onurblues: Dwayne Dopsie & The Zydeco Hellraisers - Now It Begins (2001), Jazzfest 2001, Traveling Man (2006), Up In Flames (2009), Set Me Free (2021)

→ Thanks to the late missed Blue DeVille and L.C.

High voltage Dopsie fever

I don't know what kind of voodoo medicine Alton Rubin aka Rockin' Dopsie or his wife were ingesting before making children, but there's no doubt it was strong stuff. A glimpse at the incredible energy of two of their sons, Rockin' Dopsie Jr and his younger brother Dwayne Dopsie, and you're convinced !

With his bodybuilder look, Dwayne Rubin aka Dwayne Dopsie, born in 1979 in Lafayette, he was 19 when he founded his own band, the Zydeco Hellraisers, in 1999. That same year he won a competition run by the American Accordion Association and was declared “America’s Hottest Accordionist”.

His band fully deserves its name of Hellraisers as, under Dwayne's leadership they deliver a high-voltage Zydeco built from a mix of rock'n'roll, rhythm'n'blues and red-hot two-steps, peppered with occasional reggae rhythms.

Review of their career through five of their albums.

On their debut opus, “Now It Begins”, 22 years ago, the boys struck it hard by being the first who dared to “zydeco” the sacred Hendrix' hymn “Voodoo Child”. The exuberant Dwayne and his band do not hesitate to show they have a good time in the studio with their fit of laughter heard at the start of “You Better Be Good”.

The truth is that they have a highly festive conception of Zydeco through the songs written by Dwayne for the most part. The album features only three covers from Zydeco King Clifton Chenier (“Ay Ai Ai”), Jimi Hendrix as just mentioned, and Jimmy Rogers (“You Told Me Baby” whose real title is actually “That's All Right”).

Besides typical Zydeco and two-step rhythms (“Hey Rosilee”, “Hey Hey Maria”, Chenier's “Ay Ai Ai”, “Come Back Baby”, “You Better Be Good”, “Everybody Goes To Harry's” and the final “Dance & Show Off” presented as a bonus track on the CD back cover), Dwayne's music keeps its umbilical cord linked to the blues, as Clifton Chenier and his own father before him, with titles like “Voodoo Woman”, Rogers' “You Told Me Baby” and “I'm So Tired”.

On that same year 2001, the band was featured at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Somebody had the idea to capture their show with a recording device, most likely standing close enough to the speakers for the crowd's noise to be drowned out. This non-professional recording was released as a bootleg : “JazzFest 2001”.

It's not perfect (wind, mono and high-pitched sound, uneven volume level, etc.) and unfortunately the CD cover doesn't mention the line-up (couldn't find it anywhere), but it's still listenable and gives a good idea of the energetic exuberance of the band on live performances at the beginning of their career.

Dwayne and his boys play a couple of titles from their first opus (“Voodoo Child”, “Everybody Goes To Harry's”), muscular versions of standards of the classic Zydeco repertoire (the medley “Jambalaya”, “Oh Bye-Bye-Bye”) and of Chicago blues (“You Got Me Running”), and altogether a set of dancing numbers (“Get It While It's Good”,“Zydeco 2 Step”, “Everybody Say”, “You Can't Sit Down”), with a notable moment : the bass solo on the nearly 10-minute long “Party Down”.

For live concerts fans, the same year 2001, the band released the official live “Dopsie Strikes”, recorded in Chalmette (Louisiana). Others followed later : “Get Down!” (2011), “Dopsie's Got It” (2014), “Live At The 2019 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival” on the Munck label, specialized in recording live performances since 2003, and especially the New Orleans JazzFest. A couple of weeks ago, Munck put out a new recording in their Live series : “Dwayne Dopsie & The Zydeco Hellraisers : Live At The 2023 New Orleans JazzFest” (1).

Released in 2006, “Traveling Man” features the gripping guitarist Chad Welling, saxophone backing riffs and solos by Curnis Andrus who brings a strong R'n'B color to the album, and the excellent and powerful rhythm section composed of three members of the Sam family : the appealing Glen on bass, Calvin on drums and Ronnie on rubboard.

After the muddled 2001 live bootleg, it sounds great to hear a well produced and edited recording that still has the same energy. Of the five albums reviewed here, it's the most blues-oriented, at least in spirit, with numbers like the opener “My Baby's On The Phone”, “I Wish You Was Mine”, and most of all the seven and a half-minute long title track “Traveling Man” offering Andrus and Welling the opportunity to show their skills with their solos.

