Merlin Fontenot

Cajun fiddler, born 26 September 1923 in Eunice, Louisiana; died 10 January 2017 in Lafayette, Louisiana. Son-in-law of Ambrose Thibodeaux. After World War II, Fontenot and his wife moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where they lived for the next 25 years. During that era he played mainly with local country musicians, Glen Reeves and the Jimmy Strickland Band. In 1971 the Fontenots moved back to Louisiana, and throughout the early seventies, he played with various bands at Etley's Lounge in Eunice, with David Lee Guidroz, Dulis Landry, George Boles, and Wade Benson Landry. He has also recorded and played with Nathan Abshire, The Balfa Brothers and Jo-El Sonnier, among others.