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.