{{Short description|American zydeco accordionist (1948–2025)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}} '''Joseph Leonard August Jr.''' (August 7, 1948 – February 12, 2025), known professionally as '''Lynn August''', was an American zydeco accordionist, keyboard player, singer and bandleader.
==Life and career== August was born in Lafayette, Louisiana on August 7, 1948.<ref name="bare">{{cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| year= 2013| title= Blues - A Regional Experience| publisher= Praeger Publishers| location= Santa Barbara| pages=388 | isbn= 978-0313344237}}</ref> Though sometimes said to have been blind from birth,<ref name=ponderosa>[http://www.ponderosastomp.com/music_more/299/Lynn+August Jeff Hannusch, "Lynn August", ''The Ponderosa Stomp'']. Retrieved November 28, 2016</ref> his own recollection is of having some sight until about the age of four.<ref name=august>[http://www.lynnaugustnow.com/about.html "Lynn August: My Story", ''LynnAugustNow.com'']. Retrieved November 28, 2016</ref> He attended the Louisiana State School for the Blind in Baton Rouge, and grew up listening to zydeco music, including that of his uncle Claude Duffy, an accordion player. He began playing drums and occasionally sang with Duffy's band, and at the age of 11 played percussion with the singer Esquerita, who suggested that he learn keyboards. He performed around New Orleans for about three years with Esquerita, who encouraged him to consider a solo career,<ref name=ponderosa/><ref name=allmusic>[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lynn-august-mn0000201557/biography Biography by Jason Ankeny, ''Allmusic.com'']. Retrieved November 28, 2016</ref> and also played drums in the early 1960s with Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural.<ref name="bare"/>
As a pianist, Hammond organist and singer, August performed solo in clubs and restaurants, and recorded his first single, "Little Red Rooster," for the local Tamm label in 1966. For two years, he led a band in local clubs, until a bar brawl led to him returning to solo work in clubs around 1970. He also led a church choir.<ref name=allmusic/> In 1978, he was recruited to play organ in accordionist Marcel Dugas' band. Recognizing the growing popularity of zydeco music, he bought an accordion and in the 1980s formed his own band, the Hot August Knights. He played shows and festivals, and recorded his first album, ''Zydeco Groove'', in 1988. He released further albums on the Maison de Soul and Black Top labels in the early 1990s, including ''Creole Cruiser'' (1992) and ''Sauce Piquante'' (1993). A feature of his performances and recordings has been the adoption of the Creole style of "juré", with a cappella group singing, clapping and dancing, as recorded by Alan Lomax on his field recordings in the 1930s.<ref name=allmusic/> He toured Europe in 1994.<ref name=ponderosa/>
In the mid-1990s, August formed his own company, Touch Tech, designing and selling computers for visually impaired people. He had open heart surgery in 1998, but continued to perform and record thereafter, releasing the album ''Legends Making Memories'', with Willie-Tee Trahan and the band Cypress, in 2012.<ref name=ponderosa/> He died on February 12, 2025, at the age of 76.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Joanna |date=February 13, 2025 |title=Lynn August, blind zydeco and blues star from Lafayette, dies at 76 |url=https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/entertainment_life/zydeco-and-blues-artist-lynn-august-dies-in-lafayette-la/article_5b34920a-ea34-11ef-a591-2f47fca05007.html |website=The Acadiana Advocate}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{discogs artist|Lynn August}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:August, Lynn}} Category:1948 births Category:2025 deaths Category:Zydeco musicians Category:Cajun accordionists Category:Musicians from Lafayette, Louisiana Category:21st-century American accordionists Category:20th-century American accordionists Category:20th-century American male musicians Category:21st-century American male musicians Category:Musicians from Louisiana Category:Maison de Soul Records artists Category:Black Top Records artists