Same Ol 2 Step
Good zydeco music in southwest Louisiana is provided by some of the best musicians in Louisiana. Many of the younger zydeco musical styles of playing are compatible to some of the older bands. This young band called Same Ol 2 Step is styled after the Zydeco Force Band. They are a high-energy band and can produce old and new zydeco music. The touch of nouveau music put them at a different level. The demand for the music of those 2 steppin guys is growing daily. You can find the band playing at the Richard Club and Slim-Y-Ki Ki’s etc. The trail ride association has kept the group employed for the entire year. When you see these young musicians at work, you will see the best. Lil Wayne will make you dance. He is young but is a knowledgeable accordionist and lead vocalist. Wayne is a very versatile musician. He has experience with many of the legendary groups. You have probably seen him on bass, guitar, drums and accordion. He has played with Zydeco Force, Keith Frank, Chris Ardoin, Sean Ardion, Andrea Thierry, Kojack, T-Broussard and many more. On many special occasions you will see Wayne and the band backing Lil Guyland.
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Leon Chavis & the Zydeco Flames
Leon Chavis has bold ambitions: He wants to change the way you listen, understand and dance to Zydeco music. For Leon Chavis and the Zydeco Flames, this push forward means looking back and re-examining, mastering, understanding the roots of Zydeco Music and Creole culture. For Leon, he wants to unleash the accordion's full potential as a musical instrument that can further convey a story of a living tradition in a wide range of emotions.
Born and raised in Lawtell, Louisiana, He's a lot like the kid living next door to you that you watch grow up into something special. With his humble demeanor, easy going attitude and country boy charm, Leon Chavis could easily be somebody that you know, hang out with on a trail ride, or see at a local town festival.
However, make no mistake: Leon Chavis is a part of a new generation of Zydeco Musicians proving that real talent, hard work, persistence, and charisma still have a place in the music industry. A formally trained musician versed in a variety of instruments, Leon comes from a tradition of music and a world musical experience that encompasses Creole music, Zydeco, Southern Soul, R & B, and jazz.
Anchored, by his father and mentor, Joseph "Chopper" Chavis, a gifted singer, producer and songwriter with over 20 years of experience in the music industry, and the vision of Russel Labbe (one of the group's founders), Leon Chavis & the Zydeco Flames are a formidable musical group whose silky vocals and high energy performances are making the world take notice! The band has become a favorite on the trailride scene, with local church bazaars, festivals and clubs, as well as performing at various musical festivals nation wide.
With his incredibly smooth voice, clever lyrics, and 12 red hot tracks, his debut CD, The Heat is On, is a multi-faceted project that is rooted in tradition, yet clearly incorporate contemporary musical elements and experiences of today's musicans.
There is a fresh new sound and movement in the Zydeco Nation. One can hear the rumblings over the sounds of the crowd as Leon sings the anthem: "Everybody come on out, just to hear Leon and the Zydeco Flames, because the Heat is On!"
Leon Chavis and the Zydeco Flames
Phone: (337) 692-2611
Email: leon@leonchavis.com
Biography Revised by: Rod Sias ( www.zydecoonline.com )
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Curley Taylor, vocals, accordian
Curley Taylor was born and raised in Louisiana and has been around music all of his life. At the age of 16 Curley started playing drums in his father's band, (Jude Taylor & His Burning Flames) which is deep in Louisiana Blues, Soul and Zydeco.
By the age of 25, Curley had played drums for some of Louisiana 's finest legends including: CC Adcock, Steve Riley, John Hart, "Lil" Bob of the Lollipops, and his uncles, "Lil Buck" Senegal and Wayne "Blue" Burns. He traveled with CJ Chenier, also considered a great Louisiana legend. While traveling with Mr. Chenier, Curley found an interest in playing the accordion. After practicing and playing the accordion, Curley enjoyed it. He was told he "played the drums and the accordion with great emotion and natural feeling."
