Travis Matte - Vocals, Accordion and Fiddle
Bryson Simoneaux (Sneauxman) - Drums, Background Vocals
Kevin Stelly - Bass Guitar
Kevin Cormier (Turtle) - Lead Guitar
Jerry Killmer - Keys
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Our group was formed a little different than most local groups. Our first goal was to get a CD out then start doing shows opposed to performing as a group then doing a CD release later once style was formed.
It all started in Sept. of 2004 when we released our first CD entitled "Dis ain'tcha momma's Zodico" which featured the song "Bar be que and drink a few" and received a lot of air play throughout Louisiana. So, in Jan. 2005 we started doing live shows and formed a formal group. The first CD was such a success and the band draw at clubs/festivals became increasingly growing we decided it was time for another CD!
So, in Sept. 2005 we released our second CD entitled "Zydeco Train" and have had several songs receive quite a bit of airplay including "Vibrator"....(number 1 requested song on several stations) the Cd also featured 2 of our most requested songs as well "Booty Call" and "Zydeco Train"! The CD according to several distributors in Louisiana and 7 of the major retail stores was the .. 1 selling CD in it's genre of music!
In 2006 we decided to release 2 CD's! One being a Xmas CD entitled "Ho, Ho, Ho" and the other entitled "Booty Zydeco"! Our Xmas CD received instant air play with the song entiled "Santa Claus don't wear no draws" and our "Booty Zydeco" CD was nearly a double CD with 21 songs featuring 18 original songs and 3 covers! One of our original songs received instant attention from LSU fans around the world with the song entitled "Tiger Tailgate Party" landing us LSU shows and one including a party for LSU Alumni at "The House of Blues" in New Orleans! The song also got New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton's attention and we received a personal email from him saying that he enjoyed our group!
In 2007 the band got a surprise visit from Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin's lead singer and front man)! He came out and heard our group and stayed and danced the entire night and visited with us after the show and said how he hadn't danced in 10 years and how much he enjoyed the show and through word of mouth heard that he told several people how much he enjoyed the band! So, being a huge fan of Robert Plant it was one of those moments for the band that will never be forgotten!
In 2008 we released our 5th CD entitled HipHop Zyderock and was a Cd that blended all of our past styles and several new ideas that we wanted to express on CD. The styles ranged from Zydeco, rock, hip-hop, Cajun and everything in between along with our own ideas and styles. This CD we also decided to drop the term Zydeco from the band name for several different reasons. One being we played so many different styles of music that we didn't like being LABELED as a band that played one style and two being that it wasn't fair to Zydeco bands that we represented Zydeco with us doing so many styles so we decided to simply be "The Kingpins"!
The CD featured several party songs and several risky songs that created controversy but also featured a song dedicated to our lost brother and band member Mathew "T-Clem" Cormier and the song was titled "Miss You", the song received several hundred and possibly thousands of emails and facebook messages saying how it touched so many people. The song is close to our heart and glad it helped so many people get through their time of lost!
2010 the band released "POP IT" CD and received several number one radio request spots for the song entitled "Tawanna" and even had rave reviews in other countries including France which wrote about the original French song entitled "Boire Le Biere/Drinking Beer".
2011 the band decided to do something totally different from our normal original CD's and record several old songs that inpsired us from both local and national artist including Chuck Barry, Little Richard, Johnnie Allen, TK Hulin and even featured the ever so famous "House of the rising sun". The Cd was entitled "OLD SCHOOL".
The band released "Let's Party" CD in April of 2012 and blended all of their previous styles of creativity along with some brand new sounds which many who have heard consider it's own genre of music which is a huge compliment to the group.
2013 the band decided to do an all roots traditional style CD featuring our favorite cajun oldies entitled "Old time cajun songs". Not to confuse this CD with kingpins taking a different direction we simply titled the CD Travis Matte and did not include the Kingpins. The Cajun project was something close to our hearts and something we loved recording and hope everyone loves it as much as we loved recording it!
In 2014 the band was awarded with 6 CFMA awards from the Old Time Cajun Songs recording and also released it's 10th record entitled "X" or simply roman numeral 10 which featured all original brand new Kingpins tunes including "When she's alone" and "Mardi Gras parade" which made nearly every Mardi Gras parade route.
In 2015, the band released two singles which received tremendous air play "Bye Felicia" and "He don't know you like I do" and in December of 2015 released the full CD including the 2 singles "Highly Influenced" which was titled as such due to the amount of various influences the band has and seems to not fit into any particular genre very easy but it is one thing for sure and that is "The Kingpin Original Sound"! :-)
We would like invite all of you guys to come and experience the Kingpins LIVE!
R.I P Matthew Cormier (T-Clem) - Kingpin for life! Matthew passed away on 8-25-07 and was with the Kingpins from day one and helped mold the Kingpin sound! |
