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 Calcasi ...

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. ...

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 ree ...

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 witho ...

. 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 A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...

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 Bois may refer to: * Bois, Charente-Maritime, France * Bois, West Virginia, United States * Bois d'Arc, Texas, United States * Les Bois, Switzerland * Landskrona BoIS, a Swedish professional football club * Tranås BoIS, a Swedish sports club ...

). His older brother is Gospel zydeco artist Sean 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. When he was just ten, with 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'' on the 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. 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. As of February 2022, no charges have been filed in the case.

Discography

*1994 ''That's Da Lick'' ( Maison de Soul) *1995 ''Lick It Up!'' (Maison de Soul) *1997 ''Gon' Be Jus' Fine'' ( Rounder) *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