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In the heart of Acadiana, where Creole and Cajun rhythms drift through cypress trees and old dancehalls echo with the snap of accordion bellows, lives a quiet craftsman whose work is heard around the world but rarely seen. His name is Tee Don Landry, and his stainless steel rubboards have become the signature percussive sound of Zydeco, resonating from backyard gatherings in St. Landry Parish to global stages graced by pop royalty.
I met Tee Don on a sunlit afternoon in Lafayette, just a few miles from where his family’s story begins. His tale is not just about music. It is about heritage, humble beginnings, and a family trade that unknowingly helped shape Louisiana’s most iconic musical form.
The Zydeco Sound Forged in Fire and Family
The story begins not with Tee Don, but with his father, Willie Landry, a master welder and one of many Creoles who left Louisiana in the 1940s in search of work in the refineries of Port Arthur, Texas. Among the laborers there were two young musicians: Clifton Chenier and his brother Cleveland. They were still unknown to the world at the time, but they were already tinkering with a sound that would later become a cultural cornerstone.
“Clifton introduced himself to my dad. He said, ‘I got an idea if you could make it.’ My dad said, ‘I can make anything you want.’ So Clifton took a stick and drew the rubboard in the dirt, with shoulder straps and all, and Daddy made it just like that.”
– Tee Don Landry
The Chenier brothers were playing backyard parties at the time. Cleveland was using an old wooden washboard with a rope around his neck. That rudimentary tool would soon evolve into a wearable instrument built by Willie Landry, laying the foundation for the modern rubboard, or frottoir, that defines the Zydeco sound.
Childhood of Tee Don Landry in Rhythm and Discovery
Tee Don was born in Port Arthur in 1946, but his family eventually returned to Louisiana and settled in Lafayette. As a boy, his Saturdays were devoted to watching Clifton Chenier’s “Bon Temps Rouler” show on Channel 10. What mesmerized him was not just the music. It was that rubboard, shimmering under studio lights, keeping time with fire and flair.
“I couldn’t wait to see him on that rubboard. It fascinated me the way he played it.”
– Tee Don Landry
In the 1980s, Tee Don came across a Clifton Chenier video at the local library. While watching, he heard Chenier describe the origin of the rubboard, mentioning a “white fellow at the refinery” who had made the first one. That single line changed everything.
“I went across the street and told my mom about it. She just looked at me and said, ‘Don, that was your daddy.’ I couldn’t believe it.”
– Tee Don Landry
Until that moment, he never knew his father helped invent the modern rubboard. His father had been quiet about his skills. For Willie, crafting a custom instrument was just part of the job, not something he ever bragged about.
From Legacy to Lifework
Motivated by this revelation, Tee Don sought out Joe Coleman, a local rubboard maker in Lafayette who had crafted instruments for Cleveland Chenier himself. Coleman, who had retired by then, was known for never teaching anyone his method. However, Tee Don approached him with respect and patience.
“I told him my story, and he said, ‘Yeah, I heard all about that.’ He told me, ‘You always came around my shop, you were respectful and didn’t ask too many questions. I’m out of the game now. Get a pen and paper.’ And he told me everything.”
– Tee Don Landry
From that moment on, Tee Don began bending steel and building rubboards full-time. He had already been traveling the world as a rubboard player, but now he was the one manufacturing the sound that others performed with.
“Ninety percent of the rubboards you hear in recorded Zydeco music are mine.”
– Tee Don Landry
From Lafayette to the Global Stage
His reputation as the premier rubboard maker has attracted customers from around the world, including international music stars. One of his most high-profile commissions came from Rihanna and Def Jam Records, who ordered a dozen custom rubboards for a project.
Inside his workshop, Tee Don showed me the manual bending break he uses. The machine is entirely analog. There are no wires or automation. Each board, with thirty to thirty-one ribs, is bent by hand, and each rib is bent twice. It is a time-intensive process rooted in craftsmanship.
“It’s stainless steel. Guaranteed not to rust, bust, collect dust, rip, rot, or come apart at the seam.”
– Tee Don Landry
He makes boards for children and professionals, for collectors and musicians. What he builds is not just an instrument. It is a piece of Louisiana’s story, carefully crafted in steel and memory.
What the Rubboard Really Represents
The rubboard may appear simple, but through Tee Don Landry’s hands, it becomes something more. It becomes a symbol of heritage, a memory of family, and a heartbeat of Zydeco culture. What began as a sketch in refinery dirt became a sound that helped define a genre.
This story is not only about music. It is about how a quiet welder’s legacy was rediscovered, how a son turned inspiration into impact, and how a rhythmic scrape of steel carries Louisiana’s spirit to every corner of the globe.
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