KBON Radio: Small Town Radio in the Heart of Acadiana

At the KBON studio.

The sound of Acadiana is KBON radio: 101.1 FM on your radio dial. Driving south on I49, we always get off the interstate at Alexandria and take 71 south on to Krotz Springs, our first official cracklin stop of every trip. The drive is prettier on 71 than on 49, with Bayou Boeuf visible much of the time, sugarcane fields and depending on the time of year, rice fields or crawfish ponds. We can start picking up KBON on the car radio around Bunkie.

KBON radio station is located on the main drag in Eunice, Louisiana (pop 9,310) in an old storefront building with big windows looking out onto 2nd Street. Founded in 1997 on a wish and a prayer, Paul Marx's dream continues still, almost twenty-five years later. 

Paul Marx risked it all on this little radio station; he had a dream. He and his wife sold or mortgaged nearly everything they had to start this radio station and against all predictions, it has been a success. The "radio experts" told Marx that his vision of a mixed genre radio station was pure folly, but with a background as an event DJ, Marx knew people wanted to hear a variety of genres and that's what you get on KBON. You might hear the Rolling Stones and the next song might be local favorite Travis Matte and the Kingpins. Rock, country, Cajun, zydeco, it's all there. Saturday and Sunday mornings are strictly Cajun music, the old DL Menard tunes, the French songs, and the DJ broadcasting in Cajun French. Other days you might get the "Swamp Pop Double Shot" - two swamp pop tunes back to back, or All Louisiana Friday where every song is by a Louisiana artist. And during Mardi Gras, you'll hear "La Danse de Mardi Gras" on heavy rotation.

The radio station is a joyful throwback to what radio ought the be. You want the birthdays and anniversaries? DJ Phil Daigle is going to give it to you. Want to win some boudin and a six-pack? Be the third caller (or whatever number comes up) when you hear Marx shout "Where's the ice chest, babe?!" to get qualified. The Eunice Superette will fix you up!

Part of the pure fun of KBON is their open-door policy. Anyone can go by the station, walk right in, and

Autograph wall.

visit. If Marx's daughter is there you'll probably get a tour. The walls along the winding hallway are autographed by musicians, both local and famous, who have visited the station. If that person has since passed on to glory, there is a tiny silver cross affixed to the wall by their name. And there's a little kitchen in the very back and those walls are signed by famous and locally famous cooks who have dated their visit and sometimes written down what they cooked!

Many local musicians hold a debt of gratitude to KBON; your band made a CD and you're trying to get it out there? Go to KBON, they'll put you on the air!

Steve and I went to see the KBON studio for ourselves. It felt a little strange just walking on in with no invitation or prior notice, but we needn't have worried. Marx's daughter Angela welcomed us, gave us the tour, and told us to just take our time, stay as long as we wanted to look around. We even ended up on-air as the DJ invited us into the booth, asked us where we were from, and chatted for a few minutes. Everyone is a celebrity at KBON! The station itself is a veritable museum; besides the autographs on the wall, there are instruments, costumes, and other memorabilia. We left with a cool bag of KBON swag and I drink out of my KBON coffee cup every single day!

My KBON swag

When I am in Shreveport, and wishing I was back in Arnaudville (which is most all the time), I turn on KBON. The app is on my phone and with just one little click the zydeco and Cajun tunes play, making my heart homesick for a place I've never actually lived. But I know the places they talk about, I know where the Eunice Superette is, I know where Uncle T's Oyster Bar is, I know the little towns and the cracklin stops. It brings me "home." We even listened to KBON all the way to Iowa one year. At our little Arnaudville house we have KBON on exclusively; no television, no other radio, just KBON, and the same goes in the car. As we drive past sugarcane fields and through tiny communities heading out to the Basin or down to St. Martinville, we have KBON. 

If you are in the area I encourage you to see KBON for yourself. Eunice is also the home to The Cajun Music Hall of Fame and The Depot Museum. There are shops to visit and you can always grab a delicious plate lunch at Ruby's Cafe, just down the street from the radio station. 

KBON is truly the sound of Acadiana. And maybe of heaven, too.

Further reading:

The Advocate: KBON's Paul Marx remembered as an advocate for local music and culture until his final day

Cracklin' Quest

I am on the search for the perfect cracklin.

