Josef “Big Red” Arline
“Zydeco Innovator & Southern Soul Storyteller”
Quick Intro
Josef Lynn “Big Red” Arline hails from Hillister, Texas, a small town approximately 45 minutes north of Beaumont. His musical journey began in church, where he discovered the profound impact music had on people. Influenced by a diverse range of genres including gospel, blues, R&B, country, Motown, and reggae, Arline’s sound is a fusion of these styles, with a particular emphasis on zydeco. He is known for his soulful vocals and distinctive accordion playing.
In-Depth Profile
Arline’s early musical experiences were rooted in gospel music, which he encountered in church. His exposure to various musical genres during his youth laid the foundation for his eclectic musical style. After relocating to Salt Lake City, Utah, he delved into reggae music, collaborating with local musicians and performing at venues like the Safari Reggae Club. This period marked his initial foray into the broader music scene.
Josef attended school in nearby Woodville, Texas. He was an athlete, played high school football, and a student of the arts. Josef played trombone in the school band and experimented with other instruments, finding that he could learn just about anything he picked up. In his junior year in high school, part-time construction work became nearly a full-time job, which replaced his football and music participation. Josef chose the construction trade after high school and became a skilled and respected builder.
A few years later, Josef was offered a private construction project in Murray, Utah, in the Salt Lake City area. He was married by then and moved his wife and a daughter to Utah. After the initial project was complete, Josef stayed in the area as the demand for contractors and residential building market was hot. But, music was in his blood. In his spare time, Josef would sample the local music scene in Salt Lake City as well as the commercial music business. This led to part time studio work as a background vocalist and several voice-overs in commercials for radio, including major spots and promotion for the Kentucky Lottery and the Idaho Potato Commission.
In Salt Lake City, Josef worked and hung out with several framing carpenters who where Tonga drummers as well as an electrician from Trinidad who headed a reggae band. Josef learned and played Reggae, hung out with those guys, and performed on occasion with different groups at the Safari Reggae Club in Salt Lake City. Not long after, he became lead singer of a Reggae group and remained for a few years while working construction and living in Utah.
Josef discovered Blues after moving back to Southeast Texas to make their home. He hung out with “old-school” Blues musicians and enveloped himself in the Blues scene of the area. Josef performed vocals with a couple of different Blues groups. One in particular had a somewhat mixed format of Rock, Blues, & Zydeco. This mixed format gave Josef the opportunity he felt he needed, but, when the group would play Zydeco they would do so without the accordion. Josef knew this wasn’t going to work, so he picked up an accordion, learned it, and added it to the group.
Zydeco, from that moment, has been a part of Big Red. Zydeco, a close relative of Blues and Creole accordion and surely kin to Reggae, gave Red the unique space he needed to develop the Big Red Zydeco sound as a writer and performer. Part of his Creole heritage, Red’s accordion sounds of choice were influenced by Zydeco greats: John Delafose, Clifton Chenier, Boozoo Chavis, & Buckwheat Zydeco.
Big Red put together the Zydeco Playmakers and began playing trail rides and private parties as well as arranged their own private Zydeco bashes. A few performances at Pappeaux Deaux’s Seafood Kitchen in Beaumont, Texas created a whirlwind of bookings for the group. The group later nearly outgrew their local place of practice, which was essentially an old barn-like structure they referred to as the Hockless Place, when locals and others began gathering at their practice sessions.
Signature Tracks
- “Slip Away” — An up-tempo track with infectious rhythms, showcasing the band’s zydeco energy.
- “Realization” — A soulful ballad that highlights Arline’s vocal prowess and emotional depth.
- “Recipe” — A lively tune that blends zydeco with rock influences, reflecting the band’s eclectic style.
Notable Accomplishments & Awards
- “Secret Ingredients” — The debut album received critical acclaim for its innovative fusion of zydeco, blues, and soul.
- Live Performances — Arline has performed at various festivals and venues, including the Lowcountry Cajun Festival, showcasing his dynamic stage presence.
- Southern Soul Music — Under the moniker Lynny Redd, Arline has ventured into Southern Soul, expanding his musical horizons and audience reach.
Bonus Notes
- Arline’s versatility as a musician is evident in his ability to blend multiple genres, creating a unique sound that resonates with diverse audiences.
- His commitment to music is not just as a performer but also as a storyteller, weaving narratives that reflect his experiences and cultural heritage.
Album Reviews
Secret Ingredients
Dirty Linen Magazine — Written by Bob Gottleib (February/March 2006)
Big Red has come up with the first official disc that is bound to get him noticed. His songs generally tell a story in the lyrics, as opposed to mindless repetition of a catch phrase to carry the song. Arline wrote 10 of the 13 songs on this disc, and the covers are of very good material by the likes of Clifton Chenier and Roy Orbison; the ensemble does a very good job on those. Arline has put together a very solid band that allows his zydeco to incorporate a bit of reggae and rock and even a bit of hip hop without sounding forced, but rather demonstrates other influences, different from the church and the blues.
Secret Ingredients
Living Blues Magazine — Written by Jim Dekoster (September/October 2005)
Big Red, born Josef Arline, grew up in the tiny east Texas town of Hillister, where his first musical involvement was in the church. After moving to Salt Lake City he acquired a grounding in, of all things, reggae, which he picked up from fellow workers on a construction site. Upon his return to Texas, he caught on with a blues band that gigged around the Beaumont area and learned to play the accordion when the group realized that it needed to expand its repertoire to cater to local tastes. Before long, Red formed his own zydeco band, leading to a private label CD before graduating to Floyd Soileau’s venerable Maison de Soul imprint.
