Bluesfest Weekend is taking over the KDays Music Fest CKUA Radio Stage. Featured performers include Crystal Shawanda, MonkeyJunk, and The Blackburn Brothers.
Also on stage will be Buckwheat Zydeco Jr. & The Legendary Ils Sont Partis Band. Buckwheat Zydeco Jr. (AKA Reginald Dural) is the son of the late Buckwheat Zydeco Sr. (AKA Stanley Dural Jr.), who passed away in 2016. Since then, the man everyone knows as “Buckwheat Jr.” has been keeping the family tradition alive by continuing to perform and create Zydeco music.
Zydeco is a unique style of music—lively, playful, and rooted in Louisiana traditions of blues and folk. Buckwheat Zydeco Jr. has described it as “Creole and French speaking music that’s one-of-a-kind music; happy music. It’s for all generations.”
Creole music is often played with accordion, washboard, guitar, bass, drums and horns. Buckwheat Zydeco Jr.’s grandfather called it “la la music” when he played the accordion at home. As an ambassador for zydeco and blues, Buckwheat Jr. blends the past with the present, fusing the traditional sounds of zydeco with contemporary influences.
Buckwheat Jr. Says, “I started off when I was 17 years old. I played the frottoir—the washboard—with my father. But actually, I started off being a roadie, loading up the instruments, just to be around the musicians.”
One day, when a musician scheduled to go on the road wasn’t able to make it, Buckwheat Jr. told his father, “Dad, I can play the washboard.” Buckwheat Sr. may have been skeptical at first, asking, “Can you really?”
“Anything to get on stage,” Buckwheat Jr. says with a laugh. “That was my open door.”
Fast forward a few decades and now Buckwheat Jr.’s own son, Kyle, plays in the band as well. The group is tight-knit, positive, and enjoying success.
Their album New Beginnings won a Grammy in 2024 in the Best Regional Roots Music Album category, something Buckwheat Jr. describes as “such a blessing.” He says, “It was the second Grammy. I had previously won one with my father. So to be the first father and son in Zydeco music, to win a Grammy in the same category, wow, my daddy is truly looking down on us.”
Those who enjoy the show in Edmonton this year are encouraged to get up and dance.
“It’s not the type of music to sit down,” says Buckwheat Jr. “Like my dad said, ‘Take your shoes off and let your hair down.’ Everybody’s having a good time. You’re out there to shake a leg!”
All CKUA Radio Stage shows are FREE with General Admission.
Buckwheat Zydeco Jr. & The Legendary Ils Sont Partis Band will play the CKUA Radio Stage at KDays on July 18. This show will also be a live CKUA broadcast. Find details about all our summer festival coverage at ckua.com/summer and find info about all shows at the CKUA Radio Stage at KDays here.
“Hot Foot Zydeco” is from Buckwheat Zydeco Jr. & The Legendary Ils Sont Partis Band’s album New Beginnings.
