Beausoleil Tickets

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Beausoleil
Beausoleil's fiery live performances, incessant touring and a commitment to performing traditional Louisiana music have earned them a zealous fan following as well as critical acclaim.

Beausoleil are one of the highly respected Cajun bands for their fans.Their powerful songs about Cajun culture with traditional folk rhythms make the audiences fall in love with their music all over again. It is one of a few groups performing traditional Louisiana music to have won a Grammy Award.

The lineup for Beausoleil comprises of drummer Tommy Alesi, accordion JimmyBreaux, guitarist and vocalist David Doucet and Michael Doucet, bassist, fiddler and vocalist Al Tharp and Billy Ware on percussion.

BeauSoleil is noted mainly for keeping the unique southern Louisiana culture and music from extinction.Though BeauSoleil originated to help preserve their cajun musical heritage but over the years the band has also been known for its innovation.

The band name literally means 'good sun' and refers to a fertile region in Nova Scotia. Continually adding spice from other musical genres like jazz and Caribbean, BeauSoleil is keeping the musi vital and contemporary.

The band began to record L'Amour Ou La Folie, meaning Love or Folly in 1996 and released on Rhino Records. The album earned the 1997 Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album.

The band took its basic inspiration from Cajun country where Doucet was born and raised. Around this time, the old French songs were much-liked in the region. But from the time of his birth to adulthood in the 1960s, Cajun culture began to vanish from the scene.

Thinking Cajun music antiquated and pass?, young Doucet started off his musical career playing rock with New Orleans influence. Doucet began getting into folk rock towards the end of the '60s.

He even tried singing a few of his numbers in French. 'Cajun Women', a song from the British folk group, again sparked his interest in his indigenous music.

Doucet stayed many years studying with Scottish fiddle great Barry Dransfield. Dransfield eventually introduced Doucet to his idol Richard Thompson. In an interview, he revealed crediting Thompson for influencing his own compositions.

His stay in France also had a profound influence where he saw that the roots of Cajun were still very much alive. Locals still liked listening and singing the old songs.

Doucet also heard centuries-old influence in newer folk songs, making him realize how modern Cajun music was in comparison.Realizing the cultural richness of Cajun music, he joined an improvisational folk-music based French group, Coteau, in the mid-'70s.

After spending some time with Coteay, Doucet returned to the U.S. where he located the nearly forgotten early composer and performers of Cajun music.

Later, he formed BeauSoleil with some of the finest Cajun musicians, Dennis McGee, Dewey and Will Balfa, Varise Connor, Canray Fontenot, and Bessyl Duhon. The group made their American debut in 1977 with The Spirit of Cajun Music.

The album featured an eclectic work illustrating various musical styles from which Cajun music is derived. Since their debut album, Beausoleil has cut dozens of albums so far. Some of them are traditional while others are experimental.

Since 1985, the band has been nominated for numerous Grammy's.Three years later, Doucet took home the first annual Clifton Chenier Award for being the finest musician in French-speaking Louisiana.

In addition to recording albums, they have also played on movie soundtracks such as The Big Easy, Passion Fish and Belizaire the Cajun.Their music career also saw them performing at jazz and folk festivals round the world.

Today, the band performs regularly on public radio, most notably on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion. Keillor has named them as the 'best Cajun band in the world'. They released Vintage Beausoleil in 1995 which was described as 'an exceptional collection of standards written in the '20s and '30s'.

Beausoleil's lineup changed through the years, including guest appearances by such musicians as Richard Thompson on their 1991 Cajun Conja album. In 2001, New York Times reviewer Jon Pareles credited Beausoleil's 25-year success to Doucet's vision.

BeauSoleil's latest recording was Live in Louisiana, released to coincide with the April 2006 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Overall 28th record, Live in Louisiana is the band's first on the Way Down in Louisiana imprint and is their first live album recorded at home.

The release of album celebrated Beausoleil's 30th anniversary. The album has a wide-ranging set of tunes from across their discography as well as the Cajun and Creole cultural spectrum.