CHUBBY CARRIER & BAYOU SWAMP BAND

Chubby Carrier is without question one of the most exciting young purveyors of Zydeco in the 90's, taking his infectious dance music to clubs, theaters and festivals throughout the United States, Canada and Europe more than 250 nights a year.

To the uninitiated, an evening with Chubby Carrier & The Bayou Swamp Band is an exciting and exotic musical experience. True to tradition, the backbone of their music is syncopated Louisiana drumming, energetic polyrhythmic scraping on the washboard and the push-and-pull of the amplified accordion all egged on by spontaneous hollering, whooping,moaning, barking, and hawing.

Carrier was born into a family of performers. His grandfather played zydeco, his father, Roy Carrier Sr., is a noted zydeco musician, and his cousins had an act known as the Carrier Brothers. Chubby has played zydeco since his public debut at the age of 12, propping his heavy accordion on a stool so he could join his father on stage. Chubby started out by playing drums with his dad, who worked on an oil rig, but he'd take over the band and accordion spot on the weeks when Roy Sr. was out to sea on the rigs.

After asking his dad to teach him accordion, Chubby was told "If I teach you accordion, I want you to play your own style. Let people know who you are - Chubby Carrier." Besides learning accordion from his dad, Chubby was also exposed to the blues on the records his father loved to play especially those by B.B. King and Bobby Bland.

After fronting various Zydeco bands through high school, Carrier put down the accordion and picked up drumsticks for a chance to go the road with the emerging Terrance Simien & The Mallet Playboys. Carrier toured worldwide with Terrace for three years before unpacking his accordion to start his own band in 1989.

He soon cut his first album, entitled "Go Zydeco Go". In 1991 Chubby released his second album "Boogie Woogie Zydeco" on Flying Fish Records. His touring increased and included such prestigious events as the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the 1993 Chicago Blues Festival, Houston's International Festival, the Saskatoon Jazz Festival, Kansas City Blues and Jazz Festival, Jambalaya Jam in Philadelphia, the Bull Durham Blues Festival, the New England Folk Festival and many more.

Carrier claims Clifton Chenier, the widely acknowledged King of Zydeco, as his primary influence, although his style encompasses elements of blues, New Orleans funk, Cajun, gospel and soul. His latest release on Blind Pig Records "Dance All Night" is high-energy, zydeco party music at its best.