Hector Duhon:

-How he got started. Hearing fiddler players and liking it;
-Making his first fiddle from a cigar box, screen, and horse hair for a bow. First two songs he learned were 'T'es Petite et T'es Mignonne' and 'J'ai été au bal hier au soir';
-Buying Hector Stutes fiddle for $12, a Stradivari. Prendre des lessons de violon de Mme. Voris. Fiddle made in 1721. Playing for a Mardi Gras festival, it's in no condition to play, but he still has it;
-Même pas 2 semaines après qu'il a commencé à apprendre, ils sont venus chercher Hector pour jour un bal chez Mr. Hernandez avec Mr. Ovey Richard dessus l'accordéon. Hector avait 13 ans et avait pour demander la permission de son père;
-Il n'a jamais joué avaec un accordéon avant. Le cousin à sa mère qui était un musicien lui a montré comment accorder le violon et seconder. Il a donné Hector $1.50, un tas d'argent;
-Octa Clark et Jessie Duhon ont commencé au D.L.'s hall;
-Doc Guidry, deputy sheriff. Jouer à Houma. Doc's first dance was played by Octa and Hector in 1928. Hector says it was just more than 2 years they were playing together;
-Rencontrer Octa qui était déjà un musicien;
-Pop montrait catéchisme en français tous les soirs aux enfants du voisinage. Jessie et Hector pratiquait après. Lester Hoffpauir jouait triple row accordion, plus le monde de couleur qui joue cette qualité d'accordéon.

-Taking turns playing one song with Lester and one with Octa;
-Lester got married and quit playing music;
-String bands in the 1930s. Priest from Leroy wanted string music, no accordion. Hector Duhon, Willie Vincent, Hector Stutes, Jessie Duhon. No amplification, table haute. Home brew. Joe LaTour était là et les aurait engagé et les aurait acheté un sound system;
-Bailey Bros. who worked on radios fixed them up with crystal microphone and amplifiers. Half the halls didn't have electricity, so they made a generator from Hector's dodge engine. Ran the car all night;
-It was new/popular. Popular songs, blues, country songs, French songs. Jimmie Rogers numbers. Playing what they heard on the radio. Formed the Dixie Ramblers;
-Hackberry Ramblers, Leo Soileau. They knew each other fairly well;
-Played in Texas, all gravel roads;
-Port Arthur College on radio, Beaumont, 1st to play on air KVOL Lafayette from Jack's Place in 1930s;
-Stopped school in 8th grade. 1,000 lines to write because he was caught speaking French. He quit school and his father gave him 5 acres of land to farm cotton and hired a man $2 a week to work for him during the -Depression. 25 cents was a lot back then and 10 cents to treat your lady;
-Barry's uncle just had enough money to get in, not to treat his lady;
-Playing for the door 10 cents, 15 cents. Moonshine and bootlegging;
-Brother-in-law's barbecues. Barry's father is making home brew--that was some good beer;
-Traveling with music. Making 4-5 bales of cotton a year, selling it, sometimes getting a new car;
-Reno Hall, Lovers Lake Texas. Rester chez Nonc Ben, parents avec les Richard. Le père à Elton chantait;
-Pas de bal pendant carême en Louisiane, aller au Texas pour 6-7 semaines;
-Le vieux monde avait un tas de terre;
-Willie était marié, mais les autres n'étaient pas;
-La vie de musicien et dur parce que ça te fait boire un tas plus et t'as pout veiller;
-Hector got married in 1936 and his father died not long after. Mourning in 1936 and quitting music, taking care of the hired workers until Bessyl was old enough. Hauling animals and cotton in his truck and his wife took care of the store;
-Bessyl bought a guitar at about 12-13 years old after picking enough cotton. Joining the band at Judice school. The band didn't have a band, minstrel Show. A Closer Walk with Thee. They made more than $3,000;
-Playing a dance with Octa and Mr. Claude Hanks from the feed store. 1950s;