Curley purchased an accordion and learned to play it in about six months. During this time, friends Keith Clements (keyboard player) and Erick Minix (drummer) approached Curley and asked him to start his own band. He agreed. Soon after agreeing to record a CD, Geno Delafose offered Curley a job playing the drums in his band, Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie. He began working for Mr. Delafose and worked for him for several years. Curley found it hard to practice while traveling and touring, but found a way to produce his first CD Country Boy .
This CD is Curley's first produced project. Artists have compared his music to the great Beau Jocque. "It's a high compliment," Curley said, "but this is only the start." Look forward to Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble coming to a town near you soon!
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http://www.curleytaylor.com/
Lil Nathan & the Zydeco Big Timers
With the release of Zydeco Ballin', Nathan Williams Jr.s first CD, the Williams family joins the other great Zydeco dynasties Ardoin, Broussard, Carrier, Chavis, Chenier, Delafose and Frank families that have passed on a rich musical legacy to a new generation. Lil' Nathan's father is the leader of Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas, one of the top Zydeco bands touring across the country. His uncle, Sid Williams, who is serving as manager of his nephew's band, is owner of El Sid Os in Lafayette, one of the principal venues for Zydeco music, a club where Buckwheat Zydeco used to perform regularly and where he recorded his last live album. According to Herman Fuselier in his liner notes to Zydeco Ballin, Lil Nathan began playing rubboard in his father's band at age 5. He moved on to the drums and then the accordion, finding in his father an excellent teacher and role model. At age 14 when the CD was recorded, Lil Nathan demonstrates that he has already mastered all three types of accordions diatonic, triple-row, and piano. He posed with his accordions on the CD cover. The photos on this page, taken at the Zydeco Extravaganza in Lafayette in May 28, 2002, also show that he knows how to establish a stage presence that gets the crowd moving. His father wrote the songs on the CD, ranging from the flowing groove of "Ballin' on Zydeco" and "Where the Zydeco At?" to the nouveau Zydeco beat of "Bounce with It!" to the more traditional waltz rhythms of "Louisiana Boy," sung in English and French. Lil Nathan is now a 20 yr old Senior at the University Of Louisiana at Lafayette majoring is Jazz Studies with a concentration in Jazz Piano. He plans to recieve his Bachelor's at UL-Lafayette and then attend the University of Texas-Austin or UL-Lafayette and get his M A in Jazz Performance or Theory Comp with Jazz Emphasis. Aside from that busy schedule he plans to get his teacher's certification. With that being said Lil Nathan wants to incorporate zydeco music on the High School & College Level.
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Geno Delafose & French Rockin Boogie
Geno Delafose is the son of the great Zydeco accordionist John Delafose. Geno lives a few miles north of Eunice in the same rural area of Duralde where his father was born. Geno's Double D Ranch, where for the past few years he has invited everyone to annual fan appreciation parties, consists of a simple frame house, horse stables, and a spread of land. He is proud of his rural roots, and in his life he carries on the rural traditions of hard work, friendship, and generosity. Like his brothers, he began playing with his father's band, the Eunice Playboys, at an early age, first on rubboard, then on drums, and finally, after his father developed heart trouble, on accordion. He mastered both the diatonic and piano accordions, singing both in French and English.
After forming his own band, French Rockin Boogie, young Delafose developed his own repetoire, often taking standards from the Creole and Cajun traditions and giving them new Zydeco energy while still remaining faithful to structure of the original song. His versions of Cajun songs like D.L. Menard's "La porte d'en arrière," the Balfa Brothers' "Mon vrai amour," Iry LeJeune's "Donnez moi mon chapeau," or Lawrence Walker's "'Tit yeux noirs" add new dimensions to some great songs. He performs invigorating, fresh versions of songs played by his father and by Creole musicians like Canray Fontenot, such as "Bernadette," "Tes parents ne veulent plus me voir," "Ma 'tite fille est gone," "Bye, bye mon nèg," 'Quo faire," "Valse de Opelousas," and "The Eunice Two Step." All of Geno Delafose's CDs have been released by Rounder.
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For the line dancers
Kenneth Nobles
Line Dance Instructor
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