Accordion and Vocals:
Ida Guillory was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana on January 15, 1929. She grew up in the Cajun/Creole communities of Southwest Louisiana and East Texas. Although her lyrics are now bi-lingual, her first language was French and the songs she learned from her brothers and uncles were French, too. In 1946 her family moved to San Francisco. Ida eventually married, and put aside the accordion to raise a family.

In 1974, Ida teamed up with her brother Al Lewis to perform for a special Mardi Gras Party. A front page article in the San Francisco Chronicle's "California Living" magazine dubbed her "Queen Ida" and she immediately got bookings in Bay area clubs and at the Monterey Jazz Festival.

Soon she got offers to tour in Europe, and after several successful trips abroad, America began to discover Queen Ida. In the past 21 years, Queen Ida has completed eleven tours to Europe and toured extensively in all regions of the U.S. and Canada. She was a regular guest on the Prairie Home Companion, and was recently featured on NBC's Good Morning America, CBS Nightwatch, NPR's Weekend Edition, and the Attitudes and Home Shows. Ida was awarded the Grammy in 1983 and received her fourth Grammy nomination in 1986.

Highlights of recent touring were performances for Native American French speaking groups in North Dakota funded by the North Dakota Arts Commission, her eighteenth consecutive year at the Arvada Center, and a sold-out benefit for the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra in Florida. In 1989, Ida was invited by the U.S. State Department to tour for 3 weeks in French-speaking Africa. She was greeted warmly by heads of state and received rave reviews. Queen Ida's Cajun/Creole cookbook and memoirs, "Cookin' with Queen Ida," was published in October, 1990. The second edition features a new chapter on low-fat Cajun/Creole cooking. Her tenth album, "Together Again" (a project with her brother, Al Rapone) is being released during August of 1999.

Accordion, Vocals and Percussion:
Myrick Guillory is Queen Ida's oldest son. He learned the music first-hand, surrounded by a family of musicians. Myrick has been playing with Queen Ida & Her Zydeco Band since the late 1970's. Queen Ida's album "Cookin' with Queen Ida " features Myrick as performer and songwriter. He wrote 11 of the 15 songs on his own debut album, "Nouveau Zydeco," released in June, 1991.

Guitar and Vocals:
Douglas Dayson, a California native, attended Columbia College in Senora, CA. A self-taught guitarist, he has been performing 21 years with groups such as Sounds of Joy, Joy Ride, Driver, and Steel Breeze, a top 20 group. He joined Queen Ida's band in 1981, went into studio work and recorded with Asleep at the Wheel, Delbert McClinton, Neil Young, Robin Ford and others. He has assisted with the production of several of Queen Ida's albums, and is currently playing guitar with the band.

Saxophone:
Bernard Anderson studied music throughout public school, and continued his music studies at Alameda and Laney Colleges in Oakland. He spent several years on the road in top-40's bands and returned to the blues scene working with Sonny Rhodes, Charles Brown, Jimmy McCracklin, Carla Thomas, Mary Wells and Al Wilson. He met Queen Ida while touring with Maxine Howard in West Germany during the summer of 1988. He joined the band in November, 1988.

Drums and Vocals:
Eric Nielsen was born in Los Angeles of Danish immigrant parents. He began playing drums in the first grade, and has continued his involvement with music his entire life. After graduating from high school and music school, Eric played with West Coast based acts including the Pointer Sisters and Elvin Bishop. He has done sound engineering at the Avalon Ballroom and for recording studios. He is presently playing drums professionally and is a staff music production person for Avenue Communications of New York City and Menlo Park, CA. He is the newest member of Queen Ida's band, joining the group in January, 1993.