One word to describe the swampdelic sounds of Chubby Carrier and Bayou Swamp Band? Fun. Pure Louisiana zydeco fun with a hot sauce chaser. Anybody who has doubts about the accordion as an instrument will be swayed the right way with Carrier's passion and fire on the instrument.

Chubby Carrier started out as twinkle in Roy Carrier's eye (Roy looks more Chubby's older brother than his dad). The Carriers are one of the great musical families in Louisiana. There's Poppa Roy, Chubby, Chubby's brother Troy (AKA Dikki Du and The Zydeco Krewe), Roy's nephew Dwight Carrier and The Zydeco Ro Dogs. There's also Chubby's Aunt Laura Maria Doolittle (AKA Zydeco-T) who plays with Mojo and the Bayou Gypsies. Now if we can organize a basketball tournament between the Carriers, the Neals and the Nevilles to settle it once and for all. (Just kidding). A documentary about the family has been filmed (Not kidding) and will hopefully be shown at a theatre near you (Or look for in on DVD if you movie houses are documentary-challenged).

There's traditional roots in Chubby's zydeco, but expands the sound for all ages. Live and in studio he's taken songs like B.B. King's "Rock Me Baby," Billy Preston's "Will It Go Round in Circles," The Who's "Squeeze Box", War's "Cisco Kid" and the Grateful Dead's "Fire On The Mountain" and dragged them through the swamp with beautiful results. It's adding Louisiana spice to popular tunes that help Carrier build the bridge between zydeco and the rest of the world. Mardi Gras can happen 365 days a year and you don't have to flash anything to enjoy the band (Unless you REALLY want to).

Chubby Carrier and The Bayou Swamp Band is one of the most energetic groups around. An evening or an afternoon with these guys will result in a full night's sleep and a bowl of Wheaties (When we gonna see Chubby on their cereal box?).

In the post-Katrina world there has been a newfound awareness of the music of Louisiana. It's awareness that shouldn't be paid to these artists out of pity over what happened. It should be paid because the music of Louisiana is one big stewpot of many flavors and it's really damn tasty. It was tasty before Katrina and it's still tasty now. Chubby Carrier and The Bayou Swamp Band is the musical part in the stewpot where the gumbo meets the rice and you want to sop it up with some French bread. Prepare to be funkified, zydecofied and the pleasant victim of a Chubby party.

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