Page 19 - BiTS_10_OCTOBER_2021

BiTS INTERVIEW: Dwayne Dopsie

Dwayne (Dopsie) Rubin hails from one of the most influential Zydeco families in the world.
Although inspired by tradition, Dwayne has developed his own high energy style that defies
existing stereotypes and blazes a refreshingly distinct path for 21st century Zydeco music.
This singer/songwriter and accordionist has performed all over the world since debuting his
band, Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers, at age 19. He is the son of Alton Jay Rubin
(February 10, 1932 – August 26, 1993), who performed as Rockin' Dopsie (sometimes Rockin'

Dupsee), who was an American zydeco singer and accordion player

BiTS: Let’s start at the beginning then. I’ve been a follower of both you and your father for many,
many years. Can I clear up one thing before we start? He sometimes went, I think, by the name of
Doopsie rather than Dopsie. Are you a Doopsie or a Dopsie?

DD: No, I’m a Doopsie [chuckling].

BiTS: Okay, let’s start at the beginning. I gather

you learned to play the accordion from watching
tapes of your father and of Clifton Chenier. Is that
correct?

DD: That’s right.

BiTS: What did you do? Did you just play along
and try to learn what they were playing?

DD: No. I would listen to the music and go back
and play it over and try to imitate how they
played. For a while, that was how I learned until I
learned the positioning of my fingers and the keys
and everything. It took me a long time to get that
down because these were professional accordion
players. It’s not like this was somebody that I was learning with.

BiTS: Your dad was left-handed. You’re not a leftie, are you?

DD: I’m left-handed for everything else, but I’m right-handed for music.

BiTS: Oh really. You play pool left-handed, do you?

DD: You know what, yes, I actually do play pool left-handed. Only music is right-hand - everything
else is left-hand. I eat, I write, everything is left-hand.

BiTS: When you were learning to play the accordion, did you find it very difficult? Did you nearly

give up in frustration sometimes?

DD: No. I never did. Playing accordion was always a joy of mine, and I guess in many ways, it was
a new toy that I was learning and trying to figure out.

BiTS: What is it about Zydeco that attracts you particularly?

DD: It’s the feel of the music. It’s the fact that with Zydeco you’ve got to have that feeling to
actually play Zydeco. It’s like blues. You’ve got to have the blues to play the blues. You’ve got to feel

Zydeco to play Zydeco. It’s not something you could just pick up. Especially from this area - people