Nov. 30, 2002 – The St. Thomas folk music group Harmony Dem will be joined by two members of Balfa Toujours, one of the nation's leading Cajun music bands, for a mini-performance Sunday afternoon at the Compass Point Arts and Crafts Festival.
Christine Balfa and her husband, Dirk Powell, haven't been back on St. Thomas since their Louisiana band performed at October Sunday several years ago, but they've kept their friendship intact with Harmony Dem and October Sunday founders Fred and Polly Watts.
Powell, who is of Kentucky Appalachian heritage, plays accordion, fiddle, banjo and guitar. Balfa, primarily a vocalist, also plays guitar, washboard and what's known as a t-fer. She received the Female Vocalist of the Year for 2000 award from the Cajun French Music Association. The band and its 2000-release CD "Live at Whiskey River Landing" also received Le Cajun Award nominations.
Balfa Toujours, founded in 1993 by Christine Balfa, youngest daughter of the legendary Cajun musician Dewey Balfa, records contemporary Cajun, Creole and Zydeco music on the Rounder label. Christine Balfa also performs as one of the Magnolia Sisters and Powell has recorded with Appalachian artists Tim O'Brien and John Hermann, among others.
Harmony Dem is scheduled to perform at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Compass Point, which is making its debut as the new home of the old Thanksgiving weekend Arts Alive arts and crafts festivals at Tillett Gardens. (For festival details, see Holiday arts fest has a new venue: Compass Point".)
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