Rusty Kershaw, of Rusty & Doug, Dead at 63
Edward Morris
10/23/2001

Musician Russell Lee "Rusty" Kershaw, brother of fiddler Doug Kershaw and former
member of the Rusty & Doug performing and recording duo, died Tuesday (Oct. 23)
in New Orleans of a heart attack. He was 63.

Kershaw, who was born in Louisiana Feb. 2, 1938, joined his brothers Doug and
Nelson ("Pee Wee") in 1948 to form the Cajun band Pee Wee Kershaw & The
Continental Playboys. He was the group's guitarist. From 1953 to 1955, the
Kershaws performed on KPLC-TV in Lake Charles, La. They also began appearing on
the Louisiana Hayride in 1955 but moved the following year to become members of
the Wheeling Jamboree on radio station WWVA in Wheeling, W. Va.

Rusty Kershaw's first record with Doug was "No, No It's Not So," recorded in the
early '50s for Feature Records in Crowley, La. Now performing as Rusty & Doug,
the brothers came to Nashville and signed with Hickory Records, an Acuff-Rose
affiliate. Their first single on Hickory, "So Lovely Baby," was released in 1955
and went to No. 14 on the country charts. For their follow-up two years later,
they did a cover of Jill Corey's 1957 pop hit, "Love Me to Pieces." It too
reached No. 14. Rusty & Doug joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1957. Over the next
three years, the Kershaws charted three more singles for Hickory, the highest
one being "Louisiana Man," which went to No. 10. The duo signed to RCA Records
in 1963. The next year, however, Rusty left the duo.

Continuing to record and perform on his own, Kershaw released the album Cajun in
the Blues Country (which featured Charlie Daniels on fiddle) on Cotillion
Records in 1970. He figured prominently in Neil Young's 1974 album, On the
Beach, playing fiddle and slide guitar and also providing the liner notes. Young
later returned the favor by performing on eight tracks of Kershaw's Big Easy
Award-winning 1992 album, Now and Then, on Domino Records. Also playing on that
album were Art Neville and Ben Keith. Kershaw's wife, Julie, told country.com
that her husband remained active in music until his sudden and unexpected death.
She said he played his last show Sunday in New Orleans.

Rusty Kershaw's other survivors include a son, Troy, and a daughter, Sherry.
Funeral arrangements are incomplete.

Andy

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1962 Sho~Bud D-10 : 1969 Emmons D-10 : Bigsby T-8: 1954 Gretsch DuoJet: 1955 Gretsch DuoJet:1957 Standel 25L15
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I've been looking for Rusty's debut album for some years now, and you notice how he was inv loved with Neil Young, in 1973-1974 Rusty used to jam with the rhythm section of Crazy Horse, when Neil came looking for them, Rusty had kept them firing and jammed with Neil & Crazy Horse, he was a key figure in their reunion in the 1970s. It probably would have happened anyway, but Rusty was there and helped it all along.