Steven LeJeune:

Beginnings as a musician since about 10 year old:
-The number of accordions he has owned;
-His first accordion that his mother bought him with 2 stop. Lester accordion with 3 stop was used to play a dance every now and again;
-Monarch, then an Acadian from Marc Savoy which he still has (18 year-old accordion). He'll give it to his son when he dies;
-Musicians who got him interested in playing music: Agnes LeJeune (Iry's father) and Arnest LeJeune (Steven's father). Sa soeur de Lac Charles joue. Ils étaient 3 qui jouait;
-First dance he played. Bals de maison before he married (André et Whitney Doucet played triangle et Leon Doucet dessus le violon. Whitney et Steven chantait). -Playing dancehalls with Calvin Holloway for at least 3 years. Separating and starting each their own bands;
-Steven's band consisted of 4 musicians: Aldus 'Popeye' Broussard on fiddle, Hueman Briscoe on drums, & Elton 'Bee' Cormier on rhythm and steel rhythm guitar. -Popeye et Cormier et Steven chantait;
-Stopped playing music for a little while once he got married, but he started up again not long after;
-He went 2 weeks without playing when he broke his bones from a wreck;
-Going to the dance and playing 4-6 songs;
-Iry is Steven's nephew and Roger is his grandson;
-Steven gave Iry his first accordion;
-The career of his nephew Iry LeJeune. Starting out at house dances and then playing in dancehalls around age 13. Iry got his first accordion at about 10 years old;
-Iry grew up near the Daigles;
-Iry would get too excited, play too fast, and confuse songs. He started playing with a band and got good at about 17-18 years old. He played more music after he married. Ervin and Eddie (Iry's sons) are good, but not as good as Iry. They won a contest in Crowley;
-Iry and Ervin were good singers;
-Iry's recordings;
-Iry was blind;
-Ce n'était pas un homme triste;
-Il est mort à Eunice quand lui et J.B. Fuselier ont eu un flat tire. Quelqu'un a cogné Iry et il est mort comme ça;
-Fido Blanchard était le beau-père à Iry, pour ça Iry restait à Lacassine;
-Iry a fait des records comme Amédé Ardoin;

Early band 'competitions':
-Angélas 'Nonc Jack' LeJeune, l'oncle à Steven, a gagné un contest à Tasso;
-Jouer dessus une table avec un accordéon et un 'tit fer;
-Steven a joué 6-7 danses avec André qui chantait et jouait 'tit fer;
-Notable Cajun musicians of the early twentieth century: Auguste Breaux, Moïse Cormier, Théobert LeJeune (frère à Angélas)--joueurs d'accordéon. Joueurs de violon--Gustin LeJeune (le granpère à Steven, le père à Angélas);
-More accordion players than fiddle players;
-Iry's first musicians: Milton et Ellis Vanicor, Will Kegley, J.B. Fuselier (fiddle), Orsy Vanicor (steel guitar), Ivy Vanicor (rhythm guitar);
-La mort à Iry LeJeune;
-Iry wasn't tall and was blind, emotional?;
-Iry's wife had his accordion. Ervin and Eddie live near Lacassine/Lake Charles. Their wives don't want them to play;
-Everyone playing the same tunes;
-Steven didn't play polkas or older songs like that;
-Bascom Mouton was a fiddler from Kaplan;
-Playing tricks at dances (undoing a buggy wheel, unscrewing a wagon wheel, cutting a horse's tail, etc.);

La Pointe Noire:
-Fights at bals de maison, killings (Steven's brother-in-law shot 2 people), stabbings in Pointe Noire. 3 frères Morains?;
-Ed Blanchard shot Morain in the stomach. He had two shots and then stabbed him 3 times;
-Family feuds;
-Pistolets et batons;
-There was no law back then;
-Early dance halls in the Pointe Noire area: Jack Fontenot, Edras Benoit;
-Constables: Noé Doguay, Curley Daigle, Easton Leger, and Joe Hanks;
-La Salle à Esta Hébert à Ossun, constable Martin Webre;
-Les constables étaient assez bruts;
-3 years at at dancehall in Church Point (Egnias Berg?);
-Les officiers ont fermé un autre salle pour un Thibodeaux;
-Also Tee-Maurice (Joe Hanks) and the Chinaball Club (Easton Léger);
-Entendu parler des Marais Bouleurs;
-Origins of the name la Pointe Noire, peut-être pour les arbres? Steven ne connait pas;
-Playing every Friday night and holidays for 3 years at Gene Royer's City Bar. He played Saturday night in Church Point;
-3 best accordion players according to Steven: Iry LeJeune, Lawrence Walker, et Aldus Roger. Good when they were young and didn't get drunk;
-Steven used to drink, but he can't anymore with his medications. Iry and Angélas used to drink too;
-Music's in the head, not in the blood. Songs in Steven's head while he worked in the fields or even at night;
-The creative process in songwriting. Steven never wrote a song;
-He never recorded commercially. Mr. Bee Cormier offered to pay for everything, but Steven never did;
-Music/band competitions/contests with Iry LeJeune in Opelousas. Steven and Iry would split the money if either would win. Steven got $20 and Iry got $15 for 2nd place;
-Iry never beat Steven in a contest;
-People would bet on which musician would win;

Steven LeJeune