Palombo’s

Status: Closed

Parish: Vermilion

Location: Abbeville

DL Menard: “The first dance hall I ever played was Palumbo’s. It was between Abbeville and Maurice. That was with Mr. Elias Badeau in 1949. The first song I sang in public was ‘If you’ve got the money – I’ve got the time’ by Lefty Frizell. I don’t remember how much I made that night- maybe $1.50. I started with that band to sing Country & Western- sang it three years before I started singing Cajun. Big John (Suire) sang Cajun but it wasn’t that popular then. You really had to be able to play requests in those days because if the people would complain to the owner- you wasn’t playing in that club no more.” Doug Palombo: “My Great-Grandfather, Joe Palombo, now deceased, owned a club/dancehall called “Palombo’s” in Abbeville. It’s no longer there, but it was located on the Abbeville Highway (Hwy 167) about ~ 1 mile North of Hwy. 14, at what is still known as “The Palombo Curve” by the older folks in Abbeville. The club closed sometime in the late 50’s, (years before I was born), but I’ve heard from family and strangers alike that it was THE place to go back in the 40’s & 50’s. According to website for the Acadian Museum in Erath, it was the first club that the legendary Cajun musician D.L. Menard was paid to perform.”