Austin Pitre born 23 February 1918

Austin Pitre (February 23, 1918 - April 8, 1981) was  a A Cajun music pioneer, Pitre claimed to be the first musician to not play the accordion standing up, rather than sitting down. Along with his band, the Evangeline Playboys, Pitre recorded Cajun dancehall hits such as the "Opelousas Waltz." 

Austin Pitre was born February 23, 1918 in the town of Ville Plate, Louisiana.  His parents were both musicians: his father was a fiddler and his mother played accordion.  Despite their poverty, they bought Pitre his first accordion when he was six, and he was playing weekend dances with his father by the time he was 11.  Pitre made his first fiddle from a cigar box and earned his first real fiddle by selling seeds from a catalogue.  Pitre learned many old fiddle tunes such as Cher Joue Roses (which he later recorded) from his father and was also influenced by Leo Soileau and the great creole fiddler Douglas Bellard.  His biggest influence on accordion was Amédéé Ardoin. 

 Pitre earned a reputation not only for his musicianship but for his showmanship as well.  With the strength gained from hard work, he was able to play the accordion standing up, without a shoulder strap for support.  He would play the accordion behind his back, behind his head and between his legs.  He was also an exacting bandleader who demanded perfection.  

By the age of 20, he had his own band named "Austin Pitre and the Evangeline Playboys," who were booked to play clubs within a fifty-mile radius. By the late 1940's Pitre was a well-established musician.  He played regularly at the Chinaball Club in Bristol and had a weekly radio program on KSLO in Opelousas.  He made his first records, including his theme Evangeline Playboy Special, with the Evangeline Playboys for the Feature label in 1948.  Later he recorded for the French Hits label, accompanied by fiddler Chuck Guillory and the Rhythmaires.  His creative musical mind brought him into the genius realm; a real master, leader and showman for Cajun music. 

                              

Beginning in the 1950s he recorded many songs for Swallow Records.  Among the first of these were Douglas Bellard's Les Flammes d'Enfer (released as Flumes Dans Faires) and Amédéé Ardoin's Opelousas Waltz, recorded with Harry LaFleur and the Louisiana Aces.  Released as a single, these songs became hits, assuring Pitre's continued popularity in the dance halls and making him a prominent figure in the post-war revival of traditional cajun music. 

He recorded with J.D. Miller in Crowley, Louisiana, Big Mamou Records in care of Floyd’s Record Shop, Harry Oster through Arhollie Record Company, and Sonet Recording Company.  

He had a broadcast for four years on Opelousas radio station KSLO. He also had a program on Eunice’s KEUN.  In the late 1960s to early 1970s, he played for the "Pete Ford Hour" on KLFY in Lafayette, Louisiana. Like most Cajun musicians, he also kept a full-time day job to support his family, operating an auto repair shop on Highway 190 between Elton and Basile.  

Pitre recorded and performed into the 1970's.  In June of 1972, Mayor J.E. Sudduth to Lake Charles, Louisiana presented Austin with a special award for being the first Cajun band to perform in the city’s new Civic Center. In 1973 and 1976 he played at the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife in Washington, D.C.  In 1980 at the Louisiana Freedom Festival he was honoured for his contribution to Cajun music.  That year the Sonet label released an album of new recordings and Swallow released a collection of his old songs. March of 1981 saw Austin on tour for three weeks to different parts of the United States.  On April 8, 1981, Austin Pitre died at his home in Elton, Louisiana, at the age of 63. He is buried in the Mount Calvary Cemetery on Highway 190 east of Eunice, Louisiana. 

In 1997, Pitre was posthumously inducted into the Cajun French Music Association's Hall of Fame. That same year, Arhoolie released the CD Austin Pitre & His Evangeline Playboys - Opelousas Waltz which was a remaster of recordings that Pitre had made in 1971. 

Pitre's last wife, Dorothy, died March 14, 2014, and is buried next to him in Mount Calvary Cemetery. She was active in preserving his legacy as well as Cajun music in general. She was a disc jockey for KEUN for many years, hosted the weekly Rendezvous des Cajuns at the Liberty Theater in Eunice, Louisiana, and also worked at the Cajun Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Eunice where Austin Pitre's Monarch accordion can be seen. 

(Edited from Pitre Trail & Wikipedia)