Cajun Zydeco Festival to feature Grammy-winning artist

10th June 2011   ·   0 Comments

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

“It’s like my birthday party every day,” says Chubby Carrier of his shows since winning a Grammy award. The zydeco accordionist and vocalist who leads his group, the Bayou Swamp Band, received the coveted prize in the Recording Aca­demy’s Best Ca­jun/Zy­­deco Al­bum category for his excellent 2010 release Zydeco Junkie. “After all these many, many years of traveling — 26 years of it — to be honored made me feel that much more of a musician. It was overwhelming.”

Carrier will play material from the album plus more at his debut performance at the multi-faceted Cajun-Zydeco Festival. It’s held in conjunction with the Creole Tomato and Louisiana Seafood Festivals at the U.S. Mint and French Market on Saturday, June 11, and Sunday, June 12.

Carrier’s only lament on receiving the Grammy is that it represents the last one that will be awarded in the hard-earned Cajun/Zydeco category that has only existed since 2008. It, along with 30 other categories, have been dropped by the institution. Cajun and zydeco releases will be considered in a new category, the Best Regional Roots Music Album.

“It’s done,” says Carrier who gives props to fellow zydeco man Terrance Simien, who also headlines at this weekend’s festival (Sat. 5:30 p.m.), for his efforts to have the styles singularly represented at the awards.
Carrier, 43, was born in Lafayette, raised in Church Point, and now lives in Duson, Louisiana.

Like his father, the great Roy Carrier and his grandfather, Warren Carrier, Chubby plays a triple-row, button accordion. “It was always around – it’s in the family,” says the zydeco man whose clan also boasts his cousins, the legendary violinists BeBe and Calvin Carriere, musical brothers and more.

As one can imagine, it was a zydeco party every weekend when Chubby was growing up. On Saturday night, he remembers, there was always a church dance and on Sunday afternoon the family would get together at his uncle’s or auntie’s house for lots of music and lots of food.

“My grandfather, father and uncle would always try to outdo each others’ cooking,” he recalls with a laugh. “Each one of them knew how to do it best. It was a hoot to watch. I had no trouble with them trying to make it better.” Despite their competitive attitude at a grill or a stove, according to Carrier, it didn’t carry over when it came to the music.

Considering this background, it’s not surprising that Carrier considers himself “old school.” His influences, naturally include his father who taught him accordion and whose band he played drums in at the age of 12. He cites Clifton Chenier, who he calls “the Ray Charles of zydeco, and Rockin’ Dopsie Sr. for influencing certain specific aspects of his approach to the squeezebox.

That said, as heard on Zydeco Junkie, Carrier isn’t exactly a traditionalist. “I do some funky stuff,” he says specifically referring to “Let’s Make It Funky,” a tune from the album written collectively by him and his band. “It’s because I grew up in the ‘70s with groups like Earth Wind & Fire and James Brown. That’s my era. There’s nothing wrong with throwing some James Brown in my riffs.”

That mid-1970s time period is reflected on several of the album’s cover tunes including Bad Company’s “Feel Like Making Love” that is transformed by an upbeat, almost reggae rhythm. While watching a rerun of “The Jef­fersons” TV show, Car­rier found himself singing along to its theme song “Movin’ on Up.” “I thought, man, I could turn this into a zydeco song — this is a no-brainer.” Thus, it landed on the record.

Carrier and his guest, zydeco bandleader Geno Delafose, pay tribute to the late, great Rockin’ Dopsie Sr. on his classic “Jalapeno Lena” with its super lyrics: “She’s a high stepper, she’s a hot pepper.” Here and throughout the album, Carrier’s growth as a singer really stands out. On “Call Me” as well as “Feel Like Making Love,” Carrier’s fine vocals are backed by the harmonies provided by his wife, Misty Carrier, and Tony Goulas.

Carrier is way too modest when he says: “I’m really not a singer. When you’re a bandleader you’ve got to come with it. So here I am doing my little imitation of singing.”

Being primarily a fair and festival group that hits the road around 100 days of the year, Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, which performs at the festival from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 12, makes only occasional appearances in New Orleans and never at this city’s Cajun-Zydeco Festival. “They’­ve been trying to get me for years,” says Carrier, who will play at what’s been dubbed “The Esplanade in the Shade Stage” that’s located outside the U.S. Mint’s fences and under protective oaks.

Stompin’ in June

The Ponderosa Stomp, which annually celebrates the heroes of rock ‘n roll and an array of roots music artists, doesn’t jump until September. Because the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame is holding its board meeting in New Orleans this week, it is presenting a special Ponderosa Stomp Revue at the Howlin’ Wolf on Wednesday, June 8, 2011. Guitarist/vocalist Lil’ Buck Sinegal & the Buckaroos will back a host of New Orleans luminaries including Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Al “Carnival Time” Johnson, Jean “Mr. Big Stuff” Knight and Bobby Allen. Showtime is from 9 p.m. to midnight and the cover charge is a low $5 that benefits the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation.

Celebratin’ in June

It’s been 50 years since what was once Larry Borenstein’s Associated Artists Gallery, a spot where many informal jazz jams took place, transformed into a regular jazz venue. Thus, the now-legendary Preservation Hall, 726 St. Peter Street, evolved into a locale where people could hear and musicians could play real New Orleans traditional jazz.

On Wednesday night, June 8, the club begins a month-long celebration of its birth. At 8:15 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. the Treme Brass Band takes the stage in the music room with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band closing the night out starting at 10:15 p.m. Patrons are welcome to hang in the club’s wonderful back patio to mingle with musicians and friends of jazz who often enjoy reminiscing about the music and its players.

This article was originally published in the June 6, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper