Nathan and The Zydeco Cha Chas

Nathan's musical career began in his brother's one-stop convenience store. After he got his first accordion he played along to everything from Isley Brothers records to his Uncle's cajun folk songs. Soon, his older brother Sid thought Nathan was promising enough to arrange for lessons from none other than Buckwheat Zydeco. Soon, Nathan and his band were hot enough to play Sid's brand new zydeco club, El Sid O's. "We played a lot of Friday nights for free, trying to build an audience," remembers Nathan. Soon, the band was popular enough to get played on the radio when Sid released several singles on his newly minted "El Sid O's" label.

It was Buckwheat Zydeco who suggested that Rounder Records investigate Nathan. Producer Scott Billington checked out the Cha Chas in Lafayette and soon they were recording a live album with the legendary Bozoo Chavis. On the basis of that set, Nathan was signed to Rounder and recorded Steady Rock. R+B songwriter Paul Kelly contributed the title track (as he did with the follow-up) and "Steady Rock" became something of hit in Southwest Louisiana. Nathan began to bring the dance hall frenzy of his four hour sets at El Sid O's around the country, including an eight night stand at Tramp's in New York City that drew media attention from the New York Times, the New York Post and Cashbox. When they went back in the studio to record the follow-up, there was a brand new set of tunes centered around another Paul Kelly gem ("Your Mama Don't Know") and Nathan's timeless originals. Nathan and his band, including another brother DennisPaul on guitar, are on the verge of giving up their day jobs and devoting their lives to music. Right now, Nathan still helps out in Sid's store at the meat counter. It's his background as a butcher that lends creedence to tunes like "Everything On the Hog."

Listening to the records, or seeing the Cha Chas live you'll find Nathan to be an engaging personality whose enthusiasm bubbles over into the music. Zydeco is in good hands with Nathan Williams.

"As soon as the audience put down their napkins and surged to the dance floor, the music took off. Mr.Williams who is rightly considered one of the best, young zydeco musicians in Louisiana, plays a smooth amalgam of black cajun music and rhythm'n'blues from the fifties and sixties, a rocking mixture that often lifts off with a Caribbean back beat that sounds much like ska music from Jamaica."—The New York Times

"Every member of the six-piece band is a moving part in a splendid rhythm machine. Nathan sings... in a rich,metallic voice, the band chugs until the dancers are in a lather—sometimes just grabbing onto one chord and squeezing 'til it screams—and when things are right, a state of unpretentious ecstasy is achieved. The word is fun."—The New York Post

"They know how to rock, and they love it. Just catch the groove of "El Sid O's Zydeco Boogalo" and you'll catch the fever of a Creole Saturday night, a steamy, jiving stomp down the road to Lafayette. Kick it again!" —College Media Journal

"Nathan and company chank-a-chanked them into ill health with a two-hour-and-fifteen-minute opening set that rocked the joint to its foundation." —Cash Box

"Authentic, enthusiastic and knowledgeable" —Living Blues