Liberty scheules a FRIDAY, Sept. 5 Tribute to Jimmy C. Newman

A special Friday night show on Sept. 5 at the Liberty Theater will honor High Point native Jimmy C. Newman, who died earlier this year at age 86.
Tickets are now on sale for the general admission seating performance by several Acadiana musicians. Tickets are $7 and can be purchased at the Mayor’s Office, Monday through Friday, and at the Liberty box office on Saturday afternoons.
For more than 50 years, Newman was a mainstay on the Grand Ole Opry, where he performed rollicking, Cajun-inflected songs such as “Alligator Man” and “Bayou Talk.” He added the “C” to his stage name in the early 1960s, saying that it stood for “Cajun,” and he took pride in his designation as the first Cajun artist to join the Opry. His first Top 10 country hit, “Cry, Cry, Darling,” came 60 years ago, in the summer of 1954.
Newman was raised in a bilingual family near Mamou with parents who enjoyed the cowboy sounds of Gene Autry and the country music of Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family.
This Friday night event is one of several that will occur over the next few months, thanks to a grant received by the Jean Lafitte Acadiana Cultural Center, according to City Clerk Ginny Moody, who is also the city’s long-time Liberty coordinator.
The Tribute to Jimmy C. Newman will feature his son, Gary Newman, as well as Pope Huval, Barry Ancelet, Terry Huval and the Jambalaya Band.
Songs a patron might expect to hear could include Cry, Cry Darling, Alligator Man, Lache Pas La Ptate, Jole Blond, Diggy Liggy Lok A Falling Star, the Basile Waltz and others.
Newman joined the Louisiana Hayride in 1954, performing alongside Elvis Presley, Johnny Horton and others.
He then joined the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville in 1956 after recording five straight Top 10 hits.
According to a newspaper article published in Nashville after his June 21 death, Newman assisted in the career development of country and western performers Tom T. Hall, Dolly Parton, Eddie Raven and others.
For more than 50 years he was an Opry regular with his Cajun-derivative songs.
His last Opry appearance was on June 6.
Newman was a member of the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame and the Cajun Music Hall of Fame.