Doug Kershaw (born 1936) is the Cajun fiddler who wrote Louisiana Man, a song covered by more than 800 artists. He has played in public since 1948, first with his brothers as the Continental Playboys, then as half of Rusty and Doug, then as a solo act with 15 albums and a string of country chart singles. He is a member of the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and the National Fiddler Hall of Fame.
Why Kershaw matters
Before Kershaw, Cajun fiddle stayed in Louisiana dance halls. He put it on the Louisiana Hayride, the Grand Ole Opry, the Johnny Cash Show, and the Fillmore East stage. A boy named Mark O’Connor saw him on the Cash show in 1969 and decided to learn the fiddle. Kershaw showed a national audience that a fiddler could front a band, jump around the stage, and still play with drive. He made the fiddle a show instrument for a rock and country crowd.
Life and career
Douglas James Kershaw was born on January 24, 1936, at Tiel Ridge in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. His family spoke Louisiana French, and he did not learn English until he was eight. By then he had played fiddle for three years. His first paid job came at a local bar called the Bucket of Blood, with his mother on guitar. He taught himself many other instruments as he grew up.
In 1948 he formed the Continental Playboys with his brothers Rusty and Peewee. After Peewee left, Rusty and Doug worked as a duo. They sang in French until J.D. Miller of Feature Records pushed them to add English songs. In 1955 their first single, So Lovely, Baby, charted on the country list, and they joined the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport. They became Grand Ole Opry members the next year. Doug also earned a mathematics degree at McNeese State in Lake Charles. In 1958 both brothers enlisted in the Army and served three years.
After their discharge they recorded Louisiana Man, a song Doug wrote about his family while in the service. It became a top ten country hit in 1961, and the follow-up, Diggy Liggy Lo, did well too. The brothers split by 1964. Doug signed a songwriter’s contract with BMI in 1967.
In June 1969 Kershaw played the first episode of the Johnny Cash Show. That fall he opened a week at the Fillmore East, and Warner Bros. signed him. In November 1969 the crew of Apollo 12 broadcast Louisiana Man back to Earth. His Warner albums ran from The Cajun Way in 1969 through The Louisiana Man in 1978, with Mama Kershaw’s Boy reaching number 14 on the country album chart in 1974. He appeared as a fiddler in the films Zachariah and Days of Heaven, and he played electric fiddle on Grand Funk Railroad’s Phoenix album.
His biggest solo single, Hello Woman, reached the country top 40 in 1981. He cut a duet, Cajun Baby, with Hank Williams Jr. in 1988, and released a French-language album, Two-Step Fever, in 1999. Rusty Kershaw died in 2001. In 2019 Doug published a memoir, The Ragin’ Cajun: Memoir of a Louisiana Man, with Cathie Pelletier.
Playing style
Kershaw plays Cajun fiddle at full volume. The core is a driving two-step and waltz feel with heavy double stops and a sawing bow that never lets up. He sings while he plays, so his fiddle lines tend to be short, punchy fills between vocal phrases rather than long solos.
On stage he moves the whole time. He stomps, swings the fiddle around, and pushes the tempo. He also plays electric fiddle, as on Grand Funk Railroad’s 1972 track Flight of the Phoenix. His 1970 single of Orange Blossom Special reached the Canadian country top ten and shows how he turned a train tune into a show piece.
Influences and legacy
Kershaw grew up on the Cajun fiddle and accordion music his parents’ friends played at house parties. His mother backed him on guitar at his first gig, and his brother Rusty played guitar beside him for over a decade.
His reach went far beyond Louisiana. Mark O’Connor credits Kershaw’s 1969 television performance with starting his own fiddle career. He recorded with Arlo Guthrie, Grand Funk Railroad, Hank Williams Jr., and Michael Doucet of BeauSoleil. Within Cajun music he stands beside Rufus Thibodeaux as one of the fiddlers who carried the tradition out of the dance hall. The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame inducted him in 2009, and the National Fiddler Hall of Fame followed in 2016.
Signature tunes and songs
Louisiana Man Diggy Liggy Lo Cajun Baby Hello Woman Orange Blossom Special Mama’s Got the Know How.
Essential recordings
Rusty and Doug Sing Louisiana Man (Hickory, 1961) The Cajun Way (Warner Bros., 1969) Spanish Moss (Warner Bros., 1970) Devil’s Elbow (Warner Bros., 1972) Mama Kershaw’s Boy (Warner Bros., 1974)
Awards and honors
Louisiana Music Hall of Fame (2009) National Fiddler Hall of Fame (2016)
Watch and listen
Kershaw plays Louisiana Man on the Johnny Cash Show. Watch how he keeps the bow moving through the vocal and attacks the fills.
What to learn from Kershaw
Learn Diggy Liggy Lo. It is a two-step with a short fiddle hook, and it teaches the Cajun feel in a few minutes. The technique to steal is his rhythmic double-stop bowing. Cajun fiddle leans on two strings at once with a heavy down-bow on the beat. Practice a G and D two-step with double stops on every note, and keep the bow arm loose so the accents land without tension. If you play bluegrass, this is a different groove from the shuffle, and it will loosen up your right hand.
Sources
Doug Kershaw, Wikipedia Doug Kershaw, Louisiana Music Hall of Fame 2019 National Fiddler Hall of Fame inductions, Bluegrass Today
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the fiddle guide for more show fiddlers. Rufus Thibodeaux is the other great Cajun fiddler on this site. Mark O’Connor took up the fiddle after seeing Kershaw on television. Charlie Daniels and Woody Paul built show careers on the same idea of the fiddler as front man.