Nathan Williams & The Zydeco Cha Chas will be in Philadelphia next week for two free concerts.
On Wednesday, June 24th the Lafayette, LA band takes over Dilworth Park at City Hall for WXPN’s Live at Lunch series. Then on Friday, June 26th Williams and dance instructor Harold Guillory join us for the next Zydeco Crossroads Dance Party at Penn’s Landing Caterers.
Check out our Artist Spotlight on Williams below. Go here for more details on Wednesday’s show, and here to RSVP for Friday’s party.
Nathan Williams began his music career in the 80s as a kind of therapy following a serious illness. After mastering the accordion, the South Louisiana native and Creole-speaker gathered his family around him and formed the Zydeco Cha Chas – a band that has carried on the Zydeco traditional for three decades now.
In 2013 the Cha Chas released their tenth record A New Road. The effort brought the band out of a seven-year recording hibernation and re-cemented its place as hardworking leaders in the Zydeco community. As Dan Willging says in his review:
…nothing here will make anyone yearn for any alleged glory days. Instead, Nathan makes it all count here….’Still Alive’ is the disc’s centerfold concept where Nathan silences those critics who say he’s not in game; the prolific tunesmith is just at home writing songs.
Watch the band’s in-store performance at the Louisiana Music Factory below.