Lynn August (born Joseph Leonard August Jr.; August 7, 1948) is an American zydeco

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

ist, keyboard player, singer and bandleader.

Biography

He was born in

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...

. Though sometimes said to have been blind from birth,Jeff Hannusch, "Lynn August", ''The Ponderosa Stomp''
Retrieved 28 November 2016 his own recollection is of having some sight until about the age of four.
Retrieved 28 November 2016 He attended the Louisiana State School for the Blind in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...

, and grew up listening to zydeco music, including that of his uncle Claude Duffy, an

player. He began playing drums and occasionally sang with Duffy's band, and at the age of 11 played percussion with the singer

Esquerita Eskew Reeder, Jr. (November 20, 1935 or 1938 – October 23, 1986), usually known by the stage name Esquerita, and occasionally as S.Q. Reeder or The Magnificent Malochi, was an American R&B singer, songwriter and pianist, known for his frenet ...

, who suggested that he learn keyboards. He performed around New Orleans for about three years with Esquerita, who encouraged him to consider a solo career, Biography by Jason Ankeny, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 28 November 2016 and also played drums in the early 1960s with Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural. As a pianist,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

ist and singer, August performed solo in clubs and restaurants, and recorded his first single, "Little Red Rooster", for the local Tamm label in 1966. For two years, he led a band in local clubs, until a bar brawl led to him returning to solo work in clubs around 1970. He also led a church choir. In 1978, he was recruited to play organ in accordionist Marcel Dugas' band. Recognising the growing popularity of zydeco music, he bought an accordion and in the 1980s formed his own band, the Hot August Knights. He played shows and festivals, and recorded his first album, ''Zydeco Groove'', in 1988. He released further albums on the Maison de Soul and Black Top labels in the early 1990s, including ''Creole Cruiser'' (1992) and ''Sauce Piquante'' (1993). A feature of his performances and recordings has been the adoption of the Creole style of "

juré Juré () is a commune in the Loire department in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Loire department The following is a list of the 323 communes of the Loire department of France. The communes cooperate in the followi ...

", with

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

group singing, clapping and dancing, as recorded by

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...

on his field recordings in the 1930s. He toured Europe in 1994. In the mid-1990s, August formed his own company, Touch Tech, designing and selling computers for

visually impaired Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

people. He had open heart surgery in 1998, but continued to perform and record thereafter, releasing the album ''Legends Making Memories'', with Willie-Tee Trahan and the band Cypress, in 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:August, Lynn 1948 births Living people Zydeco musicians Cajun accordionists People from Lafayette, Louisiana 21st-century accordionists 20th-century accordionists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Musicians from Louisiana Maison de Soul Records artists Black Top Records artists