Chris Ardoin

by Jason AnkenyA third generation product of the southwestern Louisiana region's most famed musical dynasty, nouveau zydeco accordionist Chris Ardoin followed in the traditions established by his father, French Zydeco Band frontman Lawrence "Black" Ardoin; his grandfather, Cajun "la la" legend Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin; and his distant cousin, Creole virtuoso Amadé Ardoin. Born in 1981, Chris made his public debut at the age of four, playing with his father at a Texas gumbo cook-off; just five years later, he backed his grandfather during an appearance at Carnegie Hall. The child prodigy also soon joined his father's new band Lagniappe as a full-time member, but like Lawrence before him, Ardoin eventually rejected the confines of traditional zydeco to pursue his own muse; with his older brother Sean, cousin Alphonse and family friend Peter Jacobs, he formed the band Double Clutchin', the name representative of the kind of repeated bass drum kicks which define the funky "new zydeco" sound. Double Clutchin' debuted with 1994's That's Da Lick, recorded when bandleader Ardoin was just 13; Lick It Up! followed a year later, and in 1997 the group signed to Rounder for Gon' Be Jus' ine. Turn the Page followed in 1998 and Best Kept Secrets arrived two years later.