By Reagan Wheeler
Special to the Daily Press

SM PIER Home is where the down-home music is tonight.

Definitely an odd pairing in terms of style, Queen Ida and her zydeco band will share the bill with The Hacienda Brothers, a western soul band, at this week’s Twilight Dance Series concert on the Santa Monica Pier.

A native of Louisiana, Queen Ida grew up surrounded by the sounds of Mardi Gras and French-influenced lullabies. Even with a strong musical background, Ida Guillory did not put musical stardom at the top of her priorities, getting married and moving to San Francisco, where she raised her children and drove a school bus for a living.

Years later, after her kids had grown, Guillory started performing with her brother’s band and picked up the accordion again. While performing with the band, a San Francisco writer dubbed her “Queen Ida” shortly before she became the first female accordion player to lead a zydeco band.

Guillory is a Grammy-winning artist who has toured the world, yet she is still excited about returning to the outdoor pier venue tonight, where she took part in the Twilight Series in 1998.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Guillory said Wednesday. “The crowd there is so energetic.”

Queen Ida prefers a 31-button accordion and is known mostly for her melodic, treble-based playing, that are deep-rooted in Creole traditions, with a hint of Cajun flavor and Caribbean and-Blues influences.

This time, Queen Ida will take to the Twilight stage accompanied by her sons, Myrick Guillory and Ronald Guillory, as well as fellow band members Eric Nielsen, Douglas Dayson, Terrence Buddingh and Bernard Anderson.

Also playing tonight are The Hacienda Brothers, led by vocalist Chris Gaffney and guitarist Dave Gonzalez. The band released their sophomore album, “What’s Wrong with Right,” last summer and are set to introduce Southern California to their wood-smoked blend of stone country and old-school R&B.

Gonzalez and Gaffney, both of whom reside in Southern California, got their start in Arizona where they “started writing songs and tried to find other people they could play with,” Gaffney said on Wednesday. The duo managed to find bandmates in drummer Dale Daniel, steel guitarist Dave Berzansky and electric bassist Hank Maninger.

Gaffney’s parents met in Santa Monica and the family lived in Compton for a while. While the band has never played at the pier, Gaffney said he is more excited to see Queen Ida than anything.

Tonight’s concert begins at 7:30 p.m.

For more information on the Twilight Series, visit www.twilightdance.org or call (310) 458-8900.