Gumbo Rally : Chubby Carrier brings his Louisiana sound to Ventura County on Monday night.

You remember the State Department, don’t you? It’s all those serious types in expensive suits eager to maintain the worldwide balance of power by selling guns and bombs to other countries. Pssst, say buddy, wanna buy a tank, a fighter plane, some rocket launchers, a bit of nerve gas, or maybe a zydeco band?

Spoiling their image of Realpolitik hardball players, the State Department occasionally gets involved in rock ‘n’ roll. Your tax dollars at work? How about your tax dollars at a dance?

“I was playing with Terrance Simien and the Mallet Playboys and we never played to a crowd of less than 1,500 people,” said the rocking, roving zydeco dude, Chubby Carrier, referring to a State Department tour he did. “We were in Sudan, Egypt, Morocco and Algeria.”

Alexander’s in Ventura--where Carrier and his able assistants, the Bayou Swamp Band, will headline Monday night at the 102nd Blue Monday presentation--offers a much mellower environment than the Middle East and North Africa.

Carrier, who has a new album on Flying Fish Records called “Boogie Woogie Zydeco,” will be the latest in a lengthy series of zydeco performers playing locally. Maybe Ventura County is really a colony of Louisiana much as Bakersfield is actually the westernmost city in Oklahoma.

“We’re from Lafayette, Louisiana, where there’s zydeco bands everywhere,” Carrier said. “It’s like there’s two zydeco bands every block. There used to be all these blues bands, but in the ‘70s, people started picking up the accordion. Now with C.J. (Chenier), Terrance (Simien) and Buckwheat (Zydeco), people are getting into zydeco more. We need a hit zydeco song, but until then, we’ll keep doing what we’re doing. It’s a lot better than it was in 1987 when people would say, ‘What the hell is zydeco?’ ”

Carrier, who is just 24 years old, has been playing zydeco for more than half of his life. He’s just a chip off the old washboard.

“My daddy got me started, man,” Carrier said. “He used to play in the ‘50s and ‘60s--he’s still playing. I used to be his drummer. I played with him in clubs when I was 12 because he always had problems with drummers. I grew up in the country, and zydeco was just a hobby and not a paying gig. Back then, it was just an accordion and a washboard, then in the ‘70s they added a drummer and a guitar player. Then I learned the accordion and joined Terrance Simien and he took me out of Louisiana.”

Carrier has led his own band for three years since leaving Simien--and business is booming. They played 178 gigs last year and already 100 so far this year. He’s been gone so long, his neighbors probably don’t remember what he looks like. And he doesn’t look fat. He’s no Don Knotts, but he’s no William Conrad either. In short, Chubby isn’t.

“Oh man, that happened when I was a baby,” Carrier said. “When I was born I weighed almost 10 pounds. The name just sort of stuck. My real name is Roy, but I don’t answer to no Roy. I’m Chubby, man.”

Chubby, man, and his band are a family affair. Brother Troy is the drummer and cousin Kevin raps on the washboard. Buckwheat Zydeco’s nephew, Rodney Dural, plays bass and David LeJeune is the guitar player. Together, they rock, no question about it.

“We do a little blues, some R & B, some waltzes, some swing music because we can’t forget our roots. We got a different sound. Originality is where it’s at. You gotta be yourself because you can’t be nobody else. I like touring and meeting people around the world. You know, I’ve been doing it for five years on the road, man. If you like what you’re doing, you gotta go for it.”

Anyway, you never know who might show up.

“Ann Wilson (of Heart) showed up in Seattle,” Carrier said. “She was real nice and said we had a unique sound. Mick Jagger showed up in Atlanta where he was shooting a movie. He just walked in and said, ‘Man, how ya doin?’ He talked to my washboard player for a long time. Out of 20 people, there could be somebody very important. You never know, man. Lately we’ve been playing a lot of white venues for a lot of college kids. But our music is not for white or black; it’s music for the people.”