On This Day in 1981, We Said Goodbye to the Master Accordionist Who Helped Keep Cajun Tradition Alive

Despite never learning to read or write, Nathan Abshire helped revive the accordion’s place in Cajun music. Also despite his talent and popularity, Abshire never was able to live entirely off his music. Today we’re taking a look at the life and legacy of Nathan Abshire, who died 45 years ago today (May 13, 1981) at age 67 in Basile, Louisiana.

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About Nathan Abshire

Born June 23, 1913, near Gueydan, Louisiana, Abshire began learning to play the accordion at age 6, following in the footsteps of his father, mother, and uncle. He gave his first public performance at age 8, first recording in the early 1930s with Happy Fats & His Rayne-Bo Ramblers.

“I learned to play by myself. No one taught me… I was six years old,” Nathan Abshire told Cajun folklorist and historian Barry Ancelet. “I started playing on an accordion that cost three-and-a-half dollars. It wasn’t mine. It was one of my uncle’s.”

Abshire had to take a step back from the accordion while serving with the U.S. Army during World War II. His time in the service inspired Abshire to pen the tearjerker “Service Blues”.

Following the war, Nathan and his wife, Olla Boudreaux Abshire, settled in the rural town of Basile, Louisiana, where he began playing the local club circuit. Despite receiving more money from music than any of his peers, Abshire never earned enough to fully depend on the accordion as his livelihood. He held multiple jobs during his life, including as custodian of the town dump.

In 1949, Abshire released his best-known song, “Pine Grove Blues”, based on accordionist Amede Breaux’s “Le Blues de Petit Chien”.

Rather than enriching himself, Nathan Abshire’s goal was always preserving the music that flowed through his DNA. He frequently appeared onstage with The Balfa Brothers, an ensemble consisting of five brothers who aimed to “prove that Cajun music still exists – in its traditional form – and to save what’s left.”

Nathan Abshire died on May 13, 1981, at Savoy Memorial Hospital in Mamou after a long illness. He was 67 years old and had recently returned from performing at the New Orleans Heritage Fair.

Abshire requested that his music be buried along with him, saying, “It doesn’t feel right for the radios and everyone to keep on playing a musician’s music after he’s gone.” That never happened.

Featured image by Philip Gould/Corbis via Getty Images