Pine Leaf Boys: Get Off My Lawn
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.”
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By R. Reese Fuller
4/6/2005
Quote
Re: The Sound of Silence on Campus
Originally Posted by Tripple Threat
