Festival lines up musical variety

Staff Report
The Sunday and Monday music at the 2016 Shrimp and Petroleum Festival, Sept. 1-5, will be a recipe of rock and country, flavored with zydeco and swamp pop offerings.
Here’s a list of the Sunday and Monday performers with the biographies submitted by festival organizers. The list of Friday and Saturday acts was published Thursday. It’s available at StMaryNow.com.

SUNDAY
Cajun Zydeco Dancers
(Noon-1:30 p.m.)
You see the fun that our dance students are having. Now it’s time for you to become part of that fun. Learn the dances: Cajun two-steps, Cajun jitterbug, zydeco and Whiskey River jitterbug.
Chubby Carrier
(2-4 p.m.)
Undeniably “The World’s Premier Zydeco Showman,” Carrier was born July 1, 1967, in Church Point. Carrier is the third generation of zydeco artists with such famous relatives as Roy Carrier (father), Warren Carrier (grandfather), and cousins Bebe Carrier and Calvin Carrier who are now considered legends in zydeco history.
Chubby Carrier began his musical career at age 12 by playing drums with his father’s band. He began playing the accordion at the age of 15. By age 17, Carrier had begun to play with Terrance Siemien and toured the world for 2½ years, before forming his own band in 1989.
Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band have recorded 10 CDs over the past 22 years of Carrier’s professional career. His band has traveled all over the world, performing to audiences in all parts of the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, Canada, North Africa and Europe.
Carrier and the band travel 150-175 days a year, taking his act to big festivals such as the New Orleans Jazz Fest, the Chicago Blues Fest. Summerfest (Milwaukee), Memphis in May, and several festivals in Europe.
Carrier has also done guest appearances on recordings for Tab Benoit, 6Was9, and Jimmy Thackery. Ann Wilson of the group Heart encourages Carrier to “continue the great sound that you have. This sound will take you places.”
South 70 Band
(4:30-6:30 p.m.)
From humble beginnings, South 70 has grown from just a couple of guys getting together in the shed to a dynamic entertainment experience from South Louisiana. South 70 is a Cajun/swamp pop/zydeco band with members from various areas in the heart of South Louisiana, with all of those members growing up around the rich music culture that is present in the bayous of south Louisiana.
South 70 has had airplay on radio stations and played festivals all the way from Nashville, Tennessee, to Patterson. So the next time you see South 70 is on the schedule at your favorite venue, make sure to stop by and pass a good time! We promise to keep you dancing!
Todd O’Neill
(7-9 p.m.)
Todd O’Neill has played with Big Cat Daddy, Hip Boot Joe, the Conway Twitty Musical and the Chee-Weez.
Down in Louisiana, when they’re cooking up something in the kitchen, they tend to throw a little bit of everything in the pot. Applying the same homegrown creative philosophy to his life and to his music, singer/songwriter O’Neill has concocted his own recipe for some seriously soulful, heartfelt and rockin’ country music.
Perfected in countless honky tonks and dance halls in the region around his hometown of Hammond, just north of New Orleans, O’Neill’s all-inclusive country music vision embraces everything from tear-in-your-beer ballads to flat-out country rock anthems, wrapped up in a tall, good looking package and delivered in a pure-country voice that sounds at once instantly familiar and like nobody you’ve heard before.
Band members include Seth Lecoq, lead guitar; Steve Grisaffe, bass guitar/vocals; and Blasien LeBlanc, drums/vocals.
MoJEAUX
(9:30-11:30 p.m.)
Originated in 2007, eight of New Orleans’ most seasoned musicians joined forces to create MoJEAUX, Louisiana’s most diverse and energetic party experience. Their impeccable repertoire of R&B, Motown, oldies, Top 40, hip hop, funk, and disco hits, quickly put MoJEAUX on the top of many must-have lists for festivals, corporate events, weddings, and clubs.
MoJEAUX’s versatility is sure to have a lasting impression and will excite audiences of all ages. Now known as the South’s premier party band, the official party band of the New Orleans Saints, MoJEAUX’s performance is something you must see to believe.

MONDAY
Jus Cuz
(11 a.m.-1 p.m.)
This local group consists of cousins. What started out as an acoustic project between vocalist Jahne Bailey and guitarist/vocals Cody Duval quickly became much more. Through the years, Duval accompanied Bailey for various events. Jus Cuz really started to take shape when they got together for the local Porch Fest benefit.
The band is an all-acoustic cover band for all occasions, such as festivals, weddings, Mardi Gras balls, private parties and casinos. Jus Cuz offers a wide variety of cover music that includes pop, classic rock, swamp pop, blues, and much more.
In addition to Bailey and Duval, other band members include Eric Thomas (percussion/vocals), Nathaniel “Nat” Duvalm (bass guitar) and Austin Duval (keyboard/vocals).
Pontchartrain Wrecks
(1:30-3:30 p.m.)
Born in New Orleans and raised across America is one way to describe Pontchartrain Wrecks founder and leader Miles Cabeceiras.
Having lived a traveling life as a child, it seems the influence of south Louisiana is the one thing that has remained a constant.
Spending time in Houston, Chicago, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Raleigh (and a few years in northern Mississippi), all before settling back down in New Orleans, it’s easy to see how musical genres ranging from country, blues, and rock ‘n’ roll are often on display at live performances.
With a band of seasoned musicians that lend credence to his musical vision, Pontchartrain Wrecks has captured the attention of audiences in and around New Orleans.
Strong family ties to south central Louisiana (specifically New Iberia) are evident throughout much of the Pontchartrain Wrecks debut album, self-released in January 2014. Whether it’s longing for home and “the Acadiana way” in the closing ballad “Fleur de Lis,” or simply the thrill of the chase in “Slow Train,” “heading out for the St. Mary Parish line/do I need a reason why?” Traces of life among the bayou towns of U.S. 90 aren’t hard to find.
But New Orleans is an international town, and the beauty of the Wrecks is that the listener can choose to fill the canvas in their head however they’d like. Songs like “It Ain’t So Bad” or “Blake’s Song” are an affirmation of an age-old musical truth; it doesn’t matter why music moves you.
After a few years of playing the New Orleans club circuit, Pontchartrain Wrecks stepped into the festival scene with performances at Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo and the Houma Best of the Bayou Festival in 2015.
With a follow-up to their 2014 debut LP currently in the works, Pontchartrain Wrecks are sure to solidify their place amongst the sonically rich landscape of the southeast Louisiana music scene.
Ross Grisham
(4-6 p.m.)
Ross Grisham Band is a variety band based in south Mississippi. Their southern-influenced sound is a mix of swamp pop, zydeco, country, funk, soul and old school rock ’n roll.
This band entertains at festivals, restaurants, weddings and nightclubs as far east as Biloxi, Mississippi, to as far west as Lafayette.
Grisham has released two extremely successful solo albums “Cold Hard Truth” (2013) and “All About You” (2014) that showcase the band’s energy, style, and sound.
Ross Grisham Band performs an entertaining show for all groups and ages and is guaranteed to get fans on their feet and start moving to the sounds of their favorite tunes!