Goldman Thibodeaux receives museum honor

Creole musician Goldman Thibodeaux of Lawtell is the latest inductee into the Order of Living Legends in the Acadian Museum, located in Erath. Thibodeaux will be inducted in a special ceremony during the Zydeco Capital Jam, set for 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the St. Landry Parish Visitor Center, I-49 exit 23, in Opelousas.
Thibodeaux, 83, is a living preservationist of “La La,” the acoustic, accordion music played in rural homes of St. Landry Parish and surrounding area before World War II. The house party music laid the foundation for modern zydeco.
Thibodeaux has childhood memories of Creole and Cajun music trailblazer Amédé Ardoin. He has shared those memories, along with his music, at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Festivals Acadiens et Creole and the Augusta Heritage Center at Davis and Elkins College in West Virginia.
A native Creole speaker, Thibodeaux is an active participant at French tables throughout the region.
“Goldman is a person close to the earth, close to family, close to faith, close to the political life of his community, close to artistic articulations of every kind,” said Darrell Bourque, a former state poet laureate who helped to organize Thibodeaux’s induction. “He treats the earth as he treats his music and his community, his neighbors and his family —with love and respect.”
“Thibodeaux is one of the most accomplished people I know,” Bourque said. “He is of mixed Creole and Cajun bloodlines and represents the best of both cultures, as well as, more broadly, Louisiana’s gumbo cultures and America’s melting pot cultures.”
Thibodeaux is the 2014 recipient of the Folklife Heritage Award from Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne. In 2015, he was featured at the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Bright Lights Literacy Awards.
Thibodeaux will lead Saturday’s jam, which is open to musicians of all skill levels. KREOL magazine, which is based in London, will host a signing and cover the induction.
For more information, visit the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission web site at cajuntravel.com.