This is a list of notable Cajun musicians, Cajun music instrument makers, Cajun music folklorists, Cajun music historians, and Cajun music activists.

List of Cajun musicians

This is a list of musicians who perform or performed

Cajun music Cajun music (), an emblematic music of Louisiana played by the Cajuns, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Although they are two separate genres, Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based ...

. The musicians are not necessarily

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the US state of Louisiana and surrounding Gulf Coast states. Whi ...

s, nor necessarily limited to Louisiana musicians.

Traditional Cajun

Amédé Ardoin Amédé Ardoin (March 11, 1898 – November 3, 1942) was an American musician, known for his high singing voice and virtuosity on German-made one-row diatonic button accordions. He is credited by Louisiana music scholars with laying the ground ...

, accordion * Bois Sec Ardoin * Breaux Brothers, accordion, fiddle, guitar trio * Cléoma Breaux, guitar www.cajunculture.com "Falcon, Joseph and Cléoma"
*

Sady Courville Sady D. Courville (November 15, 1905 – January 3, 1988), was a Cajun fiddler noted for his extensive collaboration with Dennis McGee. Early life Courville was born in Chataignier, Louisiana, the son of Eraste Courville who was also a f ...

, fiddle *

Joe Falcon Joseph Falcón (September 28, 1900 – November 19, 1965) was an accordion player from southwest Louisiana, best known for producing the first recording of a Cajun song, " Allons à Lafayette," in 1928. He and his wife Cléoma Breaux left ...

, accordion *

Canray Fontenot Canray Fontenot (October 16, 1922 – July 29, 1995) was an American Creole fiddle player, who has been described as "the greatest Creole Louisiana French fiddler of our time." Early life Canray Fontenot was born in L'Anse aux Vaches, n ...

, fiddle * Wade Fruge, fiddle * Blind Uncle Gaspard * Mayeus Lafleur *

Dennis McGee Dennis (Denus) McGee (January 26, 1893 – October 3, 1989) was one of the earliest recorded Cajun musicians. A fiddle player, he recorded and performed with Louisiana Creole people, Creole accordionist and vocalist Amédé Ardoin, with acc ...

, fiddle * Segura Brothers * Leo Soileau

Country/Texas swing Cajun

* Hadley J. Castille, fiddle *

Harry Choates Harry Henry Choates (December 26, 1922 – July 17, 1951) was an American Cajun music fiddler known as the "Fiddle King of Cajun Swing" and the "Godfather of Cajun music." The scholar Barry Jean Ancelet called Choates "undoubtedly the most popu ...

, fiddle * Varise Conner * Luderin Darbone * Edwin Duhon * J. B. Fuselier *

Doc Guidry Oran "Doc" Guidry (April 28, 1918 – November 10, 1992) was an American Cajun and country music fiddler. Some of his best known recordings include "Wondering", "Colinda", "Crowley Two Step", and "Chere Cherie". Biography Born April 28, 1918 in ...

Hackberry Ramblers The Hackberry Ramblers (also known as the Riverside Ramblers) is a Grammy Award-nominated Cajun music band based in Hackberry, Louisiana and formed in 1933. Since its heyday in the late 1930s it has become one of the most recognized names and in ...

* Julius "Papa Cairo" Lamperez *

Leroy "Happy Fats" Leblanc Leroy "Happy Fats" Leblanc (January 30, 1915 – February 23, 1988) was a Cajun swing musician that recorded with RCA Records in the 1930s and 1940s. He is known for his recordings with Harry Choates and his broadcasts on KVOL. Next to the Hack ...

Dancehall Cajun

Nathan Abshire and the Pinegrove Boys Nathan Abshire (June 27, 1913 – May 13, 1981) was an American Cajun accordion player. His time in the U.S. Army inspired Abshire to write the crooner song "Service Blues", which the newspaper Daily World reported as "one of his most memorable ...

* Sidney Brown and the Traveler Playboys *

Camey Doucet Camey Joseph Doucet is a Cajun musician and disc jockey. Doucet has been twice honored by the Cajun French Music Association being inducted into the hall of fame in its inaugural year in 1997 and awarded for ''Continuing Contribution to Cajun M ...

