The radio documentary Zydeco Nation was produced and written by Richard Ziglar and Barry Yeoman. This website was created by Richard Ziglar. Both producers can be reached at zydeco@zydeconation.org. Most of the photographs on zydeconation.org were taken by John Noltner, unless otherwise noted. Jason Richmond of Sound Pure Studios in Durham, North Carolina, recorded the narration.

We are indebted to Mark DeWitt, Will Spires, Barry Ancelet, and Ben Sandmel, who served as humanities consultants. Their first-hand experience with the zydeco cultures of California and Louisiana, combined with their scholarship and generosity, helped give this project both depth and precision.

Fiscal Sponsorship for Zydeco Nation is provided by the International Documentary Association and Deep Springs College. The documentary is financed, in part, by a generous grant from the California Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Our distributor is AARP Prime Time Radio. Special thanks to executive producer Angel Livas for overseeing AARP’s end of the partnership and for her smart final edits; engineer Ben Pizzuto for the final mix; host Mike Cuthbert for the IDs and announcements; and Larry Gannon, vice president for television and radio programming, for his enduring support.

We appreciate everyone who helped match our grant from the California Council for the Humanities. We are particularly grateful to our generous donors: Joanna & Howard Maclay, Ann Banks, and Sheree Morgan. Thanks, too, to our in-kind donors: Ellen Simms & Tom Colton, Julnar Rizk & Lindsey Boullt, Melissa McDonald & Eric Grundstrom, and Larry Rosenfeld.

Two pieces of music on the documentary were performed specifically for our program. Thanks to washboard player Ruben Moreno and accordionist Andre Thierry for creating the train music that begins the show. Thanks, too, to Andre Thierry for his solo performance of “Valse De Derniere Fois,” the song he used to play for his grandfather.

The radio documentary contains interviews with the following people: R.C. Carrier, Andrew Carriere, Charlmaigne Chavez-Thibodeaux, Dana DeSimone, Mark DeWitt, Queen Ida Guillory, Lance Henry, Blair Kilpatrick, Charlotte Lane, Betty LeBlanc, Wilbert Lewis, Lena Pitre, Warren Semien, Ray Stevens, and Andre Thierry.

We appreciate everyone else who assisted with the production of this documentary:

Lynne Adrine • Kenya Baker • Tawann Bradford
Marc David • Tommy Folen • Blair Kilpatrick & Steve Tabak
Ed Poullard • Sue Ramon • Irene Segura
Keith Woods • Barbara Yaley