Singer S. Dott, a former college football player and Opelousas Police officer, can’t look away from the numbers. The figures have nothing to do with touchdowns or arrests.
Two of S. Dott’s line dance originals, “Slow Wind” and “Cowgirl Trailride (feat. Tonio Armani),” have collected 400 million TikTok views. That doesn’t include the millions of views that fans have generated with video selfies of both dances.
S. Dott can also figure in his acting role as the hunky boyfriend of R&B star Leela James in her latest video, “Right on Time.” The video has been viewed 4 million times in just five months on YouTube.
The stardom is almost overwhelming for a native of Lawtell — a St. Landry Parish village that has no traffic light but holds deep roots in zydeco music and Creole cowboy culture.
“It’s a blessing,” said S. Dott, 35, aka Shone Richard. “A lot of people don’t understand it because they’ve never seen it happen before. After ‘Slow Wind,’ a lot people were like, ‘That was just luck.’ The next one comes and it’s bigger than ‘Slow Wind.’ I’m thankful.”
Singer S. Dott, a former college football player and Opelousas Police officer.
Richard enjoys popularity in music worlds that fly beneath the mainstream radar. Zydeco, fueled by Creole accordion and flavors of R&B and rap, draws thousands of fans to clubs, festivals and trail rides throughout south Louisiana and southeast Texas.
Zydeco is finding favor with fans of southern soul, a haven for party songs and blues, like Mel Waiter’s “Hole in the Wall” and “Keep on Rollin’” by King George. But tunes about cowboys, cowgirls, trail rides and country life, with accompanying line dances, now dominate the scene, even in metro areas outside of the south.
Earlier this year, “Boots on the Ground,” a line/fan dance from artist 803Fresh, of South Carolina, went viral from ABC’s “Good Morning America” to the NBA Finals.
With rural life in his blood, Richard said his boots have long been on the ground.
“I went to Northwest High School (near Opelousas),” Richard said, a graduate of Arkansas Baptist College. “You’d go to school with your boots on. It’s nothing to see people in the store with boots and a cowboy hat. Now everybody is wearing boots. It’s not a uniform for me. You can tell by the end of the night who has boots in their hands. Their feet start hurting.”
Richard started his music career with childhood friend Leon Chavis, leader of the popular Zydeco Flames band. After nine years, he went solo when “Slow Wind,” backed by singer and accordionist Koray Broussard, became a breakout hit in 2020.
When he wasn’t on stage, Richard worked with the Opelousas Police Department from 2012 to 2018. He moved to Houston with continued police work in mind.
But music kept calling him back to the stage.
“Just having that passion for it and staying faithful to it, that’s where my blessing came from. I tried other things, but they just weren’t working,” he said. “But I went back to music, I made double or triple of what I used to make in two weeks. It’s been amazing.”
Herman Fuselier is executive director of the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission. A longtime journalist covering Louisiana music and culture, he lives in Opelousas. His “Zydeco Stomp” show airs at noon Saturdays on KRVS 88.7 FM.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.theadvocate.com ’