With “Where'd My Baby Go”, we don't know where the lady's gone, but we take a trip back in the soul sound of the 1960s, spiced with an underlying early reggae-ish beat. Standing out are also highly rhythmic tracks like “My Name Is Hurricane”, “Everybody Say” and the final “Zydeco Two Step” and its typical drum beat.

Three years later, for “Up In Flames” (2009) the line-up has changed except for Calvin Sam who's still sitting behind the drums. New talent have arrived : Shelton Sonnier on guitar, Dion Pierre on bass, Carl Landry on sax, and Alex McDonald on rubboard. Dopsie's accordion often sounds like an organ.

The energy is intact and the album deserves its title : it's a collection of flaming R'n'Bs and blazing two-steps featuring outstanding stirring numbers. “I'm Gonna Walk”, “Feel So Good”, “Better Go Get It”, “Don't Listen”, “Got My Mind Gone”, “Back In The Woods” … no existential matters here, pure dancing songs, the lyrics are just secondary pretexts for Dopsie to use a second instrument, his voice.

Compared to the preceding works, the album's novelty is the increased funky flavor infused to most of the songs.

On their latest studio album “Set Me Free” (2021), an exuberant, pulsating and funky opus, Dwayne's Zydeco doesn't bother with slow numbers (except maybe the mid-tempo reggae title track) preferring burning dancing songs like the opening “Take It Higher”, “Louisiana Girl” with a hot solo from Hellraisers guitarist Brandon David, “My Sweet Chaitanya”, one of the most exciting track of the album, “Lafayette Boogie”, the excellent “I Give It To You” sung in Creole French, the fast blues “Talk To Me”, “Nobody Gonna Love Me” again with great guitar from Brandon David, and the hot final “Have Those Days Again“.

From l to r : Tiger, Dwayne, Rockin' Jr & Anthony

Dwayne's elder brothers dropped by the studio to help on the irresistible “D.D.’s Zydeco Two Step” featuring Anthony “Dopsie” Rubin on keyboards and Tiger Dopsie (Alton Rubin Jr) on drums doing an energetic duet with outstanding washboard-rubber Paul Lafleur.

Tiger Dopsie

Anthony is also present on the funky “Shake, Shake, Shake”. He and Alton are joined by third brother Rockin' Dopsie Jr on washboard & vocals for a tribute to their father Rockin Dopsie with one of his favorites, “The Things I Used To Do”, the famous song written by his good friend Guitar Slim.

According to those who were lucky to see him live, Dwayne Dopsie is an incredible showman (see videos below). Definitely suited for dancing parties, “Set Me Free” and the four preceding albums reflect the bottomless energy he's been exerting for more than twenty years.

At the same time, all his albums (a dozen today) illustrate Dwayne Dopsie's unwavering loyalty and respect to the essence of Zydeco from his debut, except maybe the fact that he doesn't really sing much in Creole French. Contrary to many contemporary Zydeco artists, he never incorporated external genres like hip-hop or rap, neither did he disrupt the typical Zydeco instrumental line-up.  A modern classic in his way ! ■

(1) Live At The 2023 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kcMw4E6j446ZLtG5CxzBqOaKF7EXxk5xE

The Line-ups & Audio (when available)

Greg Gordon

► Now It Begins (2001)
→ Dwayne Dopsie : Accordion, Vocals
→ Greg Gordon : Drums
→ Paul Lafleur : Rubboard

Shelton Sonnier

→ Jason Howard : Guitar
→ Alex McDonald : Rubboard
→ Thomas Krapp : Bass
→ Gary Druilhet : Keyboards (piano, B-3 Organ)

► JazzFest 2001
→ not precised on this bootleg recording, logically the same line-up as on the previous album.

