Ledel "Blackie" Forestier; Jefferson Davis, Louisiana 
Submitted by Kathy Tell 
Source: Louisiana Folklife Database maintained by the Louisiana Regional
Folklife Program, Region 2, at Northwestern State University of Louisiana. 
These biographies offer information to the general public. 
Submitted: July 2004
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************************************************Ledel "Blackie" Forestier
Accordion Player and Musician


Mr. Forestier was born in 1928 and is presently a resident of 
Jennings, Louisiana. He self-identifies as Cajun and speaks 
both French and English. Mr. Forestier has been successful at 
many professions. At the age of thirteen he worked as a rice 
farmer, later he became a cutting horse trainer, and finally, 
he retired as chief investigator of the Jefferson Davis 
District Attorney's Office. 

Ledel is an accordion player and a member of "Blackie and The 
Cajun Aces." He learned to play the accordion at home while 
listening to and watching his oldest brother play. When he was 
growing up, he also attended the local dancehall where all the 
Cajun families in his community gathered to play music and dance. 
As an adult, the whole time he worked, he also played music. 
He states, "It has been with me probably all of my life." 

Mr. Forestier and "Blackie and the Cajun Aces" have toured many 
states in the United States, Canada, and Nova Scotia. Blackie has 
been inducted into the Cajun French Music Association Hall of Fame, 
the Belizaire's Restaurant Hall of Fame, and Louisiana Cajun Music 
Hall of Fame. Mr. Forestier has won an award for best accordionist 
and the band was awarded a best band award. Locally, they have 
preformed at the Isleno Festival, Crippled Children's Event, Worlds 
Fair, at weddings, anniversaries, and the NSU Folk Festival in 
Natichitoches.