Iry LeJeune Ira "Iry" LeJeune (October 27, 1928 Cajun Music a Reflection of the People – October 8, 1955) was one of the best selling and most popular Cajun musicians in the mid to late 1940s into the early 1950s. His recordings and repertoire remai ...

Phil Menard Phil Menard (September 6, 1923 – October 26, 2016) was an American musician who played the Cajun accordion. He lived in Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, fifth-most populous city in the U.S. s ...

Austin Pitre Austin Pitre (February 23, 1918 - April 8, 1981) was born in Ville Platte, Louisiana. A Cajun music pioneer, Pitre claimed to be the first musician to play the accordion standing up, rather than sitting down. Along with his band, the Evangelin ...

* Belton Richard, accordion * Aldus Roger and the Lafayette Playboys * Lawrence Walker and the Wandering Aces

Cajun "renaissance"

* Balfa Brothers, fiddlers and guitarists *

Dewey Balfa Dewey Balfa (March 20, 1927 – June 17, 1992) was an American Cajun fiddler and singer who contributed significantly to the popularity of Cajun music. Balfa was born near Mamou, Louisiana. He is perhaps best known for his 1964 performance at the ...

, fiddle *

BeauSoleil Beausoleil, beau soleil or variants may refer to: * Beausoleil, Alpes-Maritimes, a town in southern France, adjoining the Principality of Monaco * Beausoleil, New Brunswick, a community in Canada * Beausoleil, a rural hamlet in the municipality of ...

Charivari Charivari (, , , alternatively spelled shivaree or chivaree and also called a skimmington) was a European and North American folk custom designed to shame a member of the community, in which a mock parade was staged through the settlement accompa ...

* Octa Clark * Michael Doucet, fiddle * Harrison Fontenot * Alan LaFleur,

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

* D.L. Menard *

Zachary Richard Ralph Zachary Richard (born September 8, 1950) is an American singer-songwriter and poet. His music is a combination of Cajun and Zydeco musical styles. Biography Zachary Richard began his musical career at the age of 8, as soprano in the Bish ...

, accordion *

Ann Savoy Ann Savoy ( ; ; born January 20, 1952) is a musician, author, and record producer. Biography Savoy was born in St. Louis, Missouri and raised in Richmond, Virginia. She resides with her husband Marc Savoy and family in Eunice, Southern Louis ...

, guitarist, singer, author *

Marc Savoy Marc Savoy ( ; born October 1, 1940) is an American musician, and builder and player of the Cajun accordion. Early life He was born on his grandfather's rice farm near Eunice, Louisiana, Eunice, Louisiana. His grandfather was a fiddler, who occ ...

, accordion *

Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys are an American Cajun band from southern Louisiana. The band formed in 1988 and has since recorded 10 albums, nine of which are on Rounder Records. The band includes Steve Riley (accordion, b. 1969), David Gre ...

* Feufollet

Contemporary Cajun music

Christine Balfa Christine Balfa is a Cajun musician and founder of the group Balfa Toujours known for performing vocals, guitar, and the triangle. She is the youngest daughter of Dewey Balfa. Balfa created the Cajun band Balfa Toujours in 1992; and her husba ...

* Lee Benoit * Joe Hall *

Hunter Hayes Hunter Easton Hayes (born September 9, 1991) is an American multi-genre singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is proficient at more than 30 instruments. Hayes released his Hunter Hayes (album), self-titled debut alb ...

The Lost Bayou Ramblers Lost Bayou Ramblers is a Cajun music band from Pilette, Louisiana. Career Lost Bayou Ramblers was born deep in South Louisiana performing old style, predominantly acoustic Cajun music at clubs and festivals across the US, Europe, and Canada. ...

* Kevin Naquin *

Pine Leaf Boys The Pine Leaf Boys is an American Cajun and Creole band from South Louisiana, United States. Members include Wilson Savoy (accordion, piano, vocals), Chris Segura (fiddle, vocals), Drew Simon (drums and vocals), Jean Bertrand (guitars), and Tho ...

* The Red Stick Ramblers * The Revelers *

Joel Savoy Joel Savoy (born in Eunice, Louisiana, USA) is a Cajun musician and music producer from Southwest Louisiana. His father Marc Savoy, famous accordion builder and musician, and his mother, Ann Savoy, author and music producer, are well known ambas ...

