NATCHITOCHES – The Louisiana Folklife Center at Northwestern State University will present the program “A Life of Zydeco: A Musical Informance with Chubby Carrier” on June 21 at 1 p.m. at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum at 800 Front Street in Natchitoches. The event is free and open to the public.
Dr. Shane Rasmussen, professor of English and director of the Louisiana Folklife Center at Northwestern, will interview Carrier about the cultural significance of zydeco in Louisiana. Their discussion will include songs performed by Carrier on his accordion. Carrier will headline the 45th annual Natchitoches-NSU Louisiana Folklife Festival on July 19 in air-conditioned Prather Coliseum on the NSU campus.
A third-generation zydeco musician, Carrier began his music career in Louisiana dance halls playing accordion and drums in his father’s zydeco band from the age of 12. Carrier played drums with Terrance Simien from 1986 to 1989, and then formed his own band, Chubby Carrier and the Zydeco Swamp Band. The band has released a total of 11 albums since 1989. Carrier has performed at the Chicago Blues Festival, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and the Utrecht Blues Festival in Amsterdam, and has played with Santana, B.B. King, Travis Tritt and Buddy Guy. Carrier’s most recent album, “Zydeco Junkie,” was the 2010 Grammy winner for best zydeco or Cajun album.
Carrier was among the musicians recently featured on the CBS News program “60 Minutes” in a segment on Cajun and zydeco music.
The event is sponsored by the Louisiana Folklife Center. Support for the Festival is provided by grants from the Cane River National Heritage Area, Inc., the City of Natchitoches, Cleco, the Louisiana Division of the Arts Decentralized Arts Fund Program, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the Louisiana Office of Tourism, the Natchitoches Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Natchitoches Historic District Development Commission, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, the Shreveport Regional Arts Council and the State of Louisiana.
The views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.
For more information, call the Louisiana Folklife Center at (318) 357-4332, email folklife@nsula.edu, or go to nsula.edu/folklife.
