Editor’s Picks for May
May 2, 2012
Radio versus real
May 2, 2012
Chubby Carrier went rogue during the crescendo of his young musical career.
Accepting an award at the 53rd Grammy Awards for he and the Bayou Swamp Band’s “Zydeco Junkie,” Carrier neither hid his emotion nor remembered the list he was supposed to thank in the joyful haze at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
“I liked to just fall to the floor and not get up,” Carrier says in his quick-paced and perfunctory tone. “If you look at the video, I didn’t even know what I was saying. I think words were just coming out of my mouth.
“First of all, you’re so into it. It’s the high energy from that level. You forgot what you were going to say because it’s so surreal because it’s happening. … I went through that. I forgot to say my grandmother, my daddy, my mom.”
Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band were the fourth and final group to win the Grammy for “Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album.” Terrance and Cynthia Simien lobbied for the category for six and a half years, which culminated with Simien and The Zydeco Experience winning the award in 2008. The category was renamed “Best Regional Roots Music Album” in 2012.
Months after receiving the Grammy Award, the zydeco band was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Neither the notoriety nor the required engagements stemming from accolades in 2011 has simmered. The phone keeps ringing, and that’s not a bad thing.
The band was given the keys to the cities of Lafayette, Opelousas and Lake Charles.
“They labeled me as the ambassador of zydeco music,” Carrier says. “I’m going to take the torch, and I want to be able to pass that torch to the next generation.”
Carrier is a prominent figure helping to usher in a funky evolution of zydeco.
Beneath the surface is a child who grew up playing accordion, drums, bass and guitar on stage with his father, a notable zydeco musician in his own right. It started with the drums at the ripe old age of 10.
“For me, coming up as a kid, that was my PlayStation, my Wii, my Xbox,” he says. “Playing instruments, back in the day, that’s what we did as family. That was our hobby. What an honor; I wouldn’t trade that for the world.”
He has taken those impressions and melded them with others taken while listening to James Brown, B.B. King and Aretha Franklin, producing an infectious sound that appeals to a younger crowd.
Carrier, who stresses 70s music made him the musician he is, says fans can hear the combination of blues, gospel, Latin, R&B, soul and rock and roll in his sound.
“You’re going to hear that combination in my music,” Carrier says. “It’s not going to be a traditional zydeco sound. I describe my music as a gumbo.”
Featuring whirling musicianship that transcends the traditional two-step, Carrier insists the high-energy sound and positive lyricism are crafted with the family in mind. The lead singer says he writes lines that exude happiness, and often humor.
“When you go to my concert, my music is for all ages: You can bring them out from 1 to 75, 1 to 95,” Carrier says. “This music is for everybody. I just try to write along the lines to make it family-oriented music.”
Carrier’s pulsating accordion rifts have garnered attention from celebrated musicians, such as Carlos Santana, Buddy Guy and Morris Day and the Time, all of which he has shared the stage with.
Talent surrounds the 6-foot, 1-inch-tall front man, who in his indelible, iconic image stands with his mouth curled into a toothy grin with a Dino Baffetti accordion strapped across his stomach.
Guitarist Randy Ellis is a Thibodaux native who graduated from Guitar Institute of Technology with honors and who studied music under the Ellis Marsalis Jazz Program in New Orleans.
Earl Sally, who scratches the washboard, spent eight years with Terrence Simien and recorded with Paul Simon before he joined the band in 2000. “Earl Sally is one of the best washboard players you can ever witness on stage,” Carrier says.
Drummer Dave Nezat, of Eunice, and Bassist Mark Metoyer, of California, complete the quintet. Nezat has shared the stage with Robert Randolph and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band traveled 275 days a year for 20-straight years, trekking to Texas, Kentucky, Missouri, Colorado, California, Washington, Switzerland and anywhere else they were accepted, which was, well, just about anywhere.
“Good Lord, I’m thinking as I’m bringing zydeco music to Vermont, I’m going to get shot in the foot or something, but no, they love it, love it, love it,” Carrier says. “I couldn’t stop (touring). People wouldn’t let me go home. I can’t stop going. I’ve got to go see them. It seems like they’re my family.”
In addition to the non-stop touring, the band has released 10 albums.
“I’ve been on the road for 23 years,” Carrier says. “I’m still going to be putting out records. … We’re still going to take those runs up and down the Midwest, the East Coast, West Coast, Northwest, Southeast, so I do expect my fans to hang tight. There’s still more to come.”
– editor@gumboguide.com
Grammy Award-winner Chubby Carrier performs at the Fais Do-Do Stage at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on April 27. Carrier, who first played in his father’s band at 10 years old, is helping to usher in a funky evolution of zydeco music.