David Brandon

► Traveling Man (2006) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m2p9KZ9FgbC_p5suBkzLDlKrGtNyWVKiQ

→ Dwayne Dopsie : Accordion, Vocals

→ Chad Welling : Guitar


Paul Lafleur

→ Glen Sam : Bass

→ Calvin Sam : Drums

→ Ronnie Sam : Rubboard

→ Curnis Andrus : Sax

► Up In Flames (2009) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kpidfYpYM_TwHtXEKVaTg3dxna_69Z074

Tim McFatter

→ Dwayne Dopsie : Accordion, Vocals

→ Shelton Sonnier : Guitar, Backing vocals

→ Dion Pierre : Bass
→ Calvin Sam : Drums
→ Carl Landry : Sax
→ Alex McDonald : Rubboard, Backing vocals

► Set Me Free (2021) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ka5UPf7C82KBTiKj9M3tODdXnUIALG2Hg

Dion Pierre

→ Dwayne “Dopsie” Rubin : Accordion, Vocals
→ Brandon David : Guitar
→ Anthony “Dopsie” Rubin : Keyboards on #7 & 8

Alex McDonald

→ Paul Lafleur : Rubboard
→ Tim McFatter : Sax
→ Dion Pierre : Bass
→ Kevin Minor : Drums
→ Alton “Tiger Dopsie” Rubin Jr : Drums on #5 & 7
→ Rockin' Dopsie Jr : Rubboard & Vocals on #5 & 7

Videos

Rockin' Dopsie, the patriarch

● Let the old times roll : Rockin' Dopsie And His Cajun Twisters

► Old VHS of “Les Bon Temps Rouler” TV show on KADN (unfortunately with the ads !), late 1980s-early 1990s (before August 26, 1993 in any case) feat. Rockin' Dopsie Jr on rubboard, and Paul “Lil' Buck” Sinegal on guitar : https://youtu.be/JOz15d_yPk8
► Essen, Germany, 1980 : https://youtu.be/e6gp0xTD_Ig

● Short documentary-interview of Dwayne and his musicians during the recording session of the 2017 album “Top of the Mountain” (excuse the messy spelling of the names, obviously it was shot by a non-English native speaker) : https://youtu.be/vwiIgNO4lqU

● Live performances
► Outdoor show (shaky amateur shooting+bad sound), Austin, TX, 2007 :
→ “Hey Joe” : https://youtu.be/ckZvTcw9DEc
→ https://youtu.be/mLCfrpoI7VU
► Bourbon Street Festival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2008 :
→ https://youtu.be/MPJT4Kw2rqs
→ https://youtu.be/FpEvlNZgoD4

► Cognac Blues Passions Fest., France, 2009 : https://youtu.be/05Kom2MUxGw
► Muddy's Summertime Festival, Weinheim, Germany, 2010 : https://youtu.be/zHGftub6qf4
► The Buffalo Rose, Golden, CO, 2011 : https://youtu.be/UfiSASmUJe8

► Suwalki Blues Festival, Poland, 2012 :
→ https://youtu.be/_dGo_OJnKrc
→ https://youtu.be/PqfVSXv6kMc
► 20th Bluesfestival, Kwadendamme, Netherlands, 2012 :
→ https://youtu.be/U-QD2ert50M
→ https://youtu.be/1P7n3QbtCbc
► Spring Blues, Ecaussinnes, Belgium, 2012 : https://youtu.be/iobcU7MijqE

► Trasimeno Lake Blues Fest., Italy, 2012 : https://youtu.be/bQYqajRPdHk
► Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., 2013 : https://youtu.be/c7bSPTMAVlk
► Cajun & Blues Music Fest., Simi Valley, CA :
→ 2014 (feat. Selwyn Cooper on guitar) : https://youtu.be/ENetRkcjU3E
→ 2015 : https://youtu.be/89DVtEo6gv0 (or) https://youtu.be/j6dngnCCq9w
→ 2016 : https://youtu.be/a02Epr3w_no (or) https://youtu.be/MA6zCc8Vwkw

► Hondarribia Blues Festival, Spain, 2015
→ #1 : https://youtu.be/Y8fhwwlo5CU
→ #2 : https://youtu.be/exdP_MkMV-A
→ #3 : https://youtu.be/huJqkI5UhTw
→ #4 : https://youtu.be/vaEs7tz-nvM
► Salem Jazz & Soul Festival, 2015 : https://youtu.be/LT3aHGzCx8E

► Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise (LRBC) #26, 2016 : https://youtu.be/we08OiN8v-I
► Spiritul Focsani Blues Festival, Romania, 2018 : https://youtu.be/UXUMeqeX26w
► With Damon Sonnier, LRBC #32, 2019 : https://youtu.be/OC8OrZvJvS0
► Bourbon Street Fest., New Orleans, 2021 : https://youtu.be/ZFFHzrY9d9k