MUSIC : Bayou Meets the Beach : Zydeco Zippers may not be authentically Cajun, but they sing some of their songs in French. They’ll add flair to a Mardi Gras party Sunday.

In a party-crazy town like Santa Barbara, which has a hundred bars, a thousand bands and a million dancing fools, a zydeco band should be as popular as a Get Out Of Jail Free card that works.

Seeking to create their own musical monopoly, J.T. & the Zydeco Zippers will be playing at a Mardi Gras party Sunday night at the newly reopened SOhO on State Street, somewhat to the west of Bourbon Street.

Because Mardi Gras is the mother of all parties, the band will dress in costume and the fans are encouraged to be similarly sartorially splendid.

A zydeco band coming through town is not news, but a zydeco band from S.B., well now, that’s like a surf band from Louisiana. The Cajun connection between the Bayou State and the Golden State, however, is a bit thinner than the okra crop in Alaska, according to J.T. Whitney himself.

“Well, the closest we ever came to Louisiana has to do with our guitar player, Michael Frey, whose parents actually met in a bar in Lafayette. And our mandolin player, Michael Petracca, actually spent some time in Louisiana when he was a little kid.”

Just because Santa Barbara hasn’t been annexed by Louisiana doesn’t mean the Zippers have been zapped. They’ve got a vast song list, and about a quarter of the songs are actually sung in French by any or all of the four vocalists who learned the language phonetically. Thus, the bayou meets the beach at a hooked-on-phonics seminar, but with a better beat.

“There’s a different style in California,” said Whitney. “Even when musicians from Louisiana come out here, their style changes. We like to think variety works for us. We try to play traditional music as close as we can without actually going back there. We play Cajun and zydeco music, and we just put the word ‘zydeco’ in our name because it’s a word people can identify.”

Much of life is spent discovering what you don’t like, then trying to avoid it. When Whitney discovered something he did like--zydeco music--the bright light from the bulb hovering over his head temporarily scared the swamp skeeters all the way back in the bayou.

“Originally, I heard Clifton Chenier and also Boozoo Chavis, another of the old guys who had a particular style,” Whitney said. “Right now I like John DeLaFose & the Eunice Playboys. They’re very solid. Yet, zydeco can get repetitive. Sometimes it’s just a dance groove, riffing over and over.”

Everything in music is over and over, or else it would be noise. The repetitive nature of zydeco music is a well-known cause of dancing. Dancing + Drinking = Happy club owners. You can look it up. A few months ago, the band was honored by a Santa Barbara entertainment weekly; kind words never hurt the ol’ resume.

“Last fall, we were voted Best Local Rock Band,” Whitney said. “We tied with Toad the Wet Sprocket. It was really exciting for a while, but it’s pretty much forgotten now. We’ve been around for a while, but we don’t really have a track record yet.

“It takes a long time to get something going up here. We get a few young kids at our shows, but the older people don’t want to go out to a club because it’s too late. Everyone comes when we play a daytime gig, but not so much at night. It’s just fun for us that rubs off on the people that see us.”

The band has made the rounds in S.B. with their first-ever gig at Art’s Bar, where Boston Celtics’ lover Art Lopez loves the Lakers in next-to-last place even more than he likes the blues.

“Art liked our music; he actually wanted us back, but we didn’t make too much money,” said Whitney. “When we played at Toes Tavern, they have a very young crowd. The people in front seemed to connect with us, but the people in the back were busy watching each other and shooting pool. We played at Smokey’s in Ventura a few times, but one week they advertised on Q-105 and the next week they advertised on the country station, so that didn’t work. But when we played Nicolby’s in Ventura, we had about 25 people dancing. Right now, we’re looking forward to do some outdoor stuff and some festivals.”

In between gigs, Whitney, a carpenter, lends his digital dexterity to music, literally. Imagine a brain surgeon sharpening his own knives; imagine Whitney making his own accordions.

“I just started taking them apart. I’m mechanically inclined and I like to make things out of wood, and accordions are mostly made out of wood. Since I couldn’t buy the accordion I wanted, I made it.

“The only parts I need are the reeds, the billows and some buttons. The first one I made, I used shirt buttons. There’s a few places in Louisiana that make Cajun accordions. They have nice woodwork, but so do mine. I’ve sold a couple.”

In addition to Whitney, Frey and Petracca, the other members of the band dying to see their name in print include David Roine on fiddle and vocals, Randy Kizer on rub board, Michael Timothy Ryan on bass, and John Huxsol on drums. And how’s this for some father-son bonding: Whitney’s dad, Ralph, recently joined the band as a second rub-board player, and also hits one of those $65 triangles at just the right time.

Coming soon is some J.T. & the Zydeco Zippers music that you can hold in your hot little hand before it moves your sweaty little feet.

“We made a live recording last September at a party, and we’re looking to do something high quality,” said bandleader Whitney. “We’re looking at a dozen songs, maybe more. It’ll probably be a CD since they’re getting very reasonable.”

Details

* WHAT: J.T. & the Zydeco Zippers.

* WHERE: SOhO, 1221 State St., Santa Barbara.

* WHEN: Sunday night, 9-ish.

* ETC: Call 962-7776.