Luderin Darbone

{{short description|American fiddler}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2014}} {{Infobox musical artist  | name = Luderin Darbone | image = LuderinDarbone.jpg | alt = An elderly Luderin Darbone playing the fiddle. He is sitting and wearing a cowboy hat. | caption = Darbone performing in 2008 | image_size = 250 | landscape = yes | background = solo_singer | birth_date = {{birth date|1913|1|14}} | birth_place = Evangeline Parish, Louisiana, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2008|11|21|1913|1|14}} | origin = Orangefield, Texas, U.S. | instrument = Fiddle | genre = Cajun | occupation = Musician, fiddler | associated_acts = Hackberry Ramblers | website = }}

'''Luderin Lawrence Darbone''' (January 14, 1913<ref name="caj1984">Cajun Music a Reflection of the People 1984</ref> – November 21, 2008), was a Cajun-Western swing fiddle player for the band Hackberry Ramblers.

==Early life== Darbone was born in Evangeline Parish, Louisiana. He was the son of Edvard "Eddie" Darbone. He credited his longevity and inspiration to his wife Mary Lou.<ref name="caj1984pg119">Savoy 1984, p. 119.</ref> He was born in Evangeline and raised in Orangefield, Texas. His parents gave him his first fiddle at the age of 12 and he learned to play through a correspondence course.

==Career== In 1930 he met guitarist Edwin Duhon and together they formed the nucleus of a band they named the Hackberry Ramblers in honor of their hometown. By 1933 they were on the radio and signed with RCA Bluebird Records. In 1936, they recorded "Jolie Blonde", "Oh Josephine, Ma Josephine", "One Step De L'Amour" and "Faux Pas Tu Bray Cherie".<ref name="UK">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/luderin-darbone-fiddle-player-and-bandleader-at-the-forefront-of-cajun-music-1042759.html |title=Luderin Darbone: Fiddle player and bandleader at the forefront of Cajun music |last=Wadey |first=Paul |date=1 December 2008 |work=Independent (UK) |access-date=December 31, 2020}}</ref> Darbone and Duhon were the first musicians to bring electronic amplification to area dance halls, running a public address system off the idling engine of Darbone's Model-A Ford.<ref name="NEA">{{cite web |url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/luderin-darbone-and-edwin-duhon |title=Luderin Darbone and Edwin Duhon: Cajun fiddler and accordionist |author= |date=n.d. |website=www.arts.gov |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts |access-date=December 31, 2020}}</ref> They were also the first Cajun music group to perform while standing as opposed to sitting.<ref>{{Citation |last=Ancelet |first=Barry Jean |title=Darbonne, Luderin and Edwin Duhon |date=2012-07-10 |work=Oxford Music Online |url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002224205 |access-date=2024-02-17 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.a2224205|isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Their eclectic repertoire included Cajun music, country music and Western swing, jazz music, and blues music, in both English and French. Due to a sponsorship deal with Montgomery Ward, the band adopted the name "The Riverside Ramblers".

In 2002, Darbone and Duhon received a prestigious National Heritage Fellowship from the Folk Arts Program of the National Endowment for the Arts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.myneworleans.com/Louisiana-Life/Winter-2008/Luderin-Darbone-A-Life-as-a-Rambler/ |title=Luderin Darbone: A Life as a Rambler |last=Sandmel |first=Ben |date=January–February 2009 |website=www.myneworleans.com |publisher=Louisiana Life magazine |access-date=26 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/year/2002 |title=NEA National Heritage Fellowships 2002 |author= |website=www.arts.gov |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts |access-date=December 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521114940/https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/year/2002 |archive-date=May 21, 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Darbone died on November 21, 2008, in Sulphur, Louisiana.<ref name="UK"/>

==References== {{cite book | last=Savoy | first=Ann | year=1984 | title=Cajun Music a Reflection of the People | publisher=Bluebird Press | isbn=978-0-930169-00-8 | ref=Savoy84 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/cajunmusicreflec00slbl }} {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{find a Grave|48969311}} * [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106148 Luderin Darbone recordings] at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darbone, Luderin}} Category:1913 births Category:2008 deaths Category:Cajun fiddlers Category:People from Evangeline Parish, Louisiana Category:20th-century American fiddlers Category:National Heritage Fellowship winners