Pine Leaf Boys: Get Off My Lawn

<!- UL police order local musicians to pack it in. UL police told music group they couldn’t make music in the middle of the afternoon on the University o Louisiana campus without proper authorization. -><center><img src="http://www.theind.com/photos/20050406-news-0101.jpg"></center><blockquote><p align=justify>If The Pine Leaf Boys make enough money from their afternoon gigs to buy a pizza, it’s a good day. But a recent encounter with the UL Police has silenced the group — at least on campus.

Bandmember Wilson Savoy says he and his roommates, Jon Bertrand and Cedric Watson, along with Drew Simon, have been playing Cajun music on campus since August — usually with fiddle, guitar, accordion and t’fer. The acoustic quartet has performed on the corner of Rex Street and St. Mary Boulevard.

“We live near campus,” says Savoy. “We like playing music, and the people like it. We go out there when there’s nice weather to make a few bucks, but we’re not begging for money. That’s one of the nice things about Lafayette; the music is what it’s all about.”

While the group performs, there’s an open case for passersby to part with their spare change. “People thrown in money,” Savoy says. “We don’t ask them. We make, on average, $10 a day.” On the afternoon of March 23, The Pine Leaf Boys had netted $5 and had been playing for about five minutes when a UL Police car with its lights flashing pulled up to the curb.

An officer approached the group. “He said, ‘Stop the noise. There’s a complaint from the dean of students that there was noise on campus,’” says Savoy. “And he said, ‘That’s the same reason that we don’t let bums beg for money on the street. So if y’all want to do it, y’all have to get a permit.’ And yada, yada, yada. It was pretty offensive, so we packed up and left.”

Pat Cottonham, UL associate dean of students, says her office received a complaint about loud music and adds that the band wasn’t registered for an activity on campus, which is required by her office. “We didn’t know there was supposed to be a band,” she says. “People can’t just set up and be on campus.” Cottonham says The Pine Leaf Boys also didn’t have a permit from Lafayette Consolidated Government to perform. She adds, “They were in a quiet zone, 20 feet away from an academic building where science classes were going on.” (Montgomery Hall, the school’s chemistry building, sits on the same corner.)

Cottonham also claims that university police had paid The Boys a visit about the noise a week earlier, a claim that Savoy flatly denies. Cottonham also says that the officer denies making a reference to “bums.” Calls placed to the UL Police department were unreturned as of press time.

It was the first time the dean’s office had received a complaint about the music, according to Cottonham. “But if someone calls and complains, then we look into it,” she says. “I wouldn’t understand how a band would be able to be there since August — in a high traffic area — and not be noticed.”

<center><p><a href="http://www.theind.com/news2.asp?CID=459794151">The rest of the story</a>

By R. Reese Fuller
4/6/2005 <!--

Dean of Students Edward Pratt says the UL Police have informed him that The Pine Leaf Boys had been previously warned. “These are probably a bunch of nice kids,” he says, “and I wish they would have come up to us, talked to us and said, ‘Dean Pratt, we want to play music.’”

“I guess we’re just not going to do it anymore,” Savoy says. “It was kind of like a slap in the face. We weren’t doing it for the money, by any means. In a way, we just wanted to raise the morale of the UL experience. A lot of people take tours [of the campus] and a lot of students are out there. The only thing that differentiates this campus from LSU is live Cajun music, right here in Lafayette. We’re supposed to be the Cajun heartland of Louisiana, and UL is supposed to be the Ragin’ Cajuns, but they made us stop playing. I thought it was just pitiful, especially when we’re on a street where they’ve got trucks driving by, at 100 decibels, blowing out their rap and ~~~~.”

“I’m disappointed that they feel they weren’t treated fairly,” Cottonham says. “We want to be seen as a friendly campus, but there are rules and procedures to follow. This wasn’t the first warning given to them, and I would like to talk to them about what our rules and regulations are for coming on the campus. I’m sure that there’s a reasonable way for us to have a dialogue about this.”

But along with scraping their afternoon matinees, The Pine Leaf Boys don’t intend to speak with university officials over registering their activity or securing a permit from consolidated government.

