| Dwayne Dopsie on the Youth Stage at the 2010 Black Swamp Arts Festival (Photo: J.D. Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune) |
The morning after the Black Swamp Arts Festival last September, the buzz was about Dwayne Dopsie.
The scion of a New Orleans zydeco family, Dwayne "Dopsie" Rubin and his band the Zydeco
Hellraisers had played two shows – one on the Main Stage and another on the Youth Arts stage, and they
burned through both shows.
So much so that Kelly Wicks decided to bring them back to Grounds for Thought for a free show and
recording session.
Rubin told the Sentinel-Tribune in a telephone interview this week that he was "shocked" to get
the offer, given he only played in town once. "To be approached is a great honor," he said.
He’s recorded live before, but this will be his first ever vinyl recording.
It’s the second record made at Grounds. Last year the Gary, Ind., blues band The Kinsey Report made a
record, and the LP was released at the 2010 Black Swamp Arts Festival.
Wicks is taking the same approach with Alex Hann doing the recording. He’ll have 500 copies pressed. The
LP will be released on Sept. 11 at the festival after a late afternoon set by "Dopsie."
Rubin said he had fun at the festival last September. "I remember it was really family oriented. It
was nice to see people of all ages just coming out and having fun."
And he’s heard from a number of Bowling Green fans inquiring when he’ll return.
Rubin said he’ll play a number of songs he hasn’t recorded before on Tuesday. His goal, as always, will
be to please the crowd.
The interaction between the band and audience is what makes a live recording special. "You got the
crowd cheering you on… to have that captured on wax is great."
Last summer before his Black Swamp Arts Festival appearance, Rubin described his music as a dose of the
"real authentic zydeco music."
He noted that the difference between a "decent" band" and "an awesome band" is
"you can feel every drop of sweat in every note."
It doesn’t matter, he said, if the crowd came specifically to hear zydeco. "I don’t think there’s
such a thing as a zydeco crowd," he said. "Everyone loves it. It’s music that heals the
soul."
Rubin has witnessed that touring as the opening act for such diverse musicians as Earth, Wind and Fire
and Van Morrison.
The 32-year-old musician is the youngest son of the King of Zydeco Alton "Rockin’ Dopsie" Rubin
and brother of David "Rockin’ Dopsie Jr." Rubin. His musical training began at age 4 when he
played washboard.
"I started watching my father and I picked up the accordion when I was 7," he said. "I
didn’t think I could get the hang of it."
He persisted. At 18, "when my talent caught up with my voice," someone told him about a
competition sponsored by the American Accordionists Association. The competition was open to musicians
playing all styles from polka to classical. Rubin ended up winning the title Hottest Accordionist."
Rubin considers prides himself as much on his mastery of his instrument as his mastery of zydeco. His
virtuosity accounts for his popularity in Europe with its long tradition of accordion playing.
Rubin said: "The people in Finland just love it almost like a baby loves milk. They go crazy for
it."
