Fred Charlie was born on October 5th, 1948, to Joseph and Maizie Perron Charlie in the farming community of Lanse Aux Pailles (Straw Cove), near the town of Chataignier, Louisiana. Fred grew up listening to music and liked singing at an early age. Fred started playing guitar at age twenty three when his brother-in-law Horace Thibodeaux ( guitar player, accordion player and maker) helped him get started along additional guidance from a self help Mel Bay beginners guitar book. The two along with another brother-in-law named Nelson Thibodeaux (fiddle player and fiddler maker), brother of Horace, started out playing to family. Fred eventually branched out musically, playing at different venues in the surrounding area and had the pleasure to play with other notable musicians from the Acadiana region such as: Wade Fruge, Shelton Manuel, Leopaul Manuel, J.C. Labbie, and Cliff Miller. In the mid 1970's, he started a Country band called Acadiana. In 1984, he became a singer/songwriter, recording a couple of Cajun songs he wrote like, "Mom Tell Me, and "The Good Times are Killing Me. Fred never really played the club circuit much, opting to perform more private functions and corporate gigs, which was a different path than most of his Cajun music predecessors. In 1987, Fred started hosting a weekly Saturday morning radio program on KUEN 1490 and KJJB 105.5 in Eunice. Also other stations such as KBON 101.1 and KBAZ 102.1 in Eunice along with FOX 105.9 and KOGM 107.1 Mustang in Opelousas. In 1990, he was selected along with a group of other talented musicians from Eunice, Jerry Devillier (harmonica & triangle) , Kenneth Thibodeaux (accordion), and Cliff Miller (fiddle) to travel to France to perform at the Noirt Festival. Fred's experience as a singer/songwriter became more evident in the late 1990's, as he put his talents to work and re-named his band, calling themselves Fred and the Acadiana Cajuns, which featured players such as Jason Babineaux, (accordion,) Eldridge Aguillard (fiddle), Jeff Thibodeaux (drums), and James Perry on bass. That group played for the arts councils of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. They also played at different Universities throughout Louisiana, the National Convention for the County Agents of America, various casino's in Mississippi and Louisiana and the once popular Rendez-vous des Cajuns live radio and television program held at the famous Liberty Theater in Eunice. They also performed at DI's Restaurant, a popular venue near the town of Basile that features Cajun cuisine, and a dance floor. Also starting in the early 1990's, Fred has since been coordinating a Cajun jam session on Wednesday's that is still going strong today. In his recording career he has over 100 songs recorded, too many to name, which include over 59 of his original Cajun songs along with other Cajun classics. He has to his credit , 10 singles, 5 cassette albums, and 3 CD's. His recordings have received airplay throughout the USA, Canada, and Europe. Fred landed commercials with the popular fried chicken franchise Popeyes and has had other Cajun artist cover his compositions. Besides music, he released an audio/computer program with conversational basic French titled "You can speak Cajun French". He was instrumental in starting the Eunice Mardi Gras street dances in the late 1990's by coordinating and raising funds to pay bands to perform. What started out as a one day event has grown to a 5 day Mardi Gras celebration in Eunice. For his accomplishments in the preservation of the Cajun heritage, language, music, and other works, Fred received the Heritage award from the CFMA in 1991, for his song Cajun American. In 1997, he received an award from the CFMA for his years of contributions on air to for the Cajun culture and music. In 2005, he was inducted in the CFMA Lake Charles Chapter's Cajun Music Hall of Fame in Lake Charles, La. In 2018, the CFMA honored him with Le Prix De Pioneer. IN 2015, the City of Eunice honored him for his many years of dedicated service by renaming a music stage after him. In 2019 The Fred Charlie Cajun Show on Mustang 107.1 and online www.mustang107.1.com won the Prestige Award for being " Uniquely Louisiana Radio" from the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters. Fred once owned his own recording studio in Eunice called Acadiana Sounds and produced and released over 60 Cajun music CD's for many of the area Cajun musicians on his record label, Acadiana Sounds, along with Zydeco Hound Records, and Risen Record labels. Today, Fred still remains very active in encouraging musicians of all ages to play through jam sessions and his radio show. He and his band Acadiana Cajuns still play to this date. Thanks to those who contributed to this article including Jerry Devillier, Eunice News archives, Evangeline News archives, Opelousas Daily World archives, CFMA Lake Charles Chapter and especially Fred Charlie himself. Composed by Neal P Granger
