“I was nine years old when I first started playing zydeco. My uncle John used to play the washboard for my father [Roy Carrier], and he didn’t make it one night so my dad woke me up to come out and play my first zydeco show at the Church Hall in Lawtell, Louisiana. After I played my first gig, that’s all I wanted to do, but I couldn’t go into the bars at that age and play. I had to wait until the church halls came around.

My dad had all the instruments: drums, accordion, and bass. We didn’...