Entertainment has been announced after the Flashback Friday Parade that serves as the kickoff for the 2022 Orange Mardi Gras season on Friday, February 18, 2022, at the Riverside Pavilion immediately.
At 7 PM, Chubby Carrier will be featured. Once the accordion-playing virtuoso grabs the mic and takes to the stage with his bandmates, audiences are treated to a show like no other. Chubby Carrier’s sound is infectious – a concoction of blues, 70s funk, rock and roll, and good-ole zydeco flavor – and makes even the timidest individuals get their feet a-movin’. Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band are turning heads around the world and bringing Louisiana flavor to the masses. The funky zydeco band’s release, Zydeco Junkie, earned one of the highest musical accolades when it was named Best Zydeco or Cajun Album during the 53rd annual Grammy Awards celebration in February 2011. For more than 20 years, Chubby and the Bayou Swamp Band have toured relentlessly around the world, playing venues such as the Chicago Blues Festival, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Cajun, and Zydeco Festival in Fort Lauderdale, FL., and Montreaux Jazz Fest in Switzerland. For his steadfast dedication to zydeco music, Carrier was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame on October 16, 2011.
At 9 PM, Corey Ledet Zydeco will step on stage. Corey Ledet was born and raised in Houston, Texas, but spent his summers with family in small-town Parks, Louisiana. The Creole culture has its roots in Louisiana, but spread across the country, including neighboring Texas. Because of this, he was able to be immersed at all times in the Creole culture he loved so much. The summers in the family home molded and shaped Corey’s world in a profound way. By the time he graduated from high school, he was certain that music was the focal point of his future. Corey eventually moved to Louisiana in order to be surrounded by this beautiful culture at all times. He remains true to his roots and earnestly searches for ways to include them in his music. He keeps one foot firmly in the tradition while exploring surrounding influences in order to create the best of both worlds. He is able to infuse old and new styles of Zydeco into his own unique sound from all of the people he studied and was influenced by.
He also appreciates the other traditional sound indigenous to Louisiana in Cajun music and has been able to expand his repertoire to include these influences as well. Corey’s versatile sound enables him to please any audience. Whether he is playing a solo acoustical set or he is backed up by a full band, you as a listener will always be thoroughly entertained. He finds joy in giving his listeners a true dance/music experience in the ways of old-time house parties. So, come and enjoy the music of old presented in a new way but still very tied to tradition.
Food vendors, Free State Winery, and a beer booth will be available at the Riverside Pavilion.
