2014 Annual Tribute to Roy Carrier, December 29, 2014
Slim's Yi Ki Ki Lounge, Opelousas, LA
The advertisement below was from Dick Brainard, one of the organizers of the event: Feel free to send contributions to this worthy cause any time of year!
"Annual New Year Tribute to Roy Carrier
2:00 to 11:00 PM with five great bands!
Chubby Carrier and his Bayou Swamp Band
Dikku Du and the Zydeco Crew
Jeffery Broussard and the Creole Cowboys
Corey Ledet and his Zydeco Band
Geno Delafose and French Rockin' Boogie
$20 for the entire day, with come and go privileges; Great food by the Carrier Family Ladies for sale
Donations to help defray costs are needed. If you donate $60, or more, both you and a partner get in free.
Plus you will be listed as a donor participant of this great tribute to Roy Carrier.
Please send your contribution check to Dick Brainard, 2910 SW Texas St,
Portland, OR 97219.
This annual event is organized/sponsored by Troy Carrier & Yours Truly, Dick Brainard.
All contributions greatly appreciated."
Music is a family tradition in southwest Louisiana. Scores of bands are filled with fathers, brothers, uncles, cousins, sons, nephews, god-children and the occasional neighbor. Bands playing today are no exception. The late Roy Carrier's sons Chubby and Dikki Du both front their own bands and played with their father. Roy Carrier's Offshore Lounge was the place many of today's band leaders learned their craft by playing with Roy or watching bands that played in his OffShore Lounge in Lawtell, LA.
When Roy died in 2010, it marked the passing of the last of the big-time first tier zydeco musicians, including Clifton Chenier, Boozoo Chavis, Rockin’ Dopsie, John Delafose, Delton Broussard, and Marcel Dugas. By then, Roy's OffShore Lounge had fallen into disrepair by the time he died.
It's Dikku Du Carrier's ambition to reopen his father's place. The annual New Year dance is a fund raiser. Thanks to previous New Year fund raisers, dancers from around the country have contributed more than $10,000 to help pay off the mortgage. Money donated this year will help underwrite a new septic system. The bands playing today either play at cut rate or for free to keep the Carrier family's dream of keeping Roy's music house alive.
The floor of Slim's Yi Ki Ki in Opelousas, another iconic dance hall, was literally rockin' with the pounding of hundreds of pairs of feet today. Dancers from all over the USA were more than happy to contribute to 'the dream". With these five big time bands, they could rock till they dropped. And did.
Two of the organizers of the Roy Carrier Tribute: Dikki Du Carrier and Dick Brainard. Does it look like they're having fun yet?
Chubby Carrier and The Bayou Swamp Band; pt after delivering a present of bacon flavored toothpicks to Jeffery Broussard (with his wife Millie) from my hosts in Lafayette, Bernard Ussher and his wife Rubia Solis.
Dikku Du and His Zydeco Crew; Guyland Ledet, a 17 year-old accordion player from California. Jeffery Broussard is his uncle. As I said, music is passed along generation to generation around here.
Dancers busting out moves all night long.
Jeffery Broussard is a talented musician. He put down his accordion, played a terrific run on a fiddle, then moved back and played bass!
Roy Carrier and his dream...
Corey Ledet and his Zydeco Band; Photo Right - that's Legendary L'll Buck Sinegal on the guitar playing with Corey's band tonight. The place practically stopped in its dance tracks when L'll Buck tore off a searing solo on one of Corey's bluesy songs.
Chubby's sister Elaine and cousin Keysuana Carrier stir the scrumptious gumbo - all 40 gallons of it; Geno Delafose and His French Rockin' Boogie.
Local farmer Raymond Parjean, his daughter Dolores and child. They set up a table to sell praline cookies Raymond made himself. Raymond has a 32-acre farm outside Opelousas, raises cows, hogs, and invited me to visit.
Photos by Paul A. Tamburello, Jr.
L'll Buck is a good dancer too! Danced a dance with him and then someone told me "That was L'll Buck! " Great fun!
Posted by: Pam | January 01, 2015 at 07:58 PM
Great pictures, as usual. Certainly, a good time was had by all.
Posted by: May Louise White | January 03, 2015 at 12:35 PM