Sarah Savoy
Credits photo : Gloria Maso
Biography
THE PRINCESS AND THE ACCORDION
It starts like a fairytale. “Once there was a little princess who lived, surrounded by the affection of her family, in the heart of the Cajun prairie in Louisiana…”
Her father, the master accordionist Marc Savoy is the world-renowned craftsman of the Acadian trademark Cajun accordion, fervent gardien of the flame and of the tradition. Her mother, Ann Savoy, is all at once a guitarist, singer, accordionist, photographer and music producer.
Born into such a dynasty, it was therefore difficult to escape the music.
Once she grew up, our princess entered the University of Louisiana at Lafayette at the height of her rebellious period—listening to punk, piercings and multi-colored hair.
Despite being argumentative, she always respected her parents’s approach, accompanying them where they played, dancing to their music and sometimes even joining them on stage. It’s after a performance at the Ris-Orangis Folk Festival that she joins the Savoy Family Band to play Cajun music.
A new life began in France, as together, Sarah and David started the band Sarah Savoy and the Francadians, in which she sang and played guitar with Vincent Blin on fiddle and Manolo Gonzales on upright bass. The Francadians quickly found their mark, their public and their very unique sound, touring throughout Europe and recording four albums.
A funny aspect of her life on the road, she became, little by little and largely by accident, a spokesperson for her culture. At the request of her audience, hungry for more information, she began holding conferences, teaching them Cajun dancing, and above all excelling in her Cajun cooking demonstrations which have reached almost a cult status for discovering the secrets of Louisiana cuisine—gumbo and jambalaya as well as pecan pies. This love of sharing her passion for Cajun food brought her to publish her first cookbook, the award-winning title The Savoy Family Kitchen: A Family History of Cajun Food, through Kitchen Press, Scotland, in 2013.
