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Opelousas, LA – The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame today announced it will induct Roy Carrier into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. This occasion will be celebrated on Saturday April 26th, 2025, at the Yambilee Center Hall in Opelousas, Louisiana beginning at 1:00 p.m. as part of a Carrier Family Celebration Concert featuring four generations of Carrier musicians. Legendary Creole fiddler Bebe Carriere’s oldest son, Andrew Carriere’ of Oakland California, in his first ever public performance in Louisiana with be joined by Jeffrey Broussard in tributes to the Carriere’ Brothers, (Bebe Carriere’ and Erastus Carriere’) and the Lawtell Playboys. Other featured performers will include Grammy winner and Louisiana Music Hall of Fame inductee Chubby Carrier, Troy “Dikki Du” Carrier, Dwight “Black Cat” Carrier, Laura “Zydeco T” Carrier (also a Louisiana Music Hall of Fame inductee), Deonte Carrier, and others.
On Friday 4/25 Dwight Carrier will host a family jam at the Yambilee Cenrter with an open invitation to anyone that had played in a Carrier Family Band. There are many.
On Saturday 4/26 there will be a family celebration concert paying tribute to Big Daddy Roy Carrier being inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame with 4 generations of the family crossing the stage. 87-year-old Andrew Carriere will be flown in from Oakland to participate. Andrew is the oldest son of legendary Creole fiddler Bebe’ Carriere. He becomes a huge story within the story. Andrew left Louisiana in1970 as part of the Creole migrations west to look for work. He wanted to escape the sharecropping existence of much of his family. While in Oakland, other friends from home, like Danny Poulard, convinced him he needed to pick up an instrument to honor the legacy of his family. He did and has been playing traditional Creole music ever since. He will open the show and for his set we will pair him with a fiddler to pay tribute to the Carriere Brothers, his father Bebe’ and Uncle Eraste, who were first recorded by Ron Stanford, Nick Spitzer and then Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records in 1972 – 74. Then we will fill in a band and they will pay tribute to the Lawtell Playboys. An important band in the legacy of the Creole Music of St Landry Parish that was founded by the Carriere Brothers that contained Calvin Carriere, Goldman Thibodeaux, Phillip Carriere and Delton Broussard. For a period of time, they were the house band at Slim’s Y Ki Ki in Opelousas. When I asked Andrew when was the last time that he had been on stage in Louisiana, I was stunned when he answered, “he hadn’t”. It means that at the age of 87 this would be the first time to be on stage in front of his family. Amazing.
On Sunday 4/27 we will host a major family reunion. Genealogists are greatly excited. While much research has been done on the Carriere/Carrier Family, this is viewed as a great research opportunity for a deeper look. No one knows just how big this reunion will be.
Both Roy Carrier and Calvin Carriere were regarded as great teachers and mentors to up-and-coming musicians. Calvin mentored many fiddlers who wanted to learn what he and his Uncle Bebe were doing. Roy opened his Offshore lounge for Thursday night jams which became a proving ground for nearly an entire next generation of aspiring Zydeco musicians. He loaned musicians gear and gave many their first paying gig. To honor that legacy, we will be conducting an instrument drive that is being coordinated by Lache Pas and Hungry for music. Lâche Pas is an experiential elective class that exposes students to the rich world of Louisiana Cajun and Creole music, arts and language. Hungry for Music is a national orginization whose mission statement is to put instruments in the hands of children who wouldn’t be able to afford them otherwise.