Nolan Cormier *

Nolan Cormier was born September 20, 1951 in Church Point, LA.  He became interested in music at an early age although he considers it a God-given talent.

By the age of five he could play the Grand Prairie Waltz and the Hathaway Two-step.  At the age of 14 his father bought him a Hohner accordion for twenty dollars.  While he easily learned the accordion, he preferred to play guitar in a rock ‘n roll band until he was 18. At the age of 19 he formed his own band and recorded the “HeeHaw Breakdown” with Dick Richard on steel guitar and his uncle Ray Cormier on fiddle.  He learned to play the pedal steel guitar with Blackie Forrestier performing with him over five years.  When Forrestier retired, Nolan took over and began playing the accordion, naming the band “The Cajun Hee-Haws.” Times were hard for Cajun musicians, so Cormier began working offshore to make ends meet.

At the age of 39, Cormier began playing bass guitar with his oldest son, Mitchell Cormier in a band called “Nolan Cormier and The Can’t Hardly Playboys”. At the time of induction, they were a fixture on Bourbon Street in New Orleans having performed at the Cajun Cabin for the previous 12 years.

* Asterisk after a person’s name indicates that the person is deceased.