Marc Savoy | |
|---|---|
 Marc and Ann Savoy playing at the Balfa Camp in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | October 1, 1940 Near Eunice, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Genres | Cajun |
| Occupation(s) | Accordion maker, accordionist |
| Instrument(s) | Cajun accordion |
| Website | www |
Marc Savoy (/sɑːˈvwɑː/ sah-VWAH;[1] born October 1, 1940)[2] is an American musician, and builder and player of the Cajun accordion.
He was born on his grandfather's rice farm near Eunice, Louisiana. His grandfather was a fiddler, who occasionally played with the legendary Dennis McGee, who was once a tenant farmer on his grandfather's property. Marc Savoy began playing traditional music when he was 12 years old.[3]
Savoy holds a degree in chemical engineering[4] but his primary income is derived from his accordion-making business, based at his Savoy Music Center in Eunice. His wife is the singer and guitarist Ann Savoy, whom he met in 1975 and married in 1977.[4] He has performed with Robert Bertrand, Dennis McGee, Rodney Balfa, Sady Courville, Dewey Balfa, D. L. Menard, and Michael Doucet, the latter of whom he plays with in the Savoy-Doucet Band. He also plays in the Savoy Family Band with his wife Ann and their sons Joel and Wilson.
He hosts regular jam sessions and mini-festivals at the Savoy Music Center.
Savoy is a recipient of a 1992 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.[5]
