Sweat
(re-issue)
MDS 1094| 2011
Alter Ego
(re-issue)
MDS 1093| 2011
V.I.P.
(re-issue)
MDS 1090| 2010
M.V.P.
(re-issue)
MDS 1086| 2007
Digital Downloads
also available! | A brief history...
Chris Ardoin, the next generation of many Ardoin musicians, has his own unique sound that has dancers and music lovers craving him, packing Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas clubs, churches, dance halls, trailrides, and festivals. He blends the traditional Creole music with r&b, rock, jazz, blues, country, and gospel. Chris was born and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana where he still resides today. He started playing the accordion at the young age of four and by the age of nine he had already played Carnegie Hall in New York. And by fourteen he had performed for over 500,000 people at the Monument in Washington D.C. Chris Ardoin and NuStep has traveled and entertained millions of people over the years not just in the crawfish circuit but also in far away places such as London, Sweden, Amsterdam, Jamaica, Mexico and even Japan.
After making special guest appearances for a few years with Lawrence Ardoin, his father, Chris and brother Sean formed their own band, Chris Ardoin and Double Clutchin', with Lawrence's help. The band quickly gained a huge fan base with their infectious, energetic music.
In 1999, a long overdue talk on plans for what direction the band would be going in between Chris, Sean, and father Lawrence led to a breakup. Chris, at the time a senior at Washington-Marion Magnet High School, had his own vision on what he wanted to do. Music was not the only thing Chris ever wanted to do. Sports was a big part of his life. Juggling between music and sports was the easiest thing and deciding which one will to continue after high school. Sean went on to start Sean Ardoin 'n ZydeKool and Chris kept on trucking with Double Clutchin'.
In 2004, Chris wanted to start over so to speak. Start from scratch and really set his self apart from the Double Clutchin' name and do what he wanted the way he wanted to do it, Chris then headed to his studio to start the recording of "Sweat" and changed the name of the band to Chris Ardoin and NuStep. Since changing the name and creating a brand new sound, the band is at the top of its game. Chris says, "Music has given me more than one can imagine from awards, movies, traveling the world, and most of all giving audiences everywhere the joy of Zydeco music.
Reviews...
BLUESRAG | June-July 2011
Alter Ego (MDS 1093)
Creole Accordionist Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin begat accordionist Lawrence "Black" Ardoin, who, in turn, begat accordionist Chris "The Candyman" Ardoin. In 2009, the 28-year-old begat Alter Ego, a radical update to what it sounds like to be a modern-day Creole. The accordion and scrubboard are still there. But gone are zydeco's familiar rhythmic landmarks and lyric antiquities; no paper in the shoe, no toot toots, no snap beans sans salt. This is NuStep Zydeko: wise to saggin' jeans, Facebook, and Hennessy; all heavily dipped in R&B beats and sly rhymes for an extra-smooth coating. "Good, Good," "Make U Surrender," or the sex-u-up "Rockin' the Stiletto" may be light-years removed from the primal coarseness of, say, "Brunette's Waltz," originally waxed in '34 by his famously famous ancient cousin, Amede Ardoin. Yet the stylishly stylish wrapper around this entirely original set still houses the same instinctual interests: life's ups, life's downs, seeking that desirous girl. And the music's nu form still remains a dancefloor cathartic. Importantly, such a major Creole evolution is securely in the best of hands: those of an Ardoin, zydeco's first family.
~Dennis Rozanski
Contact Info...
(337) 494-1234
chris@chrisardoin.com
Related links...
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