Sooner or Later: Beausoleil and "Carencro"

At some point, when you work with Cajun/Creole music involving Louisiana artists, you will run into Beausoleil. And you should. This group is one of the preeminent groups in music of this genre. I think that possibly the first Cajun/Creole/Zydeco album I owned was by Wayne Toups and Zydecajun because I had seen them perform in concert. But I'm sure the second album of that genre that I owned was a Beausoleil album. They are a bit more low key than some of the more animated zydeco bands, though they draw on that tradition. This probably comes from the fact that they tend to be a bit more rooted in traditional folk. However, the music they present is exciting and fun, and because of their efforts, they are one of the few bands in this genre that have won a Grammy award.

Beausoleil was founded in 1975, released its first album in 1977 and became one of the most well-known groups from playing traditional and original music in the Creole tradition of Louisiana. They have also gone beyond the traditional, incorporating rock and roll, jazz, blues, calypso and other genres. They are an extensive touring band, and they sing in both English and Colonial Louisiana French. The band takes its name from Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil, who led the Acadian resistance to British deportation from Canada and led 193 exiles to safety in Louisiana. The band almost didn't come to be - Michael Doucet, one of the founders, was going to New Mexico to study Romantic Poets, but he won a Folk Arts Apprenticeship sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. As he puts it: "I traded William Blake for Dewey Balfa," and he sought out every living Cajun/Creole performer to learn what he could about Cajun music and their techniques. He even encouraged some to resume performing. They are one of the few Creole/Cajun groups to win a Grammy. This song, Carencro, is from their 2013 CD From Bamako to Carencro.