Chubby Carrier Biography
Chubby Carrier is undeniably “The World’s Premier
Zydeco Showman.” He and his Bayou Swamp Band take
their highly infectious dance music to clubs, theaters,
and festivals throughout the United States, Canada and Europe
more than 278 nights a year. The Chicago Tribune called
them “one of the finer standard bearers of the classic,
blues-based zydeco sound among the new generation of Louisiana
bands.”
Chubby is well known for his show-stealing live performances
that leave his fans in a dancing frenzy. He always brings
the party with him wherever he goes, and the level of energy
and excitement of those live shows made him on of the most
sought-after zydeco acts in the country.
If you’re one of the few unlucky souls who hasn’t
had the good fortune to experience Chubby LIVE, run (don’t
walk) and buy his new recording, Too Hot to Handle. This
live album, his first release for Gulf Coast Entertainment,
captures the band’s one-of-a-kind swamp funk sound
in action! Recorded at Grant Street Dancehall in Lafayette,
Louisiana, Too Hot to Handle really sizzles! Experience
the energy for yourself!
True to the tradition, the backbone of Chubby’s music
is the syncopated Louisiana drumming, the polyrhythmic scraping
of the washboard, and the push-and-pull of the amplified
accordion, accompanied by spontaneous whooping and hollering.
Carrier claims Clifton Chenier, the widely acknowledged
King of Zydeco, as his primary influence; but unlike most
traditional zydeco and Cajun acts, Carrier adds elements
of blues, New Orleans funk, gospel, soul and even do-wop
to conjure up his spicy swamp funk brew.
Carrier was born in Lafayette, Louisiana into a family of
performers. His grandfather played zydeco. His father, Roy
Carrier Sr., is a well-respected zydeco musician in his
own right, 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 the accordion spot
the the weeks when Roy Sr. was out to sea on the rigs.
After asking his dad to teach him the accordion, Chubby
was told, “If I teach you the 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 the drumsticks
for a chance to go on the road with another rising Louisiana
music star, Terrance Simien and the Mallet Playboys. Carrier
toured Europe, Africa, and North America with the playboys
for three years before unpacking his accordion to start
his own band in 1989. Soon thereafter he cut his first album,
entitled Go Zydeco Go. Chubby’s next recording, Boogie
Woogie Zydeco, was released on Flying Fish Records in 1991.
Carrier’s first album on Blind Pig records, Dance
All Night, was released in 1993. CMJ New Music Report raved,
“Carrier’s live sets are nothing less than phenomenal,
and that energy and love translate to each of Dance All
Night’s 13 grooves. Carrier is a rare breed, a new
zydeco artists who’s fully aware of tradition, but
he’s also unafraid to make a few changes, giving the
music room to grow and breathe and stay alive.” CD
Review said, “Exhilarating dance-floor zydeco, this
album teems with spirited party-music, and the band dashes,
sprints, and zips through several crowd-pleasing boogies.”
To top is all off, the recording received the Living Blues
Critics’ Award as the “Best Zydeco Album of
the Year.”
Carrier’s second album on Blind Pig Records, Who Stole
the Hot Sauce? captured that electrifying sound that defines
Carrier’s music. As Chubby says, “This is the
closest you can get to a live sound in the studio.”
Chubby Carrier is without question one of the most exciting
young purveyors of zydeco in the ’90s, and Too Hot
To Handle is high energy, zydeco party music at its best.
