Vin Bruce born 25 April 1932

Vin  Bruce (April 25, 1932 – June 8, 2018) was one of the first Cajun musicians to appear on the Louisiana Hayride and Grand Ole Opry. 

Born Ervin Bruce in Cut Off, Louisiana, on April 25, 1932, Cajun singer Vin Bruce grew up in the musical environment provided by his father Levy Bruce, whose fiddle playing for the local Cajun dances influenced Bruce to take up the guitar at the age of 10. He honed his smooth and gentle vocal style by playing with local groups the Southern Serenaders  and the Hillbilly Swing Kings, and by the age of 18, Bruce decided to take his career solo and caught the ears of Columbia Records. 

Vin was eighteen and singing primarily English songs at a New Orleans radio station when he was discovered by a Columbia talent scout in 1951. Among the 78's that Columbia released was a French tune entitled, Dans la Louisianne. This sold half a million records and Vin mentioned shyly that for a short while he had a fan club with members from all across the country. 

On October 22, 1951, Bruce signed a recording contract with Columbia Records in Nashville, Tennessee. With a distinctive, rich baritone voice, he recorded many popular songs like “Dans la Louisiane,” “Dans la claire de la lune,” “Coeur de la ville,” and “Fille de compagnie,” recording with Chet Atkins, Grady Martin, Tommy Jackson, Owen Bradley and Shook Jackson. Bruce was one of the first Cajuns to perform on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry and the Louisiana Hayride. Vin is also noteworthy for having been one of the artist who performed at Hank Williams’ wedding to Biller Jean Eshliman in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

                                   

In the mid-1950s, when the first wave of rock & roll devoured the industry, Bruce was dropped from Columbia, so he played locally for a long time until he could no longer support himself by singing. He started to roughneck on the offshore oil rigs. Bruce returned to Louisiana and raised cattle. In 1961 he signed a contract with Swallow Records, and had a hit single with Jole Blon. 

Bruce remained somewhat busy between the 1960s and the 1990s, releasing several albums and singles on various small labels. He continued to play regularly in and around Louisiana, and eventually he converted a barn into a recording studio and released the album Carousel for Two on the Louisiana Red record label in the fall of 2000. 

Vin Bruce has performed in many countries during his career. During the early 80's, Cajun music began to develop a new following in the U.S.A., Europe, and Canada. Vin and his band, "The Acadians," were invited and performed in Canada on the Willie Lamont television show, the National Folk Festival, Wolf Trap Park in Virginia, the Border Festival in El Paso, Texas, the Frontier Life Festival in St. Louis, Missouri, the Westville Festival in Americus, Georgia and the New Orleans World's Fair. 

For his contribution and performance in Cajun music, Bruce is known as "the King of Cajun Singers" and has been inducted into the Nashville Music Hall of Fame in 1986, the CFMA Cajun Music Hall of Fame in 1997, the Louisiana Hall of Fame Living Legend in 1998, the Eunice Hall of Fame and the Westbank Musicians Hall of Fame. He was also chosen as the Lafourche Parish Citizen of the Year in 2017. Former Lafourche Parish Assessor Leroy Martin said Vin Bruce was always there when someone asked him to sing at birthday parties and celebrations. 

The native and longtime resident of Cut Off was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia three months before he died in his home town on June 8, 2018 at the age of 86. 

(Edited from AllMusic Wikipedia, Arcadian Museum, bigfrenchdance, Houma Today