American Routes Shortcuts: Doug Kershaw and Steve Riley

Cajun musician Doug Kershaw was born in Tiel Ridge, Louisiana, 1936. He started playing fiddle at age five and gigged with his mom at a bar called the Bucket of Blood, near their coastal home. By his late teens, Doug Kershaw joined with brother Rusty on guitar to play a mix of country and Cajun music. The duo joined the cast of the Louisiana Hayride and later the Grand Ole Opry. By 1961, Rusty and Doug had a huge hit on “Diggy Liggy Lo.” Doug Kershaw’s best-known song, released in the same year, was the million-seller, “Louisiana Man.” Now in his 80s, Doug recently recorded an album of traditional French music with the noted Cajun accordionist, Steve Riley. Steve joined Doug at the 2018 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, where Nick Spitzer interviewed them onstage, starting off in Cajun French. Nick Spitzer: (in Cajun French) The people are everywhere here, sir. Ok if we do the interview in French? Doug Kershaw: Yes, I’m like my mama, I talk three languages. NS: Oh yeah? DK: