90 years of creole music legacy

Ferdinand Arceneaux

Creole Accordionist

Ferdinand Arceneaux, born in 1892, was an early Louisiana Creole La\La accordionist, great-grandfather to Corey Arceneaux and father to Fernest Arceneaux. Known for performing at lively La/La house dances, he shared his passion for music with Fernest, his son and main protégé, by teaching him the accordion. Fernest picked up the craft by imitating his father’s style at local house parties, where the sounds of traditional Creole accordion tunes filled the air in the 1940s and 1950s.

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John Fernest Arceneaux (August 27, 1940 – September 4, 2008) was a French-speaking Creole zydeco accordionist and singer from Louisiana, and the great-uncle of Corey Arceneaux. Known for his incredible talent, he earned the nickname “The New Prince of Accordion.” A zydeco pioneer, he first picked up the accordion as a child by playing his brother-in-law Samuel Broussard’s instrument while working in the rural Louisiana fields, learning by imitating his father, Ferdinand Arceneaux, a fellow Creole accordionist he often joined at local house parties. By the 1960s, he switched to guitar for his rock and roll group, Fernest and the Thunders, but in the 1970s, encouraged by his hero Clifton Chenier, he returned to the accordion. That same year, Belgian blues fan Robert Sacre discovered him and his band, leading to their first album and extensive touring, especially in Europe. His masterful playing solidified his title as “The New Prince of Accordion.” Arceneaux’s influence went beyond his own performances, inspiring the next generation of zydeco musicians. His great-nephew Corey Arceneaux toured with him for a year in 1991 before forming Corey Arceneaux and the Zydeco Hot Peppers, crediting Fernest as the reason he took up the accordion. From the 1960s through the 2000s, Arceneaux remained a key figure in keeping zydeco alive and evolving, earning international acclaim and deep respect within the Louisiana Creole music community. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernest_Arceneaux  

Book published in 1997: "Let the Good Times Roll!" by authors Pat Nyhan, Brian Rollins, and David Babb.

The Boussard line

Joseph Rodney Bernard

Corey Arceneaux’s great uncle, Bernard, started young, picking cotton and listening to his uncles, Howard and Samuel Broussard, play accordion during midday breaks. He joined in by tapping out rhythms with two spoons on an old washboard as they made music on the porch or under a shady tree. Before long, he was performing with Wilton Bernard and future accordion legend Fernest Arceneaux, creating a lively “French La La” sound that blended blues and R&B hits of the day. Rodney’s music career took him through the ’70s and ’80s, playing drums and recording with Rockin’ Dopsie Sr. and Marcel Dugas. After a three-year break, he switched to the scrubboard for Lynn August, touring internationally in Germany, Paris, Switzerland, Amsterdam, and Canada. Before retiring, he performed and recorded with his great nephew Corey Arceneaux and his son-in-law Horace Trahan.

Listen to Rodney sing

The Little Red Arccordion: Corey Arceneaux with his very first accordion

Rodney Bernard on vocals, Corey Arceneaux on accordion, Lee Allen on bass, and Shane Bernard on drums.

Corey Arceneaux began his professional career in 1991, touring alongside his great-uncle Fernest Arceneaux. https://www.jazzapedia.com/artists/fernest-arceneaux

https://www.flickr.com/photos/26984546@N07/albums/72157625116513159/

After starting his own band, Corey loved it when his great uncle Fernest would join them to perform every now and then.

5TH GENERATION CREOLE MUSICIANS