Cléoma Falcon

Cléoma Falcon
Cléoma Falcon in 1934
Background information
Born	(1906-05-27)May 27, 1906 Crowley, Louisiana, United States
Died	April 8, 1941(1941-04-08) (aged 34)
Genres	Cajun
Occupation(s)	Musician, guitarist, vocalist
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Labels	Columbia, Decca
Associated acts	Joe Falcon, The Falcon Trio

Cléoma Falcon (née Breaux) (May 27, 1906 – April 8, 1941) was an American guitarist and vocalist who, along with her husband Joe Falcon, recorded one of the first known examples of Cajun music. The recording, "Allons à Lafayette" was released in 1928, and opened the way for other commercial releases of Cajun music. Aside from being a ground-breaking recording artist, Cleoma Breaux also was one of the few women to perform live, despite the social standards of the era.

Cléoma Breaux was born on May 27, 1906 in Crowley, Louisiana to an accomplished accordion player, Auguste Breaux, and Mathilde Breaux. Cleoma Breaux and her brothers Amede, Orthy, and Clifford Breaux were all taught as multi-instrumentalists, and began performing for the family's entertainment. Cleoma Breaux was capable of playing a "hard" rhythm guitar style, which was closely related to the preferred technique of later bluegrass guitarists. In addition, Breaux was trained to play the fiddle and accordion, though she never recorded with the two instruments. In 1917, Breaux's father abandoned the family, which drove them into poverty, and resulted in the family depending on performances at dance halls for the majority of their income. In 1921, Breaux married to a local musician, Oliver Hall, however, it was relatively short and the two divorced within a year.

In the mid-1920s, Breaux was joined by accordion player Joe Falcon in performing. The two also began a relationship with one another and would later marry in 1931, while adopting a child named Loula. In 1928, politician and music enthusiast, George Burrs hoped to capitalize on the group's popularity on the dance hall circuit, and negotiated a deal with Columbia Records to record the trio which included vocalist Leon Meche. On April 27, 1928, the musical trio arrived at the recording company's satellite studio in New Orleans. Initially, record executives withdrew the offer per reasoning, as Falcon recalled, "They used to record with big orchestras. They looked at us and said that is not enough music to make a record". Nonetheless, Burrs convinced them otherwise and Breaux and Falcon, without Meche who was too nervous to perform, recorded a test of "Lafayette (Allon a Luanfette)". The song was redone and released along with "The Waltz That Carried Me to My Grave". Not only did the recordings mark the first time Cajun music entered the music marketplace, but it was one of the few instances that a woman took part in the process.