Dr. Tommy Comeaux's legacy is a ULL music program

Lafayette – La musique traditionnelle prend sa place parmi les académiciens.

Want to earn a degree while learning to play the fiddle with Al Berard or the button accordion with Corey Ledet? Thanks to friends of Dr. Tommy Comeaux, a pathologist and musician from Lafayette who died in 1997, there is a new program at UL Lafayette for traditional music.

Starting this semester, students can pursue a music degree with a concentration in traditional music, focusing on preservation and perpetuation. And thanks to the Michot family, there is a scholarship available for those students.

Friends of Comeaux, through the Dr. Tommy Comeaux Memorial Endowed Fund for Traditional Music, have worked tirelessly since 1997 to raise money to establish an endowed chair at the university. They hit the million dollar mark in 2008, and Dr. Mark Dewitt, an ethnomusicologist, was hired two years ago to establish the program.

Since then, Dewitt has worked to offer courses that combine university music expertise and the local music community. Among the classes currently being offered where students can learn and interact with local musicians are Beginning Fiddle with Al Berard and Button Accordion with Corey Ledet, who now makes his home in Parks.

You might even find yourself taught by musicians like Wilson Savoy or learning side-by-side musicians like Lil Nathan Williams. According to Ledet, it’s a bit different teaching instead of learning.

The Michot family announced the first scholarship under the L.J. Michot Sr. Memorial Endowed Scholarship, along with an additional donation, at the Acadian Culture Day celebration at Vermilionville. The family was also honored with the Acadian Culture Preservation Award.

Louis Michot is the dean of the Michot clan that has made enormous contributions to traditional music with Les Freres Michot and Lost Bayou Ramblers. Michot, who recently died, was a former Superintendent of Education for the State of Louisiana.

Dr. Tommy Comeaux played a very active part in the local music scene in such groups as BeauSoleil, The Basin Brothers, The Clickin’ Chickens and Coteau88.

For more information, contact Professor Mark DeWitt, dewitt@louisiana.edu, www.tommycomeaux.com, 337-482-1020, or www.facebook.com/ComeauxTradMusic.