Pernell Babineaux started his musical training at the early age of 7 years old. Born in Houston, Texas on June 2, 1968 he listened to a lot of R&B, Rock, Disco, Gospel, Jazz, Funk, and of course, plenty of blues, as he is the son of a blues guitarist. His first instrument of choice was drums, but for some reason, he was unable to grasp the instrument and his younger brother, at age 5, took to the instrument like a fish to water. Inspired and driven to perform, he looked to the piano and said "Why not?" He took to the piano much better than he did to drums. He had fun as a child doing jam sessions around the house with his father and brother. One night about 5 years after he started playing the piano, he was watching the Midnight Special (A popular music television show that was a predecessor to MTV.) and saw the person who would end up becoming his musical mentor and main influence...Louis Johnson! He saw the Brothers Johnson performing their then hit "Get The Funk Out My Face" on the show. Louis Johnson, who was the bassist for the Brothers Johnson, took a blistering bass solo which totally mesmerized the youngster, and after much begging and pleading, Pernell's father bought him a bass. From that point on, while remaining proficient on the piano/keyboard, the bass guitar would be his first and foremost passion. Absorbing everything put before his ears, he learned to play all types of music from Funk, Gospel, R&B, Rock, Jazz, Pop, Classical and Country. Being very seasoned from an early age, he performed with many very talented local musicians, mostly from around the Lake Charles, Louisiana area. Though his parents listened to Zydeco very frequently, he did not really get a lot of exposure to it until after their move from Houston to Lake Charles when he was 11 years of age. ot long afterwards, Pernell was recognized as an elite talent by his musical peers. He sat in with quite a few Zydeco bands, but concentrated on performing Gospel, Jazz, Blues and Funk. Recently, he joined the Zydeco Boneshakers, and on their third release entitled "Show You How To Zydeco" he can be heard laying infectious grooves on such tracks as "Bump" and "Ride It Slow", which showcase his Funk influences. In addition to being a well-seasoned and proficient musician, he also is a respected and admired songwriter, producer and engineer. To meet Pernell is to love him, for he shows himself to be a very kind, attentive and responsive personality with an excellent sense of humor and easygoing nature; rare qualities among those so truly talented. He is destined to do great works not only in the genre of Zydeco, but in music period!