It Isn’t Mardi Gras Without Dropping The Beat featuring Rusty Metoyer and the Zydeco Krush

by Kerri Cooke

It wouldn’t be Mardi Gras in Southwest Louisiana without the presence of vibrant and lively musical performances. We could hardly laissez les bons temps rouler without a melody to get our feet moving. One local band, Rusty Metoyer and the Zydeco Krush, are at their busiest in the two weeks leading up to Mardi Gras. Not only has their fan base grown over the years but so have their gigs—jumping from around 80 yearly in 2019 to over 140 yearly in 2025. 

The band, composed of Rusty Metoyer, band leader, lead singer and accordion player; Andrew Fontenot, drums; Cameron LaVan, scrub board; Marcus Jack, bass; Eric Joseph, keys; and Kaleb LeDay, guitar, performs every weekend at various events, but Mardi Gras is a special time. Metoyer says he loves to focus on performing for rural Mardi Gras celebrations. “The country Mardi Gras is our specialty. I look forward to it every year. It’s the tradition behind it and the family aspect. It’s the small Mardi Gras traditions inherited from parents and grandparents, and now people are bringing their kids and grandkids to continue the tradition.” 

Once such small celebration is the Iowa Chicken Run which Metoyer performs for every year. “I do the parade and the horse ride. I play the accordion for the elderly while the kids chase the chickens. And then I play for the dance that night.” 

Metoyer also plays for the Ceasar’s Mardi Gras Chicken Run in Elton and at the chicken run in Lake Charles (labeled Lake Charles Mardi Gras Parade & Zydeco Dance) put on by Antonio Duhon the weekend before Mardi Gras weekend. “Everyone thinks you need to go to Mamou or Eunice to take part in these festivities. There’s one right here. It brings everyone in the surrounding areas out.” 

The connection the local community has with music is inseparable from music. From rich Creole tunes to the melodies of zydeco, Metoyer says Mardi Gras and music are a natural combination. “Mardi Gras is about getting your partying and reveling out before Lent starts. You can’t be in a bad mood when listening to zydeco. It’s happy, upbeat and makes you want to dance, especially when participating in something cultural like Mardi Gras.” 

While Metoyer has traveled and performed overseas and extensively up the east coast and west coasts of the United States, he says during Mardi Gras he’s “blessed to do exactly what I want to do.” Other places appreciate zydeco because it’s a “novelty,” but in Southwest Louisiana it’s a part of life. Metoyer says, “I want Rusty Metoyer to be synonymous with zydeco when people think about the genre” and hopes to keep growing the band’s reach.