“No, of course not,” Savoy says. “We didn’t think we needed a permit, and we still don’t.”
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Man, this is about some bull____ for real. These guys are nice enough to come out and play music for the students and what does the administration do, they friggen stop it. First of all if these people are complaining about loud noises from Montgomery why don't they stop the loud ~~~ cars from passing by there with there loud ~~~ music, now thats distracting. These guys would set up on the opposite side from Montgomery and just play music for the students. They were barely getting any kind of money because there playing for poor ~~~ students. You know the university preaches preservation of cajun culture, and then you have an outlet like a cajun band who comes to your campus and plays for free, just to play for the students.

If what they need is permit, the university should step up and get them one, because they were a breath of fresh air on campus.

Geaux Cajuns

It was odd to see them when they first started last year, but I got used to hearing them and learned to expect them. I thought they added something to an otherwise mundane day on campus. They play at the cajun jam at The Blue Moon Saloon and are definitely the "heart and soul" of the night. I'll be writing a letter to the Dean requesting they be given a spot, maybe near Cypress Lake.

I say get a petition together and try to get them back. Because obviously they should be able to play music on UL'S campus without a permit. So if you get a petition together saying they should be able to play without a permit. I say that if they are nice enough to play for the students on campus for free, The University should be nice enough to be able to let them play without a permit.

Guess what?? They just received the best unpaid publicity in the world!! Trying to suppress their activity by police action just made them the most popular/wanted group in Lafayette. If they get an opportunity to do "their thing" on campus you can bet your "bootie" they will pick up more change than ever before.

I am always amazed how some folks leap before they look!

I sent the following e-mail to The Vermillion as well as to a number of students and friends. The chain e-mail has started and it is going to the dean of students Dr. Pat Cottonham:

To all of you music lovers,

I did not have a great interest in cajun music when I first arrived here from Florida, but the experience of having local students play their hearts out most afternoons on Rex Street showed how fun it could be. If you agree that hearing The Pine Leaf Boys play after having a bad day made you smile, or that they added to the experience of this University, then copy and paste the letter found at the end of this correspondence to Dr. Pat Cottonham. Her e-mail is: patcottonham@louisiana.edu.

Sincerely,

A fan of this University


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Dr. Cottonham,

The Independent has recently printed an article, which you can find at the following website http://www.theind.com/news2.asp?CID=459794151, this article concerns the removal of the The Pine Leaf Boys from campus. I do not know any of the members, but I do have a personal gain, and that is to have a memorable experience at the University of Louisiana. Can anything be done to invite these musicians back to campus? Cypress Lake might be a reasonable spot. I believe the only way to have them return is to offer them an invitation and it would be a nice gesture if the University of Louisiana made this offer.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

The Student Body

SGA will be hearing about this on Monday...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tripple Threat

I sent the following e-mail to The Vermillion as well as to a number of students and friends. The chain e-mail has started and it is going to the dean of students Dr. Pat Cottonham:

To all of you music lovers,

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I Sent a copy to her as well, anyone else I can bother about this? Those guys put a little cheer into the day.

<center><img src="http://www.timesofacadiana.com/images2/pineleafboys.jpg"></center><blockquote><p align=justify>Lafayette’s Pine Leaf Boys learn the whole world’s not a stage — at least when it comes to UL’s campus.

When Wilson Savoy, Cedric Watson, John Bertrand and Drew Simon get together to play, they call themselves the Pine Leaf Boys. Since August, The Pine Leaf Boys had been getting together and performing on the corner of Rex and St. Mary streets. They say the crowds loved them, often telling them so through compliments, dancing and clapping.

But when the University of Louisiana discovered the group, campus police had a different reaction.

St. Mary meets Rex in the heart of UL’s campus. On the corner, the university allows student organizations to fundraise and spread awareness for their causes. The soapbox is not, however, allowed for non-organizations, including musicians. According to Associate Dean of Students Pat Cottonham, UL has a policy requiring all on-campus activities — whether credit card sign-ups in the Union or fraternities seeking pledges — register through the university and follow guidelines. For live music, the corner of Rex and St. Mary is off limits. Instead the school offers the Green Area, which sits near the rim of the swamp between Cypress Lake and the Student Union.

On Wednesday, March 23, The Pine Leaf Boys were playing one of their usual hour-long lunchtime sets on the corner when a University Police officer approached. According to the officer, complaints were made, and the dean of students put a halt to the performance. Savoy, who is currently enrolled in the university, says that although no citations were given, the officer told them that they don’t allow bums to beg for money and called their Cajun music noise.

