Abbeville musician works on GRAMMY winning album

Working on a project for which you are passionate can be its own reward. That is certainly the case for Eric Adcock, a renowned South Louisiana musician, pianist, songwriter, and longtime Abbeville resident, about the role he played in the album “A Tribute to the King of Zydeco.”
For his part in that album, one that honored the 100th birthday of Zydeco legend Clifton Chenier, Adcock can now take pride that he is an integral part of a GRAMMY winning album. “A Tribute to the King of Zydeco” won the top award in the “Best Regional Roots Music Album” category during this past Sunday’s GRAMMY Awards ceremony.
On Tuesday evening, the city Adcock loves to call home provided some time to recognize his success and affiliation with the album. The Abbeville City Council honored Adcock by recognizing his work on the recording and invited him to speak about the making of the album and ultimate win.
“Thank you to the council for acknowledging this honor,” Adcock said. “I am a very proud citizen of Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, and Louisiana. To be able to make music to honor the legacy of Clifton Chenier is profound for me, and for our efforts to be recognized on the world stage, with the highest honor, is just humbling. We were able to honor the legacy of a tremendous musician, who laid the groundwork for an entire culture, worldwide.”
Councilman Brady Broussard Jr. said the admiration for Adcock is mutual. “The city is very proud of the local connection of one of our residents to the GRAMMY Award,” Broussard said.
The album and its win are further connected to Vermilion Parish, as much of the recording production took place at Dockside Studio in Maurice, engineered by Justin Tocket. Dockside Studio, owned by Steve and Cezanne Nails, has now produced 14 Grammy wins.
“For those of you who don’t know,” Adcock said, “one of the most legendary recording studios is right up this Bayou Vermilion. I do a lot of session work and have made lots of records there. It’s just so authentic, and it felt like the right place to do a record that is a tribute to King Clifton.”
Musical producers, Joel Savoy of Eunice-based Valcour Records, and Steve Berlin of legendary band Los Lobos, along with Executive Producer, John Leopold, produced the album.
The concept blended notable Louisiana roots musicians with numerous featured artists, such as The Rolling Stones, Jimmie Vaughan, Marcia Ball, Sonny Landreth, Taj Mahal, Jon Cleary, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Charley Crockett, John Hiatt, and others. Representing South Louisiana accordion masters included Clifton’s son, C.J. Chenier, as well as Geno Delafose, Keith Frank, Nathan Williams Sr., Anthony Dopsie, Curley Taylor, Roddie Romero, and Steve Riley.
Adcock contributed his skills on the piano, Hammond B-3 organ and backing vocals as part of the studio band called “The Dockside All-Stars” which also included Lee Allen Zeno on bass, Jermaine Prejean on drums, Roddie Romero on guitar, Derek Huston on saxophone, Sherelle Mouton and Paul “Bird” Edwards on rubboards.
“It’s tremendous to think about what it takes for a record of this magnitude to happen,” Adcock said. “We had over 40 guest artists at the highest levels along with our homegrown group of ace studio musicians providing the foundation, who were all there to honor Clifton’s incredible legacy.”
“Clifton Chenier was a huge inspiration to us all and we put our heart and soul into this recording. I am just so proud of all the musicians, producers, and folks who came together to be part of this album.”
“I love Abbeville,” Adcock said. “I take a lot of pride in representing who we are as a culture and a people, especially through music. For this album to be recognized, and to win the GRAMMY, is surreal. And what makes this even more beautiful is that all profits from the album sales are donated to the newly established Clifton Chenier Memorial Scholarship Fund for studying Zydeco accordion at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette - so his legacy can endure for future generations.”