. In “Born Blind, ”Sonnyboy Williamson sang:
You been talkin’ about your woman, I sure wish that you could see mine!
Every time the little girl start to lovin, she brings eyesight to the blind!
Her daddy must have been a millionaire, cause I can tell by the way she walk
Every time she start to lovin, the deaf and dumb begin to talk!
I remember one Friday mornin’, the little girl was makin’ up her bread
Man in the next room was dyin’, stopped dyin’ and held up his head
Said, “Man, ain’t she pretty, and the whole state know she fine!”
Every time she start to lovin, she brings eyesight to the blind! 

Can I get an Amen? We should all have a baby like that at least once in our lives!

 

            The blues promote healing, because they allow us to deal with our pain. When people go to a juke joint, and listen to the blues, how do they come away feeling? The blues songs might have been about the most wrenching heartache, despair and suffering, yet we leave feeling better. Nothing cures the blues like the blues!           John Lee Hooker cut a Grammy award winning album entitled The Healer. The title song testifies that blues music itself has healing energy. Charles Shaar Murray says that the Hook, like other great blues figures, functions as a shaman, a primitive healer. He tells our story, he exposes our pain. But then, after the pain, is the Good News - “trouble don’t last always.” “The sun is going to shine in my backdoor someday.”
            In concert, Hooker would begin to end his set with a slow, painful song like Dark Room.
            When Hooker sings, in ‘Dark Room,’ ‘and the tears roll down my face’ I remember how my own tears feel, rolling down my face. I remember what it is to feel so flat-out, rock-rock-bottom bad that you simply . . . begin to weep. And I know that, eventually, the weeping stops. And then the boogie begins. ” (Charles Shaar Murray, Boogie Man: The Adventures of John Lee Hooker in the American Twentieth Century, New York: St Matin’s Press, 2000, p. 9)
The ending boogie is cathartic. We can dance, in spite of all we have been through!
            Each of you has gone through a time of suffering a loss with your first mates. But here you are, ready to resume life and love again! God has brought you through tough times. God has brought you together, to share the most important thing - LOVE. Yours is a mature love, the kind of love that Paul speaks of in First Corinthians. It is the kind of love that can withstand pain and disappointment and brokenness.

            For you, the tears are now all wiped away; let the boogie begin!  

            And all God’s people said . . .

(There was a rather weak “Amen.” from the congregation.)

            Whether you know it or not, you are all God’s people! Now, let’s try that again:

            And all God’s people said,

            AMEN!