Guitarist Blake Castille of Opelousas will be inducted into the Hall of Master Folk Artists this weekend.(Photo: David Simpson)

Guitarist Blake Castille, of Opelousas, was ready to pull the plug on his 30-year music career. In 2012, cancer claimed his legendary father, fiddler Hadley J. Castille, with whom he'd played Cajun music throughout the United States and Canada for decades.

Two years later, close friend and fiddler Al Berard died from a sudden illness. Last year, Castille was in a serious auto accident while on tour with his fiddle-playing niece, Sarah Jayde Williams.

Then Castille started playing Gulf CoastÂ roots music with friends from long-retired bands, like FilÃ© and the Red Beans and Rice Revue. Playfully calling themselves, âThe Has Beans,â the band has had trouble keeping up with gigs, which included an unlikely pairing with Ballet Acadiana for a stage show that won rave reviews.

Castille now receives word of his induction into the Hall of Master Folk Artists at the Louisiana Folklife Center in Natchitoches. Heâs changed his mind about leaving music.

âIf you would have asked me a couple of years ago if I was playing music and enjoying it, I would have probably said âI donât think soâ,â said Castille, 57. âAfter 30 years of doing it, I was a little burned out.

âI had passed or exceeded all the expectations I had set for myself. I was thinking Iâm going to let the young guys and gals, who are really fired up, take it on.

âNow, Iâm so excited to be working with a really creative bunch of guys. This induction comes along and thatâs incentive to play a little harder to meet the expectations.â Mechanics, whiskey drinkers getting to know Sonnier

Castille and zydeco rubboard maker âTee Donâ Landry, of Sunset, receive their official inductions Saturday at the 37th annual Natchitoches-NSU Folk Festival in the Prather Coliseum at Northwestern State UniversityÂ The Rising Dragon Lion Dance Team will also be honored.

The festival also includes the Louisiana State Fiddle Championships, workshops and three stages of live entertainment. Sarah Jayde Williams will perform and serve as honorary chair.

The induction continues recognition for Landry, who has sold 3,154 of his Key of Z rubboards to customers from as far as Australia and South Africa. Some of his more-famous clients include pop stars Rihanna, Kid Rock, Harry Connick, Jr., ZZ Top and Elvin Bishop. Tee Don Landry of Sunset, son of historic rubboard maker Willie Landry, has been making the instrument since 1995. (Photo: Freddie Herpin, Daily World.)

His rubboards are part of collections in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., and museums around the world.

Landry follows in the footsteps of his father, master metal worker Willie Landry, who designed the first rubboard with zydeco icons Cleveland and Clifton Chenier in 1946 in Port Arthur, Texas.

âTee Donâ Landry took up the family tradition in 1995. The demand for rubboards has been a full-time job for Landry since 2012.

âIâm blessed that Iâm so busy,â said Landry. âIâm happy that the rubboard is still making people happy.

âIâm excited about this honor. I thought I was a jack of all trades and a master of none. But now I guess Iâm a master of something.
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