Floyd LeBlanc- Roseland Two Step

Floyd LeBlanc was born on September 17, 1924 in Mermentau, Louisiana. His father Lessin, played accordion and fiddle while his mother, Merillia, played guitar and sang. In the early 1930's the family moved to Cypress Point, where Floyd and his brother began making homemade instruments because the family coundn't afford real instruments. Floyd was influenced first by Luderin Darbone of the Hackberry Ramblers, who were popular in the area.

While Floyd's playing was similar to Harry Choates, he  added a Cajun sensibility to the post war Cajun swing music of this era. During the peak of Cajun music resurgence, he recorded several of his own French fiddle tunes.

His biggest break came when he joined Bennie Hess and his Oklahoma Tornadoes and recorded sides for the Opera label in the late 40's. The band traveled around playing their mixture of country music. Floyd also contributed to the label by introducing them to Iry LeJeune. In 1949 he recorded for Virgel Bozmen's O.T. label but in 1950, he quit playing for a while opening his own business and focusing on his family. He opened Floyd's Net Shop on Fontenot Road in Lake Charles and worked as a carpenter and fished commercially during this time. 

Floyd's ability to adapt to Cajun and country music styles is evidenced by his numerous recordings during his career. His smooth fiddling style has gone unappreciated it seems, along the years. Many musicians that heard him play recall his style and remember hearing him on the radio and being in awe.

After a departure from recording Cajun and focusing on other genres, Miller was back in the game in the late 50's. Was he jealous of the success of Swallow Records? No one is quite sure the exact reason. Miller's Cajun Classics was his first label focusing on Cajun music after the Feature label in the late early 50's. Miller's Cajun Classics and Kajun label provided artists a label to record for after the Khoury's label folded.


Floyd's talent was known well around Lake Charles and he was always asked to return and play dances. By the mid-fifties he relented and began playing with Sidney Brown. In the mid 1960's he started back playing at clubs and local shows with Bobby Leger, Robert Bertrand and Jo-El Sonnier. He also played with Dorris Matte on KPLC-TV's "Saturday Night Down South". In 1967, Floyd recorded "Roseland Two Step" again at the Modern Sound Studio in Crowley for Miller's Cajun Classics label. He recorded five songs in all for the Cajun Classics label in April of 1967.

In 1964 Floyd and Oday Boudreaux formed the Louisiana Playboys, one of several bands Floyd headed. The group played dances and also had a Saturday morning slot on KIKS radio in Sulpher. In 1973 he resurfaced on the O'Day label out of Sulpher, recording as Floyd LeBlanc and his Magic Fiddle. He returned to play also with the Orange Playboys, Lake Charles Playboys, Louisiana Ramblers, Pineywood Playboys, Traveler Playboys and the Lake Charles Playboys. He also recorded on two lp's in the 1960's with Joe Bonsall. 

At the time of Floyds death, he and the O'Day label were making a album, which was never completed. Crawford Vincent once said that Floyd wanted to make a tribute album to Luderine Darbone, but never did because Luderin told him that he couldn't make a tribute album of his music until he was dead.

Resources
Ron Yule- Cajun Dancehall Heyday
Ron Yule-Louisiana fiddlers

Release Info:

LH 3207 Roseland Two Step ] Cajun Classics 2001

LH 3208 Tolan Waltz ] Cajun Classics 2001

Dillard Duplechin and Cursey Fontenot- Oberlin Two Step

Around 1968 Dillard Duplechin began learning the accordion from his father in law, Garvin Rasberry. He taught his wife , Gwen, how to play drums and they soon began playing at the Twin Gables Bar in Lake Charles. 


Oberlin fiddler Cursey Fonenot learned to play under the tutelage of Leo Soileau at the age of 18 and began to play house dances in southwest Allen Parish with Vilas Hebert.

Cursey had originally formed the Louisiana Travelers with Phil Menard in the 1960's and soon joined in on fiddle and Dolphus Crochet from Sulpher played the guitar. They played as a four piece for a few years and then added Jesse "Junior" McClelland  on the steel guitar. Their playing early on was a learning experience and they improved with each performance. 

In the 1970's Richard Duplechian, who was a resident of Lake Charles, started his Big D label. He used Eddie Shuler's Goldband Studio for recording for his label while he produced. The label was short lived and they only released six 45 rpm records. 

Around this time, Dillard and his band recorded several 45's for the Big D Label. Their first releases on the label was "Oberlin Two Step" backed with "Piney Wood Waltz". On this first release they are listed as the Louisiana Travelers. Dillard recalls they went under the Louisiana Travelers name at first until they recorded the "Piney Wood Waltz", then they changed their name to The Piney Woods Playboys.

Later on Cursey Fonenot left the group and moved to Katy, Texas for work and they group replaced him with several fiddlers including Floyd LeBlanc. The group played until 1993 at venues around the area including Manuel's Bar and the Circle Club in Lake Charles to the Louisiana Club in Holly Beach. The group also performed at one of Governor Edwin Edward's inaugural balls.


Resources
Ron Yule- Cajun Dancehall Heyday