Chris Ardoin (born April 7, 1981 in

Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles (French: ''Lac Charles'') is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcas ...

Chris and Sean Ardoin Interview, Blues & Soul Records Magazine No. 53, 2003) is a

zydeco Zydeco ( or , french: Zarico) is a music genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers which blends blues, rhythm and blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native American people of Louisiana. Al ...

accordionist Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

and

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

. He is one of the young artists that helped form nouveau zydeco, a new style of music that fused traditional zydeco with various styles including hip-hop, reggae and R&B. He was a child prodigy belonging to a musical

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

(his father was Lawrence Ardoin and his grandfather was Bois Sec Ardoin). His older brother is Gospel zydeco artist

Sean Ardoin Sean Ardoin (Lake Charles, Louisiana, 1969) is an American Zydeco musician, singer and four-time Grammy Award nominee. He is best known for live performance appearances including Carnegie Hall, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and record ...

. He started with the accordion at the age of two and grew up listening to zydeco only for the most part until he was in his teens. When he was just ten, with help from his father Lawrence, he formed the Double Clutchin' zydeco band with his elder brother

on drums. In 1994, the band released their debut album ''That's Da Lick'' on the

Maison de Soul Maison de Soul is a Louisiana-based Zydeco and blues record label. It was founded in 1974 in Ville Platte, Louisiana by Floyd Soileau and remains under his ownership. It is one of four record labels under Soileau's Flat Town Music Company umbr ...

label. Though it was Sean who handled all the vocals and songwriting, the album was credited to Chris as they considered putting younger Chris in front would draw more attention to the band. Chris came more into the center of the spotlight in the follow-up effort ''Lick It Up!'' released a year later, sharing vocals and songwriting duties with Sean. Sean left the band after releasing the album '' Turn the Page'' in 1998 to concentrate on his solo career. In 2005, Ardoin changed the band name from Double Clutchin' to NuStep, and released ''Sweat'', the first album under the new name. ''M.V.P.'' followed in 2006, ''V.I.P'' in 2008, ''Alter Ego'' in 2009, and ''Headliner'' in 2010. On July 30, 2021, Ardoin was hit by gunfire in a seemingly-random shooting following a performance at the Zydeco Bike Fest in

Colfax, Louisiana Colfax is a town in, and the parish seat of, Grant Parish, Louisiana, United States, founded in 1869. Colfax is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana metropolitan area. The largely African American population of Colfax counted 1,558 at the 2010 ...

. As of February 2022, no charges have been filed in the case.

Discography

*1994 ''That's Da Lick'' (

) *1995 ''Lick It Up!'' (Maison de Soul) *1997 ''Gon' Be Jus' Fine'' (

Rounder Rounder(s) or The Rounder(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''The Rounders'' (1914 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounder'' (1930 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounders'' (1965 film), a western comedy * ''Rounders'' (film), a 1998 poker f ...

) *1998 '' Turn the Page'' (Rounder) *2000 ''Best Kept Secret'' (Rounder) *2003 ''Life'' (J&S) *2004 ''Save the Last Dance'' (J&S) *2005 ''Sweat'' (NuStep4Lyfe Entertainment) *2006 ''M.V.P.'' (NuStep4Lyfe Entertainment) *2008 ''Candyman's V.I.P.'' (NuStep4Lyfe Entertainment) *2009 ''Alter Ego'' (NuStep4Lyfe Entertainment) *2010 ''Headliner'' (NuStep4Lyfe Entertainment) *2012 ''Unleashed'' (NuStep4Lyfe Entertainment) *2014 ''Back Home'' (NuStep4Lyfe Entertainment) *2015 ''Zydeko Fever'' (NuStep4Lyfe Entertainment) *2016 ''Requested Live'' (NuStep4Lyfe Entertainment) *2017 ''Legend'' (Soul Rehab Music Group) *2018 ''Evolution'' (Soul Rehab Music Group) *2020 ''Press Play: Live'' (Soul Rehab Music Group)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ardoin, Chris Zydeco musicians 1981 births Living people Louisiana Creole people American shooting survivors American accordionists Singers from Louisiana 21st-century accordionists 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers Maison de Soul Records artists Rounder Records artists