The Whirlybird is a hidden spot for Louisiana music | Entertainment/Life

Back in the days of the country dance hall, you had to know what you were getting into before showing up. 

Before Google reviews or social media existed to spread the word about hot spots and hidden gems, places like Slim’s Y-Ki-Ki in Opelousas, Hamilton’s Place in Lafayette and Signorelli’s Club in St. Martinville stayed busy the old-fashioned way — circulars, word of mouth and a sign nestled somewhere off a rural highway, beckoning people to come pass a good time. 

The Whirlybird is an inheritor of that tradition, updated for the digital age. It has a website, a Facebook page and show listings, yet it’s not on any modern GPS. You have to know someone, get tickets for a show, or just email the owner, Jim Phillips, who’s happy to send directions. Put in a little legwork, and the secret is yours — or, as Phillips says, “Once you hear about it, you’re invited.”

Phillips and his wife, Christy Leichty, founded The Whirlybird on their property — somewhere in Acadiana, north of Lafayette — near 2008. Both educators and enthusiastic dancers, they met around 1993 on the Cajun and Creole dance circuit in the San Francisco Bay Area, a region with a highly developed fan base for Louisiana music, thanks to transplants and the many Cajun and zydeco bands that have toured there over the years. 

“We used to joke around with our friends because we went dancing all the time in the Bay Area, and we told them that someday we would have a dance hall in our yard,” said Leichty. With repeated trips to Louisiana and a growing list of friends in the area, the couple eventually decided to get a “camp” in Acadiana, somewhere to place roots while continuing to run their Montessori school in California.

By the early 2000s, Leichty and Phillips were visiting so frequently that they made the move permanent, purchasing a larger property to spread their wings and honor their ongoing New Year’s resolution, which is to have more fun every year. 

“I consider it a big folk art project,” said Phillips, who is also an artist. The sprawling Whirlybird Compound is named for a vintage fair ride called a “Whirlybird,” that stands at the entrance to their own dance hall. The rest of the property features studios, space for visiting artists and the couple’s home, which has been featured in films like “Pointe Noir,” by Louisiana director Pat Mire.

It’s an ideal place to have fun — the studios are bursting with art by Phillips and others, there are amusing things to look at everywhere, and The Whirlybird itself is the perfect place for an old-fashioned fais do-do.

Entering the dance hall, with its beamed ceiling, memorabilia everywhere, a corner stage and a long, welcoming bar, feels a little like stepping back in time. For one, kids are welcome, and nothing says “good old days” quite like a child pushing a toy truck across the floor while his parents dance nearby. True to their Montessori background, Phillips and Leichty also love hosting school groups at The Whirlybird for Cajun music and folklore workshops. 

Fawn Larson remembers being one of those kids on the dance floor, about 20 years ago. Trained from the age of 6 on the harmonica by her father, Mark Larson, she came up listening to local harmonica stars like Jerry Devillier, who played a special show at The Whirlybird on March 6 with blues band Trouble Down Teche. The singer-songwriter later made the move to Nashville, and remembers The Whirlybird as one of the formative places of her youth. 

“I remember the magic of walking in for the first time. It was like a portal,” said Larson. “I couldn’t stop looking around at the vibe that Jim and Christy created. It really left an impact, and I’ve never known another place like it.” 

Phillips uses the term “threshold” to describe walking into The Whirlybird. “It’s the in-between, meaning there’s reality and then whatever we make of reality,” he said. “It’s where a lot of interesting things can happen through culture, through art, just through socialization.” 

“There’s nothing more satisfying than when people come here for the first time and have a great experience,” Leichty added. “Wherever they’re from, even locals — if they come here and just have a blast, I feel like I did my job. I feel satisfied.”

At The Whirlybird, the secrecy isn’t the point — it’s about the experience. Sure, they could advertise the address, but it’s not exactly hard to find, if you’re looking. The people that do find it know that they’ve stumbled onto something special, and go on to protect its mystique for others. The result is a place that stands out of time, but refreshes itself with new music, art and community year after year. It’s hard to think of another spot quite like it, anywhere.