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Dikki Du and the Zydeco Crew don't do what they do to attain mainstream success or booming record sales. Nor do they do what they do to seek acceptance from critics and their musical peers.
Instead, as they proudly declare in a statement on their web site, Du and his band have a much more personal reason for doing what they do.
"We dig what we do, and because we do, you can too," Du says.
While this musical stance may seem a bit vague, it is an ideal summary of the many underlying meanings that have come to define the group, and Du himself.
Du and his band mates take great pride in the rich heritage that is zydeco music, but they take even greater pride in sharing that heritage with those who have never before experienced its unique blend of rhythm and sound.
It's a heritage that Du and his group have brought to Carbondale before in 1999 and will again at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 17, when they take to the steps of Shryock Auditorium as the latest act in the Sunset Concert Series.
Du said he anticipates a warm reception from those in attendance, drawing on the crowd reaction from his last trip to Carbondale.
"Last time we were here, we just got a real warm welcome and it was really nice," Du said. "I hope that happens again."
And while the show will be for many their first exposure to the energetic, danceable beats of zydeco, the unique blend of sound was something Du was drawn to from the moment he first heard it.
Born in Church Point, La., as Troy Carrier, Du first became enthralled with the vibrant and sensual beats of zydeco at the age of 9, when he joined his brother, Chubby, his sister, Elaine, and his father, Roy, in the first of many after-school jam sessions.
"Pretty much we came home from school, dropped our books and headed to the instruments," Du said.
Zydeco, which originated in the Creole culture of southwestern Louisiana, quickly struck a chord with the youngster, even though his inexperience put him at the bottom rung of his family's musical ladder.
"I got my start on the washboard at first, since my brother and my father were already familiar with playing," Du said.
While his father took the reins of the accordion, and his brother wailed on the drums, Du was left to man the washboard. But Du soon grew into his role in the background, and when his father relocated the family to a tiny town called Lawtell across the state, Du shared the stage with his father during their shows at the Offshore Lounge, which his father acquired upon the family's arrival.
Not long after, Du's brother started up a family act, and Du moved onto the drums, with his cousin Kevin Carrier sliding in to his former spot on washboard. They spent the 1980s touring both domestically and abroad, spreading the sounds of zydeco to destinations as far as Belgium, Greece and Holland.
Du returned to Lawtell in the early '90s to expand his musical repertoire, taking lessons on the triple-note accordion from his father and brother. From there, Du sought to do his "own thang" and formed Dikki Du and the Zydeco Crew, with whom he released his first album, "Doing My Thang."
In the years following their debut, Du and his crew have experimented with several different lineups that have featured his cousin Kevin, Ronald Carrier, Dwight Carrier, nephew Kevin "Hot Dog" Broussard, Curtis Carrier, Jody Brousssard, Jacque Randell, Oliver Scorveck, and Bobby Broussard. Two other former members, Bobby Jackson and Brad Guilbeau, died in an accident on their return to Lawtell following a show in Florida years ago.
Although the group's makeup has changed throughout the years, the constant infusion of new blood has allowed Du to maintain his continuous flow of creativity, as seen on the group's latest effort, "Make It Funky." On that album, Du and his bandmates mixed a bevy of original music with some surprising covers of classics such as the Ohio Players' "Fire."
"We just tried to make it kind of a departure by mixing in a little reggae and a little funk with our usual stuff," Du said. "We just were trying some different things, trying to go in a new direction."
While the group's musical range continues to evolve, one thing likely never to change is its devotion to the homogenized sound of zydeco. The style was dismissed during the1950s and '60s as "old folk's music" and nearly forgotten, but a revival that began in the early 1980s restored it back to its standing as one of music's definitive styles.
Just as the revival of zydeco was buoyed by passionate pride in its black Creole heritage, Du has been equally influenced by the culture that has surrounded him since birth. The passing years have taken Du and his group to Belgium and back, but a part of him will always be rooted in the bayou country.
But as devoted as he is to his native state, Du relishes the opportunity that awaits him with every new city he plays, Carbondale included.
"It seems like people appreciate our music more in other places since it's something new to them, whereas at home they hear it all the time," Du said. "That's why I'm looking forward to playing Carbondale again, since I'm sure they'll appreciate it."
