Craig Vincent grew up in Lake Arthur. He currently lives in Welsh. About 8 years ago Larry Miller (Bon Cajun Accordions) did some work on Vincent’s Hohner Accordion. As Vincent watched Miller work on the instrument, he was intrigued about how it worked and decided to make his own accordion one day.

In 2014 Vincent’s wire’s uncle, Ervin Lejeune (Professional Accordians) got Vincent off to a great start by sharing patterns and measurements with him. By the end of 2015 Miller helped Vincent finish the last couple steps on his first accordion, installing reeds and tuning. When he finished the instrument, Miller gave Vincent the opportunity to do an apprenticeship with him during 2016-2017.

Vincent will demonstrate accordion building Saturday, July 15 from 8 am – 5 pm at the Louisiana Folklife Festival inside Prather Coliseum on the NSU campus. For more information email folklife@nsula.edu or call 318-357-4332.

The 38th annual Natchitoches-Northwestern Folk Festival will be held July 14-15 in Prather Coliseum on the Northwestern State University campus. Festival hours are 4:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Friday and 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Tickets are $13 for an advance all-events pass through July 11. Advance tickets are free for children 12 and under. Tickets are available at the door for $6 for Friday night, $10 for all day Saturday or $6 for Saturday after 5 p.m.

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