The name Stanley Dural, Jr., may not mean much to many people, but millions of music lovers around the world are certainly familiar with his stage name as the legendary front man and ambassador of Louisiana zydeco music with the band Buckwheat Zydeco.
Taking his nickname due to his similarly braided hair of Buckwheat from “The Little Rascals,” Dural grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana in a large family where music was ever present. His father was an accomplished traditional Creole accordion player and his mother played spiritual music.
“I grew up with seven sisters and six brothers, and every morning we would go to church and listen to spiritual music,” he says. “I was surrounded by music and I was on stage as an organist at the age of nine and have been on stage ever since.”
Although his father would play the accordion “whenever he was awake,” he had no desire to play professionally in any way.
“My dad never played on stage for the public, but you could have 100 people at his house, he’d play for them,” Dural says. “You take the same people and bring ’em in a club, he’d never play. He felt like the music was meant for family entertainment, only in the home.”
The elder Dural tried to get his son interested in zydeco music and the accordion, but he resisted time and time again. Instead of following in his father’s musical footsteps, Dural studied the organ and started a 15-piece funk and soul band called Buckwheat and The Hitchhikers in 1971. The group was big in the area and found some success with the single, “It’s Hard To Get.”
An accomplished Hammond B-3 player, in 1976, at the advice of his dad, Dural became organist for zydeco legend Clifton Chenier’s Red Hot Louisiana Band and discovered the joy and power of zydeco music.
“It wasn’t until I started hearing what Clifton was doing with the accordion that I decided to go back to my roots and start to learn that,” Dural says. “I’d never played the 120 little buttons in the back and I had to do a lot of woodsheddin’ to coordinate all that huffin’ and puffin.’”
For four decades, Dural has been playing the instrument and with Buckwheat Zydeco has introduced zydeco music to generations of fans.
“The secret is loving what you do,” he says. “You have the audience out there really appreciating what we are doing and that keeps it inspirational. It’s just what I do and I’m happy that I’m doing it.”
On Wednesday, March 11, Buckwheat Zydeco will be heading to the Barns at Wolf Trap for an evening of great zydeco music.
“The music is very energetic and every performance is a party with the people having a good time and we let everyone get involved and that makes it go so well,” Dural says. “We are coming in to Mardi Gras.”
He will be playing music from all of his albums, including his latest release, the Grammy-winning, “Lay Your Burden Down.”
“It’s so rewarding and a blessing,” Dural says of his first Grammy win in six attempts. “After all these years, here comes the Grammy and everything happens for a reason. It didn’t happen for so long but I didn’t let it get to me. I just kept doing what I do.”
Even at the age of 65, Dural still enjoys touring and being on the road, and doesn’t think he will ever slow down.
“I like doing what I do and I love playing music; it’s what I have been doing my whole life,” he says. “Whether it’s two people or 2,000, we are going to be having fun and entertain. From the age of five, I knew this is what I wanted to do.”
Over the years, Buckwheat Zydeco has played for President Bill Clinton’s inauguration, played at the opening ceremonies for the Atlanta-based Summer Olympics and opened for Eric Clapton for his famed 12-night stand at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1988.
“You don’t forget things like that and I’ve had some amazing opportunities,” Dural says. “To me, making music is what it’s all about. I couldn’t see myself ever doing anything else.”
