Representative Albums: "Gon' Be Jus' Fine," "Turn the Page," "Best Kept Secrets"
Biography
A 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. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Chris Ardoin (born April 7, 1981 in Lake Charles, Louisiana[1]) is a zydecoaccordionist and singer. 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 (his father was Lawrence Ardoin and his grandfather, Bois Sec Ardoin). 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.[2] When he was just ten, with a help from his father Lawrence, he formed the Double Clutchin' zydeco band with his elder brother Sean Ardoin on drums.
In 1994, the band released their debut album That's Da Lick from Maison de Soul 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.[3] 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 1997 to concentrate in his solo career.
In 2005, Chris changed the band name from Double Clutchin' to NuStep, and released Sweat, the first album under the new name. M.V.P. followed in 2007.
