"Canray Fontenot" has been added to your list of bookmarked artists
close
Canray Fontenot
Biography
Canray Fontenot was dubbed by Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records as the "last of the great Creole and Cajun fiddlers." With his primitive style of playing the fiddle, accented by the rhythmic stomping of his bare feet, Fontenot was one of the last players of the pre-zydeco Creole style of music popularized in the 19th century. His original songs, including "Joe Pitre a Deux Femmes," "Les Barres de la Prison" and "Bonsou Moreau," have become staples of Cajun repertoires.

Fontenot, who grew up working on a family farm, inherited his musical skills from his parents, who played accordion. He first played a cigar-box fiddle that had strings taken off the screen door of his home. His bow was made from the branches of pear trees and sewing thread. Although his mother never played in public, his father, Adam Fontenot (Nonc Adam), was well known throughout the Cajun communities of southwest Louisiana. Fontenot later recorded nearly all the songs in his father's repertoire.

In 1937, Fontenot was invited by Amade Ardoin to travel to New York and play on his recording of "Les Portes de la Prison." Fontenot's mother, however, refused to let him go, telling him he was too young to go to New York.