VILLE PLATTE, La.— By 8:30 Saturday morning, the red-brick tavern called Fred's Lounge is already filled with rice farmers, bikers from New Orleans and wide-eyed French tourists ready to party. Some sit at the varnished bar sipping Budweisers and Bloody Marys, while couples waltz gracefully across the worn linoleum. A traditional Cajun band — accordion, fiddle, rhythm guitar, bass, drums and triangle — provides the soundtrack.
And the whole world can listen.
