Led by violinist Michael Doucet, a National Endowment of the Arts National Heritage Fellow, BeauSoleil will perform an exuberant offering of Cajun and Creole music, spiced with zydeco, New Orleans jazz, Tex-Mex, country, blues, folk, and other styles in celebration of the band’s 45th anniversary.

BeauSoleil is the biggest band in Cajun music, with two Grammy wins and 12 nominations throughout its music-making career. The band is notorious for bringing even the most staid audience to its feet. Born out of the rich Acadian ancestry of its members and driven by Doucet’s spellbinding fiddle playing and soulful vocals, BeauSoleil’s distinctive sound summons the distilled spirits of New Orleans jazz, blues rock, folk, swamp pop, Zydeco, country and bluegrass.

Critics unanimously agree that the band is “bon temps, every time they play,” (New York Times). Audiences worldwide fell in love with BeauSoleil through its on-screen appearance in HBO’s hit series Treme, set in New Orleans, and the band’s recurring spots on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion. The band has performed in every state, in 33 countries, at Jimmy Carter’s presidential inauguration, and even played with Mary Chapin Carpenter at the Super Bowl XXX Halftime Show (1997). BeauSoleil was the first Cajun band to win a Grammy with L’amour Ou La Folie (Traditional Folk Album – 1998), and then a second Grammy in 2010 for Live at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

A Louisiana native, Michael Doucet earned a Folk Arts Apprenticeship from the National Endowment of the Arts, which allowed the young man to seek out every surviving Cajun musician – including Dewey Balfa, Dennis McGee, Sady Courville, Luderin Darbone, Varise Conner, and Canray Fontenot — and learn from them in person, even encouraging some to return to performing publicly. Throughout his lifetime, he has worked to preserve Cajun and Creole culture in Southwest Louisiana, which draws influence from places as disparate as Nova Scotia, France, and the Delta Blues.

Doucet founded BeauSoleil – named for the leader of the Acadian resistance to British deportation efforts in the mid-18th century – in 1975 with his brother, Davis. The group released its first album in 1977 and became one of the most well-known bands performing both traditional and original music rooted in the folk tunes of Louisiana. From The Grand Ole Opry to Newport Folk, from concert hall to dance floor, the music of BeauSoleil continues to captivate audiences the world over. BeauSoleil has toured extensively in the U.S. and internationally. Recent performances include New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Voodoo Fest, Merlefest, Houston International Festival, Meltdown Festival (England), and many more.