-Putting up his fiddle. Hard to keep a band together, need a lot of patience;
-Mechanic who had his arm cut off. Helping him out and learning a lot how to fix his cars;
-Raising animals and selling them to buy a Model-T Ford. He had the only car in the neighborhood, everyone who went to the doctor needed him to bring them. There was no minimum age to drive (he was 14);
-Making his own money since he was 13 years old. Father had the store for 24 years and was a barber and farmed. Trucking and bringing people to the dances. Bringing people to places like ;
-Dion. Hwy 90 and Lantier? Hernandez's hall. Julien LeBlanc's hall in Maurice. Lear Might? in Abbeville with the string band. Crystal Palace in Leroy with the string band for the first time. Gueydan. Sydney Babineaux à Mire/Bosco--des bâtailleurs. Esta Hebert's hall had a good clean hall, son Lester has the grocery store in Ossun;
-Adam Hernandez--Four Roses. Martin Webre--constables;
-Chervolet. Char a wreck un boghei et le char était dans le faucet. C'était le char à Hector;
-Esta had a little garage on the side and sold ice-cold home brew beer 10 cents a bottle;
-Martin Webre écrasant des cigarettes parce que tu ne pouvais pas fumer dans cette salle;
-Mme. Joe Latour;
-La salle à Esta Hebert était bien près aux Marais Bouleur. Quelqu'un de brûte comme Webre pour garder la paix;
-Le bal de maison--les Gautreaux sont venus faire du train. Des jeunes avec des pistolets et des couteaux qui se bâttaient. Sydney Babineaux payait $18, et l'autre payait extra. Casser le bal. Le pistolet à Pop;
-Recommencer à jouer. Bessyl jouait le steel guitar. Tous les enfants ont appris la musique à l'école. Clarinet, Saxophone, Tuba. Brass bands--Steve Melancon. Il s'est acheté un guitar. Bessyl with Rock and Roll--Riff Raffs, Boogie Kings, Johnnie Allan;
-Bessyl--musicen pure. L'accordéon, le violon. Il jouait avec Joe Douglas et différents musiciens;
-Hard to keep a band together;
-Coat-hanger left in the washing machine;
-Remarkable that Octa and Hector are still playing together. Louis Breaux on rhythm guitar, Bessyl Duhon on steel guitar, and Rex Champagne on drums. Playing until 1961 when his mother died;
-Starting up again with Ronnie Faye Stanford who wanted to make a tape. La Valse des Mèches et Le Stomp de Boscoe dessus l'album rouge. Longtemps qu'ils n'ont pas joué ensemble. Recommencer à jouer un 'tit brin et jouer tous les mecredis à Mulate's (now Pont Breaux's Cajun Restaurant);
-Beausoleil joue tous les jeudis;
-Ça te fait sortir. Aller en ville (Nouvelle-Orléans), Houma, Bâton Rouge;
-20 Jan.1974--Octa, Hector, and Bessyl played in Chicago. Didn't know how they'd like it, and people loved it. They played 25 min. and wanted an encore. All kinds of music, they were the only band asked to play an encore. Friday and Satruday at the University of Chicago. Il neigeait. Coucher dans les dormatoires parterre. Octa avait peur des jeunes;
-Ridicule d'aller loin pour jouer cette musique et voir que le monde appréciait ça. Les tapes et les monde qui appluadissait à la fin. Rachou was supposed to make a record with those tapes;
-Recording for Bluebird in the 1930s (string band) in New Orleans. Bessyl has a record of them--Beckett Barroom Blues with Willie singing. Returning to record again and someone getting killed. Playing in Breaux Bridge and Cecilia;
-Four corners at Cecilia. Don't play that record, the guy was let out of the penitentiary;
-Lester Lalonde on piano accordion, started playing with 5 musicians;
-Food festival last year. Hector knew the guy's mother (Juanita Escadier?) because she used to sing with them. Southwestern University, Jefferson Theater in 1936. Won contest and $25;
-Astroworld in Houston, Texas;
-Playing in the schools when Carter was governor. To teach kids about Cajun and Creole music. Dewey Balfa was in charge. Octa, Hector, Michael Doucet, Rockin' Dopsie et Austin Sonnier (colored guy who played saxophone), Inez Catalon. Opelousas, New Iberia, Lafayette;
-The same schools who punished kids for speaking French are now bringing in French music to teach kids about their culture;
-Bel? Richard (88) est mort pas longtemps passé;
-Son père a été à l'école en français dans le voisinage. Défunt Pépère avait 400 acres de terres. Vendre 200 acres à Mayeuse Lagneaux (son neveu) et garder 200 acres pour lui et racheter d'autres parts;
-64 acres de terres pour $6,400 pour sa mère. Hector a 25 arpents/22 acres;
-$1,000/month for 10 years from the oil well. Oil leases, digging another well;
-Raising cattle, Hector raises Red Poll and his son raises Brahman. Used to plant beans, but now he raises cattle. Hector fell sick;

Hector Duhon