New Iberia native Toby Cormier (left) shows off the custom accordion he made for country music star Gary Allan (right) on Allan’s tour bus in September. 

Toby Cormier has always made accordions just for the fun of it, but a high-profile country music star who noticed his craftmanship has recently put his work in the spotlight.

A New Iberia native and New Iberia Senior High School graduate, Cormier likes to spend most of his time with friends and family when he’s not working offshore. But for the past eight years, accordions have taken up his time as a hobby on weekends and off days.

The 36-year-old is mostly self-taught in crafting accordions, but he does have some musical blood. His uncle, the late Fred Cormier, was a successful accordion craftsman whose work is still sought after today.

“I was probably nine or 10 years old when he passed,” Cormier said Friday. “I was just always amazed by it.”

So after he got married to his wife Mindy, he told her that he would give accordion-making a try. Cormier bought one of his uncle’s Magnolia accordions and took it apart to learn the trade. With a little help from the likes of Moisy Baudoin in Delcambre and Junior Martin of Lafayette, Cormier learned the craft slowly but surely.

After years of practice, he’s now confident in his work. Cormier uses a Magnolia logo to pay homage to his uncle, and his son Parker helps with the paint job.

However, Cormier doesn’t have a website or even social page for his accordions. The way it usually works, he said, is through word-of-mouth.

“It’s really just customer requests,” he said. “People ask for them and I build them.”

Although he doesn’t have a band himself, Cormier said he also likes to enjoy playing every now and then.

“I mean, I’ve sit in with a few buddies of mine, like at Landry’s Seafood and I know whoever’s playing,” he said. “We’ll go to these little mom and pop places (to play).”

Last year, Cormier got a very special request. Cormier’s wife, Mindy, was a big fan of country music singer Gary Allan. At Coushatta Casino in Kinder, the two hung around on the back of a tour bus in hopes of meeting Allan.  

While waiting, Cormier struck up a conversation with John Lancaster, Allan’s piano player. After mentioning he makes accordions, Cormier showed Lancaster a few on his phone.

“He was like ‘Man, you mind showing Gary some of these?’ and I said that would be great,” Cormier said. “Come to find out, Gary’s dad was an accordion player. They were like, ‘These are awesome.’”

After some accordions were requested, Cormier said he would have them ready the next year.

“I stayed in touch with John and them the whole time to get it 100 percent custom to their taste,” he said. “I’d call maybe once every other week, I’d send pictures and if they didn’t like it I’d adjust. Finally it came out to what it was.”

An Allan concert came along again this last month, where Cormier dropped off the finished products. After a brief period of waiting while Allan talked to fans, Cormier said the accordion left him “speechless.”

“Once he got on the bus, he was amazed,” Cormier said. “He didn’t know what to say, both of them were just speechless.”

Cormier may be the catalyst for Allan having a new instrument in his repertoire. Allan invited Cormier to another concert in Bossier City the next week, where he told Cormier he was already getting the feel of it.

Despite the high-profile customer, Cormier doesn’t have any plans to turn his hobby into a full-time endeavor.

“Really what I do is make one or two a year and take a vacation,” he said. “Hunting season’s about to start, so I’ll probably be taking a break.”

 

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