By JOHN BREAUX

This September, the National Endowment for the Arts honored a dozen of our nation’s finest artists for their unique and masterful contributions to the rich and diverse cultural traditions of American folk art.

Two of this year’s honorees hail from our home state of Louisiana. Luderin Darbone of Sulphur and Edwin Duhon of Westlake received the prestigious National Heritage Fellowship Award in Washington D.C., celebrating nearly 70 years of musical collaboration with their legendary Cajun band, the Hackberry Ramblers. Anyone who has seen me at Mardi Gras knows how much I love this music, and I am honored to say a few words about the Hackberry Ramblers.

The ensemble, together since 1933, has produced some of Louisiana’s most-loved recordings, combining native Louisiana French repertoire with string band, swing and other musical ingredients. The Hackberry Ramblers became widely popular after their many live radio broadcasts in southwestern Louisiana and recorded more than 100 songs by the end of the 1940s. Darbone and Duhon are also known for being the first musicians to bring their music to Louisiana dance halls with “surround-sound” – Darbone powered the group’s electric amplifiers off the engine of his Model A Ford!

These two pioneering musicians joined a remarkable lineup of past Heritage Fellows, including legendary blues artist, B.B. King, Irish dancer Michael Flatley and poet Wally McRae. The Hackberry Ramblers’ work was most recently honored with a Grammy award for their 1997 recording, Deep Water. Last year, another Louisianian, the late Wilson “Boozoo” Chavis, was awarded for his lifelong work as Louisiana’s “King of Zydeco.” The Hackberry Ramblers and Chavis truly represent the best of traditional Louisiana art and culture, and have surely influenced a new generation of musicians to follow in their footsteps.

The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded more than 260 National Heritage Fellowships in the past 20 years. Recipients receive a one-time award of $10,000 and recognition at a ceremony held in Washington D.C. Award winners are often nominated by members of their own community, and they are judged on their continuing artistic accomplishments, and contributiions as practitioners and teachers of their craft.

I offer my sincere congratulations to Luderin Darbone and Edwin Duhon of the Hackberry Ramblers for a career that has spanned generations of good-time Cajun fun. By spreading the joy of our music to millions, the Hackberry Ramblers have left an indelible mark on Louisiana culture that will endure for many years to come.

JOHN BREAUX represents Louisiana in the United State Senate.