The Party starts with Recipe, a catchy rocker that should be a dancehall favorite, but there’s more to Big Red than good time music. To be sure, he and his Playmakers rock the house on most of the set’s 13 tracks, including covers of the zydeco staple Hot Tamale Baby, Wilson Pickett’s Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool You, and Roy Orbison’s Pretty Woman, but he also turns reflective on the waltz-time From the Other Side (Thinking About My Daddy) and Realization, a soulful ballad that easily trumps the garden variety cheating songs that are prevalent in the soul-blues marketplace. Red’s reggae days serve him well both in the rhythms of Zydeco Play Maker and I Can See You Dancing and in a vocal debt to Bob Marley.
Secret Ingredients
Zydeco Road — Written by Paulie Pachter
“Every track on this CD is a standout. And I haven’t said that in six years of reviewing Zydeco music.”
Josef Arline is a big Texan who claims that the music he heard in church had a profound influence on him. Music clearly filled him spiritually and in the 1990s having sung the blues and gospel, Josef “Big Red” Arline decided to apply his big voice and big talent for playing the accordion to Zydeco. And why it took years for a respected record label like Maison de Soul to record him is beyond me. But thankfully, my friend Chris Soileau saw the promise in Arline and now the band’s first official CD “Secret Ingredients” is available for everyone to dance and groove to.
What is it about big Creole men from southwest Louisiana and eastern Texas when you put a button accordion in their hands? Not since I first heard the late Beau Jocque have I been hit with the unbelievable energy that comes from Zydeco music. Josef “Big Red” Arline is standing in the shadow of the late Zydeco Giant. And he’s poised to create excitement on the worldwide Zydeco Road.
“Secret Ingredients” is an incredible CD. It is filled with every vocal and musical element that makes Zydeco music so unique. Arline has a beautiful tenor voice that’s clear, sweet and soulful. His push-pull quick style on the accordion is crisp and effective. The original material penned by Arline is simply terrific and doesn’t smack from stealing chords from other artists. His covers of “Hot Tamale Baby” and Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman” are flawless.
Arline is also supported by a very talented group of musicians that comprise his band, The Zydeco Playmakers. The musicians are: Billy McQueen (drums); Jeramy Hawkins (rubboard, background vocals); Troy Eaglin (rubboard); Wilbert Miller (saxophone); Jared Hamilton (organ); Cornelius Guidry (guitar, background vocals); Pat Williams (quitar); Mark Robertson (guitar); and Ken Turner (background vocals).
Every track on this CD is a standout. And I haven’t said that in six years of reviewing Zydeco music. The Zydeco Road is about to make room for a new trailblazer. Big Red and the Zydeco Playmakers have arrived. It doesn’t get any better than “Secret Ingredients,” which earns five peppers.
Secret Ingredients
Offbeat Magazine — Written by Dan Willging
“When it comes to this breed of zydeco, code Red is just as good as a green light anywhere else.”
If ya think zydeco never changes its stripes, check again. Big Red doesn’t have 17 generations of Creole ancestry behind him (just a spouse and a few in-laws) but oddly enough was drawn into its seducing vibe after stints in reggae and blues. The Texas-bred-and-fed Red, now residing in Lake Charles, then learned the accordion and surrounded himself with the crackerjack Zydeco Playmakers, a crew which includes such dubious characters as “Meat Hook” (guitar), “ Scratchet” (frottoir), “Beat It Up” (drums) and “B-Flat” (bass). Given Red’s super-sized, linebacker frame, ya’d expect him to unleash a rumbly Beau Jocque earth-quaking growl. Instead, his charismatic showmanship and smooth silky pipes are the real show here, a skyscraper-touching voice recalling the best from Stax, Fame and Motown’s soul patrol heyday. The other thing working in Red’s favor is his dice-tossing ingenuity as evidenced on originals “Zydeco Play Maker,” a reggae-thruster that fits perfectly into the proceedings, and “Recipe,” that’s based on sexy food metaphoric wordplays. Eight more selections are also originals, which the Playmakers put the bounce, bam and slam in all the right places. When it comes to this breed of zydeco, code Red is just as good as a green light anywhere else.
Secret Ingredients
The Blues Rag — Written by Dennis Rozanski
” But, for the mountain of a man that Josef Arline presents, his voice is disproportionately lighter, brighter, and smoother than might be predicted.”
Big Red’s sung blues. Big Red’s sung commercials. Big Red’s sung reggae. And, by the looks of Big Red, Big Red gets to sing just about what Big Red wants. Now, it’s time to zydeco. And the Texan goes the extra mile to pump his own happy accordion to back it up. But, for the mountain of a man that Josef Arline presents, his voice is disproportionately lighter, brighter, and smoother than might be predicted. The same goes for his riff-driven playing. Together, they make fine partners for his ‘playmaker’ brand of contemporary zydeco. One that illuminates the shakes of rhythm and blues in his limber delivery. One that’s sung in English, rather than French. One that keeps with the current trend to take a ballad over a blues to cool the set’s hot pace. And one whose songs are just plain danceable, without relying on the two-step/waltz cycle. In turn, it’s not every day that you hear an accordion sweet talk its way through the Roy Orbison standard, “Pretty Woman”. Or, for that matter, skip to the chop of a reggae beat, making “Zydeco Play Maker” come off like Steel Pulse vacationing in Opelousas. By promoting the lyrical side over the percussive, “Zydeco Lady” and “Come On Over” attain a certain pop sensibility in their flyaway breeziness. You see, Big Red’s not rural rustic; he’s urban hip. And he’s not particularly one for glancing back. Charging through Clifton Chenier’s “Hot Tamale Baby” is about it from the department of Creole recycling. Instead, Red stoked the band with, predominantly, his own homemade songs. So straight-up shakedowns like “Recipe” and “Slip Away” top this list of Secret Ingredients. One that debuts a new reason to laissez les bons temps rouler.