Biography

November 16, 1915 · Duralde, Louisiana, USA

May 16, 2007 · Eunice, Louisiana, USA (natural causes)

In 1986, he and Fontenot received the National Heritage Fellowship, awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts. It is the highest US recognition for traditional arts.

He was a singer and accordion player who kept up the Creole music tradition in southern Louisiana. He worked on farms all of his life. As a child, he was nicknamed "Bois Sec" because he was the first to seek shelter during downpours.

He learned to play the button accordion in the style of his cousin Amede Ardoin, who made pioneering recordings of French Creole music. Music remained a sideline until the 1940s, when Alphonse began working with fiddler Canray Fontenot, under the name "Duralde Ramblers". They played at dances and parties, and on a live radio show broadcast from Eunice.