Biography
Born in 1932 in Ville Platte near Grand Prairie in Louisiana’s Evangeline Parish, Allen Fontenot belonged to a family that produced numerous figures in Cajun music. Often characterized as “a squat, chain-smoking fiddler from Ville Platte,” he took up the fiddle in his early teens and soon became deeply absorbed by the tradition. Although he performed regularly at local dances, he supported himself for years by collecting overdue accounts for a Ville Platte firm. In the early 1970s he assembled the Country Cajuns—Leroy Veilloa on concertina, Darrel Brasseaux on drums, Hudson Dauzat on guitar, and non-Cajun bassist John Scott—whose repertoire blended vintage and contemporary Cajun tunes with authentic hillbilly numbers and occasional swamp-pop. The group maintained a weekly radio program, appeared at fairs and festivals, made a screen appearance in the 1975 film Hard Times, and performed on national television outlets that included Austin City Limits. The resulting exposure helped Fontenot secure a prominent slot as a disc jockey on WSDL in Slidell. Around 1977 he launched the Cajun Bandstand on Airline Highway in Kenner, operating the venue—then the nearest Cajun club to New Orleans—until he sold it in 1982. The Country Cajuns held the stage there, drawing crowds of students, tourists, and local couples who filled the spacious dance floor and enjoyed the Cajun food and beverages on offer. Fontenot later recorded for Antilles and Delta before withdrawing from active performance.