Floyd Soileau

James Floyd Soileau, born November 2, 1938, near Ville Platte, Louisiana, stands as one of the quiet architects of modern Cajun, swamp pop, and zydeco music. Raised in Cajun French, he did not learn English until school, a detail that helps explain why language and music became inseparable in his life.

As a high-school student, he worked at KVPI in Ville Platte, hosting the Cajun Rendezvous show because he could speak French. From that radio perch, he noticed a practical problem: local people wanted French records, but there were few places to buy them. He began selling records out of a room in the same building as the studio, until a comic on-air mishap forced him to choose between the microphone and the record business. He chose records. That choice changed south Louisiana music.

After opening Floyd’s Record Shop in 1956, Soileau built Flat Town Music, Swallow, Jin, and Maison de Soul into homes for Cajun French, swamp pop, and zydeco recordings. His labels helped circulate artists from Nathan Abshire and the Balfa Brothers to Rockin’ Sidney, whose “My Toot Toot” became zydeco’s great crossover hit.

More biographical information here – Page about Floyd from the Acadian Museum website.