Chris Ardoin

Emerging from the most renowned musical lineage in southwestern Louisiana, the nouveau zydeco accordionist Chris Ardoin carried forward the legacy set 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. In 1981 Chris entered the world and stepped onto the stage at age four, joining his father for a performance at a Texas gumbo cook-off; five years after that he supported his grandfather at Carnegie Hall. The young talent soon became a permanent member of his father's fresh ensemble Lagniappe, yet Ardoin ultimately turned away from the restrictions of conventional zydeco, much as Lawrence had done, to follow his individual direction. Together with his older brother Sean, cousin Alphonse and family friend Peter Jacobs he assembled the group Double Clutchin', whose name evoked the repeated bass drum accents that shaped its funky "new zydeco" approach. The band's first release, 1994's That's Da Lick, captured Ardoin as bandleader at only thirteen; Lick It Up! appeared the next year, after which the ensemble joined Rounder in 1997 for Gon' Be Jus' ine. Turn the Page came out in 1998, with Best Kept Secrets arriving two years afterward.