, fiddler, music producer * Wilson Savoy, accordion *

Wayne Toups Wayne Toups (born October 2, 1958, in Crowley, Louisiana) is one of the most commercially successful American Cajun music, Cajun singers. He is also a songwriter. Wayne Toups has been granted numerous awards and honors throughout his career incl ...

and his legendary roadie Johnny Opelousas

Other Cajun musicians/groups

Solo artists

* Al Berard * Octa Clark *

* L. J. Foret * J. B. Fuselier * Blind Uncle Gaspard * David Greely *

www.lsue.edu "Hunter Hayes in 2005"
*

Doug Kershaw Douglas James Kershaw (born January 24, 1936) is an American fiddle player, singer, and songwriter from Louisiana. Active since 1948, he began his career as part of the duo Rusty and Doug, along with his brother, Rusty Kershaw. He had an exte ...

Rusty Kershaw Rusty & Doug were a country music and cajun music duo composed of Doug Kershaw (born January 24, 1936) and his younger brother, Rusty Kershaw (1938–2001). The two recorded for Hickory Records between 1955 and 1961, charting five times on the ...

* Mayeus Lafleur *

Sonny Landreth Clide Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Br ...

* D.L. Menard * Jimmy C. Newman *

* Crystal Plamondon * Belton Richard, accordion *

, accordion *

* Wilson Savoy * Amanda Shaw * Leo Soileau * Jo-El Sonnier, vocals * Lawrence Walker * Kevin Wimmer

Bands

* Balfa Brothers * Breaux Brothers * Captain Gumbo (Netherlands band) *

Red Stick Ramblers The Red Stick Ramblers were a Cajun Music and Western Swing band formed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1999 while some of the members were attending Louisiana State University. Their name comes from a translation of Baton Rouge, which means "re ...

* Belton Richard and the Musical Aces *

The Sundown Playboys The Sundown Playboys are an American Cajun music band in Louisiana, United States. The band was founded in 1945 by accordionist Lionel Cormier, and has been performing almost continuously throughout the United States. After the death of Lionel ...

* Lisa Haley and the Zydekats

Other Cajun musicians playing non-Cajun music

* Johnnie Allan,

swamp pop Swamp pop is a music genre indigenous to the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and an adjoining section of southeast Texas. Created in the 1950s by young Cajuns and Creoles, it combines New Orleans–style rhythm and blues, Country music, countr ...

musician *

Rod Bernard Rod Bernard () was an American singer who helped to pioneer the musical genre known as "swamp pop", which combined New Orleans-style rhythm and blues, country and western, and Cajun and black Creole music. He is generally considered one of th ...

, swamp pop musician * John Fred, swamp pop & rock and roll musician *

Sammy Kershaw Samuel Paul Cashat (born February 24, 1958), known professionally as Sammy Kershaw, is an American country music singer. He has released 16 studio albums, with three RIAA platinum certifications and two gold certifications among them. More than 2 ...

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist *

Warren Storm Warren Storm (né Schexnider; February 18, 1937 – September 7, 2021) was an American drummer and vocalist, known as a pioneer of the musical genre swamp pop; a combination of rhythm and blues, country and western, and Cajun music and black Cr ...

, swamp pop musician * Rufus Thibodeaux, Cajun and

artist (fiddler)

Other related Cajun music producers, authors, folklorists, historians, and activists

* Barry Ancelet, folklorist, cultural activist * Ryan Brasseaux, cultural historian * Carl A. Brasseaux, historian * Kevin Fontenot, historian * Richard Guidry, cultural activist * Harry Oster,

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

folklorist, recorded in the 1950s *

, guitarist, singer, author, and record producer

List of Cajun instrument makers

* Sidney Brown, accordion builder and player * Andre Michot, accordion builder * Larry Miller, accordion builder *

, accordion builder and player, cultural activist

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:People related to Cajun music

Musicians from Louisiana

List of Cajun musicians

Traditional Cajun

Country/Texas swing Cajun

Dancehall Cajun

Cajun "renaissance"

Contemporary Cajun music

Other Cajun musicians/groups

Solo artists

Bands

Other Cajun musicians playing non-Cajun music

Other related Cajun music producers, authors, folklorists, historians, and activists

List of Cajun instrument makers

See also

References