For Savoy, the comments cut deep. He is upset that the school of the Ragin’ Cajuns, which dedicates itself to preserving the culture, would stop the music from its campus and equate them to bums. Savoy says they never begged for money, but they did accept tips (usually only $5 a day).

Cottonham, however, says the interim University Police head and the responding officer deny the comments were made.

“Our mission is certainly not to make it difficult for people to come to our campus. We are complimented by people who want to come on campus,” she says. “It is just that our students are our first priority, and we do have rules to govern that they can have certain spaces on the campus and have access to those areas. If we didn’t have that kind of system in place, then people could be anywhere, anytime.”

According to Cottonham, this was the second time the Boys were reprimanded for playing on campus, adding they could have pressed “remaining after forbidden” charges.

<center><p><a href="http://www.timesofacadiana.com/Default.asp?Page=20">The rest of the story</a>

Nick Pittman
nick.pittman@timesofacadiana.com <!--

Savoy denies the allegation and says, “It wasn’t a problem until that particular day.”

Cottonham was quick to attempt a remedy for the situation, offering not only the Green Area, if they registered, but a chance to play Welcome Week, the first week of school when street performances are allowed for the entertainment of returning students. But the Pine Leaf Boys say it’s not worth the hassle.

“In a way, I don’t want to sound at all egocentric, but we were kind of doing it to give something … to the people that’s out there,” says Savoy, a world-traveled accordion ace and the son of Cajun music pillars Marc and Ann Savoy. Savoy points out that in addition to current UL students, prospective students visiting the campus saw and remarked on their performances.

For Savoy and his band, the registration process takes away from the spur of the moment informal performances. The irony of a school called the Ragin’ Cajuns booting a band of Cajun musicians off its campus is not lost on him.

“I think those rules apply if you want to play some kind of loud rap music or for some reasons if it was any way disrupting the order of the campus. I think they should welcome the Cajun musicians to the campus, they definitely shouldn’t give us any flack about it,” he says.

From Cottonham’s stance, there is no irony in the situation, as the policy applies to any and all who wish to come on campus.

“I don’t think that was the case. I think it was more the case of they didn’t register their event,” she says. “You know Hub City Ford might not have any problem with me going and setting up and selling cookies on their parking lot, if I tell them it’s for a good cause. But they won’t appreciate me just showing up there.”

“We hear it both ways. We certainly respect that this is an institution of higher Ed, that students are learning and growing.”

The legality of hindering artistic expression at a public place depends on the situation, according to Joe Cook of the Louisiana American Civil Liberties Union.

“You have to look at the facts of the situation, look at the rules and regulations, see if they pass muster in regards to the First Amendment,” Cook says.

But he is quick to point out that there can be a number of restrictions and conditions placed on First Amendment activity in a public place.

“You have to look at elements (and decide) whether the government has a compelling reason for regulating speech or restricting speech at a certain time or certain place,” he adds.

Cook says certain manner and certain types of speech can be restricted.

“Remember, that they can’t disrupt …”

In UL’s favor, their policy remains rigid toward who can come on campus. If they were to allow certain groups, Cook’s example is religious groups, but not others, the policy would be flawed and unconstitutional. UL’s policy seems to pass muster with its blanket policy and reasonable registration. On the other hand, whether four musicians performing without amplification on a busy corner — competing with traffic and car stereos — were disruptive can be questioned, especially when a student can bring a stereo on campus and likely be louder than The Pine Leaf Boys without violating UL’s noise ordinance.

The corner of Rex and St. Mary is very close to classrooms, but Savoy says people told him after the incident their music was barely audible from across the street.

“Compared to the rest of the noise, it’s almost inaudible from anything more than 30 feet away,” he says.

Either way, The Pine Leaf Boys already have found a new place to play — Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

LSU’s student organization office says that while a band must register to play a frat house or an event, because the campus is a public place, a band may come onto campus as long as it is not disruptive or amplified.

“They really appreciate us over there. We go and play out in the quad, and they have 100 people that come instantly and just start clapping for us and dancing,” says Savoy. “We went last week, and they had a French teacher, she brought her whole class. The whole class sat and listened to us.”

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Thanks to our lovely UP's and paperwork, I believe the Pine Leaf Boys have already transplanted themselves to lsu-BR...

What exactly do you mean by "transplanted"? I hope there not gone for good; I enjoyed hearing them at the Blue Moon as well as campus.

I wish I would hear cajun music in my classes, all I get is lawnmower noise.