Dancehalls in Avoyelles Parish

Kyrle’s Club

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kyrles-Club/122440262202 ...

Colonial Club

Dale Walker: “The Colonial Club is one of the clubs I remember going to when my dad was in the band and they played there mainly on Saturday Nights. The Colonial Club was really what I would call a Honky Tonk. It was the classic white building with no windows except maybe one in the back. At that time there was no fire marshals nor was there any fire safety laws. It must have been in the mid to late fifties when my dad played music there. I can still see the traditional wooden tables with wood chairs with the red and white checkered tablecloths. The tables would comfortably seat four individuals but if needed two or more tables could be put together. I really enjoyed the nights my dad played music. Heck I was a dancing queen on those nights in a dark corner next to the band stand dancing my heart away to every song. My Mom would be sitting at the table and would keep an eye on me because several times I had ventured out on the dance floor to try my hand at dancing with the adults. My mom would start looking for me and when my dad would see her looking for me my dad would point to my location. She would immediately come get me. The Colonial Club had a crowd every Saturday Night and I would see adults having good clean fun dancing the night away. The Colonial Club was located on the Hessmer Hwy. between Bunkie, LA and Marksville, LA. Therefore it drew people from both sides of the parish. My dad’s band was well known so they drew a crowd. They played old country and western songs especially Hank Williams, Sr. Jimmie Rodgers, Roy Rogers, Lefty Frizzell, Johnny Cash, Ernest Tubb, etc. The songs still live inside my head after all those years.” Listed in “Readers recall clubs where they danced to Louisiana Music” from The Daily Advertiser, December 29, 1998: “Readers of The Daily Advertiser were asked to submit names of’ the clubs where they danced to Louisiana music in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, with a brief recollection of what the club was like and who played there.” Alton Dupuy: It was a country music spot between Hessmer & Bunkie. ...

Bluejay’s Oasis

On Highway 29- Built by Lee Tevino in early 1960s- country & swamp pop man music there- big room closed in 2008 or so- now small bar open mostly- rental hall in back- occasional themed parties held there by owner. Owner is Arlyn “Blue” Johnsonne- 318-876-2011 ...

Lee’s Club

Nancy Thevenot: “Lee Thevenot had a club on the Long Bridge road. My husband worked there as a bartender while he went to trade school. Lee was his first cousin. After Sunday mass everyone went to Lee’s. We would dance to the jukebox. Have a good time until time to go home for dinner. We were high school students at the time. A different time and era.” The Boogie Kings played there ...

Blue Moon

Sonny Harris on 2/24/2015: “I’m ninety-four years old- so what I’m about to tell you isn’t what someone told me- I lived it. My father, Vines Harris, owned the Blue Moon in Bunkie, Louisiana. He opened it in 1936 with just three employees: himself, my mother, and one waiter. When it closed around twenty years later, he had twenty-seven employees. My mother was a great musician- she would play the piano from 7-9 each night and then the band with orchestra would start at 9. It was a really nice place- probably the nicest in the state after the Blue Room at the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans. My father contracted the big bands that play there to come to Bunkie after the New Orleans dates at the Blue Room- bands like Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie. Those big name bands were the only time there was a cover charge. A dance band from USL called “The Collegians” played there two or three times a year. Bud Scott, a very popular black band leader from Natchez, Mississippi played there with his orchestra sometimes too. To get in on the weekends, you had to be dressed nice. Men had to wear a tie and coat. Women had to wear long evening gowns. During the week it was a little more relaxed- people dressed down a little bit. We had many distinguished guests including General Eisenhower during World War II, Howard Hughes, and Paul Harvey. It goes without saying that when you mix men, women, and whiskey that you will have an occasional fight. My father always had an off duty on site. If a situation started, he would take the party outside and try to calm them down. It was very well known that if you fought at the Blue Moon then you were never allowed back inside- ever. It wasn’t just a dancehall, but a nice restaurant, a casino, and a dancehall with a huge dance floor. One time we had around 800 people there in one night. A steak dinner cost $1.75. A ticket to see the Count Basie Orchestra was $2.50. The casino had two dice tables, a roulette table, and blackjack. One time a very wealthy oil man named Sid Richardson won all the chips in the casino in one night. The maximum hand bet was $20 and he had cleaned us out. Luckily, my father got another bank roll quickly to keep going and win a good bit back. Of course, gambling was illegal in the state of Louisiana then but the officials had no problem looking the other way. All that changed with (Governor Robert) ‘Bob’ Kennon. My father raised money for his campaign and supported his election. As soon as Kennon was elected in 1952, he cleaned up all of the gambling, including at the Blue Moon. The club couldn’t sustain itself as just a dancehall and restaurant and had to close. It burned down in 1961.” Alton Dupuy: “It was nice. Named bands played there- orchestras. It was where the more affluent people from Marksville went to have a good time. You’d have to dress up to get in there- coat and tie and all that.” Referred by Elizabeth McNabb- From Bill Hunt’s “The Last Witness From A Dirt Road”: “A small rural town, Bunkie thrived in the 1930s and 1940s from the oil industry. During World War II, several large nightclubs sprang up, but none were comparable to the great “Blue Moon”, where you could hear Harry James and his trumpet, see Cab Calaway dance, or maybe see General Eisenhower when he visited. These nightclubs brought in thousands of soldiers from the training camps that dotted the Central Louisiana area. Being located on Highway 71, which linked North Louisiana to Baton Rouge and New Orleans, imprinted the name Bunkie in the hearts and minds of people all over the country, who remember it from when they were young and were being trained to be soldiers. The town has changed little since 1946, and lies thirty-five miles south of Alexandria, Louisiana.” ...

Moo Nu Club

Included in a 2006 Louisiana Cajun dance hall list compiled by WYNK Cajun DJ “Tee Mick” Abed, sent to me in personal correspondence from David Marcantel ...