ZYDECO ♪ SWAMP POP ♪ CAJUN SWING
Laissez les bon temps rouler!
Let the good times roll, as they say down in Louisiana.
Come pass a good time with Zydeco Ya Ya, the hottest band on the bayou!
Zydeco Ya Ya, a powerhouse band from the Piedmont area of the Carolinas, and Georgia, delivers a zydeco groove guaranteed to let the good times roll. Playing at festivals, dances, and clubs for their fans everywhere, Zydeco Ya Ya has emerged as the area’s hottest new zydeco band, performing everything from traditional zydeco to swamp pop, second line, and Cajun swing. Zydeco Ya Ya’s red-hot rhythms excite listeners and dancers alike with their hard-driving two-steps and waltzes that are guaranteed to fire up your feet, with the accordion and rubboard pumping non-stop energy onto the dance floor. It's always a zydeco party with Zydeco Ya Ya in the house.
Zydeco Ya Ya features accordion, fiddle, frottoir (rubboard), electric guitar, electric bass, and drums, for a true Louisiana dance hall sound.
Trent Van Blaricom, band leader, plays single and triple row accordions, fiddle, harmonica, and is one of the band's three vocalists. He has been performing zydeco music for over 20 years. Trent traveled to Louisiana in earlier years to study with the old Creole and Zydeco music masters such as Canray Fontenot, Delton Broussard, BooZoo Chavis, Willis Prudhomme, Keith Frank, and Bois Sec Ardoin, and has performed on stage with them at concerts and fais-do-dos. Trent has performed with the Tracy Schwarz Cajun Band and is the founder of Washington DC bands Zydeco Crayz, Savoir Faire Cajun Band, and The Canecutters. His bands have performed at the US Embassy in Jamaica, The 150th Anniversary of the Smithsonian, the PepsiCo World Gathering at the Homestead, and his bands have opened for Louisiana greats such as The Neville Brothers, Buckwheat Zydeco, Boozoo Chavis, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Steve Riley and The Mamou Playboys, The Nighthawks, and Sleepy LaBeef.
Sandy Van Blaricom, Trent ‘s wife, is the band's frottoir and fiddle player. She has performed in the Washington DC area for over 20 years with Zydeco Crayz, Savoir Faire Cajun Band and The Canecutters. Sandy has studied with many of the same Louisiana Creole, Cajun, and zydeco masters as Trent, and has performed with Willis Prudhomme and Tracy Schwarz. Sandy is also a vocalist with the band.
Lee Griffin is a full-time professional guitarist and vocalist who has performed in the southeastern United States for over 30 years. He has played in concert with B.B. King, Denise La Salle, Little Milton, Howlin' Wolf, The Bobby "Blue" Bland, Elvin Bishop, Buddy Miles, Ray Charles, The Commodores, Joe Simon, Millie Jackson, Three Dog Night, Ollie Woodson, The Temptations, Rare Earth, The Bar-Kays, The Atlanta Rhythm Section, Alabama, The Allman Brothers Band, Mountain, and many other stars. Lee has performed in the Atlanta area at the Northside Tavern, Sambuca Jazz Cafe, Fat Matt's Rib Shack, Piedmont Park, and the Georgia Aquarium.
Phillip Ashley, on bass, has been inspired by great artists such as Warren Haynes, the late Ronnie Burgin, and Matt Sluder. He has studied with Victor Wooten, Anthony Wellington, Chuck Rainey and others. He has played with The Meeting Place Church International praise team in Columbia, SC as welll as two R&B groups Groove to Satisfaction and The City Council Band. He has performed for many corporate, public, and private events in the Western North Carolina area.
Peter Chakales, on drums, toured with Daddy’s Money Band in the late 1970’s. In 1980 Peter joined with Bill Sheffield and The XLs in Atlanta, playing with them in numerous clubs in Atlanta and throughout the Southeast until 1985. Peter has also played with several of the area’s top groups including Banks and Shane, The Psychics, The Ken Rhyne Band, The Terry Flynn Band, Stoney Brooks, and The Lee Griffin Trio. In 2005, in support of The Ken Rhyne Band release “Caught You White Handed” Peter performed at the New Orleans Jazz Festival. In 2007 the Terry Flynn Band was invited to Asheville to perform at the Warren Haynes Christmas Jam. In 2011, the reunited Bill Sheffield and The XLs played at the The Robert E. Lee Foundation Gala at Robert E. Lee’s birthplace, StratfordHall, and at the Warren Haynes Christmas Jam.