By no means could I be considered an expert judge. I have no Cajun blood that I know of in my lineage. I have only been eating these delicious fried pork morsels for a few years. I've never attempted to cook them - this is not advised for the casual cook. 

All I know is that I love them. 

This article by Chere' Coen from 2019 is an excellent one to read to learn about cracklins. She details the history, the cooking process, and discusses various places to purchase cracklins in the Acadiana area. The accompanying photos made my mouth water. Coen writes:

The Cajun boucherie dates back centuries, a communal hog butchering where careful attempts were made to use every inch of the animal to adequately feed the coterie. Usually held in cold weather months, the boucherie produced items for backbone stew, sausage such as andouille and boudin, ham hocks, bacon and pork roasts, among other pork products.

Even the skin of the pig was used. Called grattons in French, or by the more popular name of crackling or cracklin’, South Louisiana residents drop the pig skin with fat and sometimes meat attached into vats of hog lard. The frying time varies per cook but most know cracklings are done when they pop and form “eyes” and float to the surface. Some cooks pull the cracklings from the fat and allow them to cool before deep-frying them a second time at a higher temperature. Once doused with seasoning, the final product becomes a crispy, tasty snack.

Cracklins are a very personal thing, I think. Everyone has different preferences. Some people prefer them crispier, more like a pork rind. Others want just salt and pepper seasoning while others still want a cayenne kick. For me, so far, my favorite has to be Kartchner's in Krotz Springs for freshness, seasoning, size, and the perfect meat to fat ration. They check all the boxes on that score.

The perfect cracklin for me is one that is right out of the fryer so that that pocket of grease right under the crispy outer skin just pops as soon as you bite into it. It has a fairly even meat to fat ratio and is spicy and well seasoned. 

I do not want those cracklins that have been under the heat lamp for three hours and are dry as dust.

Cracklins are so popular throughout Acadiana that nearly everyone sells them or at least has incorporated them into a recipe or two. The very popular Little Big Cup restaurant in Arnaudville, La. has cracklins on their buffet and on their appetizer menu you will find "Cracklin' dusted Mac 'n Cheese Balls. Delicious!

There are even quick stops that sell nothing but cracklins and maybe boudin and boudin balls as well. Hebert's and Billy's are popular and both have several locations. Kartchner's in Krotz Springs is right on the highway and is a quick in and out for almost everyone on US Hwy 90 heading toward Baton Rouge. They also have a couple of other locations.

Port Barre in St. Landry Parish hosts the Cracklin Festival in November each year. Started in 1985, the festival is a fundraiser for the local Lions Club. I have never attended the festival because as I said, I'm a relative novice to cracklins, but I fully intend to go this year! In fact, I was personally invited by Ms. Cracklin 2023! (Yes, I know...it is literally her job to encourage people to attend; I choose to be honored by the invitation anyway.)

Chicken and Waffles

In addition to pork cracklins you can also find plenty of chicken cracklins in Acadiana. My favorite by far is the Kung Pao chicken cracklins only found at Bayou Teche Brewing in Arnaudville. Hot, crispy, drizzled with a Cajun-style Kung Pao sauce, peanuts, and green onions, this dish is addictive. You can't stop eating them. If you're lucky you are there on a day when they do their version of chicken and waffles: chicken cracklins atop a waffle, drizzles with Steens Cane Syrup and praline cheesecake. 

In the end, I think probably the best chance I have for finding the perfect cracklin is to either go to a true boucherie or to the Cracklin Festival where they have a cracklin cookoff. I'll happily be a judge, just ask me! Otherwise, I'll have to continue driving all over Acadiana eating every piece of fried pork belly under every heat lamp I can find. 

I am fine with that, too. 

All things Louisiana

 

Bayou Teche at Arnaudville

I have been thinking about this new blog for at least five years. 

Five years is how long I have been traveling throughout south Louisiana and it is how long I have been in love with Acadiana.

My longstanding blog, And so it goes in Shreveport, will continue, but it just didn't fit exactly to share my Acadiana love on a blog that was about Shreveport. Frankly, Shreveport has lost its luster for me and over time the blog devolved into a not-exactly-flattering picture of Shreveport. I talked about a lot of other things there as well, like books and issues in education.

This blog will be my happy place, my piece of south Louisiana, my observations, my experiences, and my travels. 

I hope you'll stick around.