Dewey Balfa - Biography
Cajun fiddler Dewey Balfa was a key figure in preserving and further popularizing Cajun music. In addition, working closely with the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) he was also one of Cajun people's biggest cutural ambassadors.
Dewey Balfa was born March 20, 1927 in Bayou Grand Louis, one of nine children born to Amay Balfa (née Ardoin) and Charles Balfa. The Balfas came from a long line of fiddlers but their primary means of support came from picking cotton as sharecroppers. When Dewey was about nine, his father began teaching him fiddle and he was soon good enough to accompany him. With the outbreak of World War II, Dewey found work at a shipyard in Orange, Texas where, in his off hours, he played western swing with other musicians. In 1948, he returned to Louisiana and formed The Musical Brothers with Will (also on fiddle), Rodney (on guitar, harmonic and vocals), and Harry (accordion) and Burkeman (triangle and spoons). After getting their start at Hick's Wagonwheel Club, they began playing dances, sometimes as many as eight a week.
In 1949, Balfa married Hilda Frugé. The same year, Harry Choates had a top ten hit with "Joli Blon" which ignited a national craze for Cajun music. In 1951, The Musical Brothers cut their first single, "La Valse de Bon Baruche" b/w "Le Two Step de Ville Platte," at their house. For years, The Musical Brothers played live performances that brought them only regional popularity and Balfa supported himself with jobs as a farmer, driving a bread truck and a school bus, and selling cars, insurance and furniture. Then, in 1964, Balfa was tapped by promoter Ralph Rinzler at the last minute to play the Newport Folk Festival with accordionists Gladius Thibodeaux and Louis "Venesse" Lejeune. Previously, his largest audience had been around 200. At the festival, roughly 17,000 folkies were in attendance and the Cajuns were treated to a standing ovation.
The following year, Dewey formed a new act, The Balfa Brothers with Will, his brother Rodney, his daughter Nelda and accordianist Hadley Fontenot. With them, he returned to Newport in 1967 and released the album, The Balfa Brothers Play Traditional Cajun Music (1967 Swallow Records). The following year they traveled to Mexico City where they performed in the Summer Olympics ceremony. In 1970, joined by Nathan Abshire, they played The NYC Cajun Concert, a taping of which was released by Field Recorders Collective in 2008. In 1972, Balfa was the subject of Jean-Pierre Bruneau's documentary, Dedans le sud de la Louisiane. He also released The Good Times are Killing Me (1972 Swallow) and The Balfa Brothers released The Cajuns (1972 Sonet). Two years later they released a follow-up, The Balfa Brothers Play Traditional Cajun Music Vol. 2 (1974 Rounder). That same year, working with the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana, Balfa led efforts to promote studies of French in the Lousiana schools and helped launch the Tribute to Cajun Festival in Louisiana. In September of the following year, The Balfa Brothers released J'ai Vu le Loup, Le Renard et la Belette (1975 Rounder).
In 1976, Balfa released Traditional Cajun Fiddle - Instruction through Smithsonian Folkways. In November, Balfa joined Marc Savoy and Doris Leon "D.L." Menard recorded Louisiana Cajun Music: Underneath The Green Oak Tree (1977 Arhoolie Records). Another instructional record followed in 1977, with Cajun Fiddle, Old and New - Instruction (Smithsonian Folkways). The following year, Balfa met Yasha Aginsky, who was then filming Homemade American Music at a folk festival featuring Mike Seeger and Alice Gerrard. He began filming Les Blues de Balfa (1983) about the fiddler over the next three years. The period proved to be a dark one. Dewey's brothers Will and Rodney died in a car crash in 1979. The following year, his wife died of trichinosis. For a while, Balfa questioned whether or not to continue performing. Then, in 1981, he had a small role in the cajunsploitation film, Southern Comfort, in which he performed "Parlez Nous à Boire." The following year he won the National Heritage Fellowship. His final two albums were Les Quatre Vieux Garçons (1984 Smithsonian Folkways) and Souvenirs (1987 Swallow Records). After a long struggle with cancer, Dewey Balfa died June 17, 1992. One of his daughters, Christine, founded the band Balfa Toujours to continue the family's musical legacy. He is also honored in Lafayette where they celebrate Dewey Balfa Cajun and Creole Heritage Week in April.
