Tribute to Clifton Chenier
On Saturday, June 28, St. Landry Parish Tourism pays tribute to Clifton Chenier through a jam led by Grammy winner Chubby Carrier and zydeco veteran Lil Jeff Boutte set for 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the St. Landry Parish Visitor Center, I-49 exit 23, in Opelousas. The free-to-attend tribute happens in addition to the monthly Zydeco Capital Jam earlier in the month.
The special tribute jam falls a few days after Clifton Chenier Day, which the state legislature declared in 2021. Chenier, the “King of Zydeco” who won a Grammy in 1983 and earned a Lifetime Achievement Award, was born June 25, 1925 near Opelousas.
Since 2021, the Clifton Chenier Centennial Committee has worked to celebrate 2025, the 100th anniversary of Chenier’s birth. The committee secured Clifton Chenier Day proclamations in Opelousas, St. Landry Parish and throughout Louisiana. The declarations remain in effect for the next two years.
Carrier, a Grammy winner in 2011, counts Chenier as an important influence in a career that has taken him from coast to coast and beyond. A piano accordionist like Chenier, Boutte recently released “I Ain’t Done Yet,” his first album in more than a decade.
