I have a hard time feeling a sense of great injustice for the Recording Academy’s decision to consolidate categories, in the process wiping the Best Cajun/Zydeco Album category. I’d prefer that they still have it, but the reasons are largely selfish for the region. It has helped drive local membership in NARAS (a good thing) [...]
Tag Archives: BeauSoleil
OffBeat Story in Best Music Writing 2010
October 14, 2010 – 3:48 pm
Geoffrey Himes wrote “Beau Brothers” on the challenges for BeauSoleil for our February 2009 issue. That story has been included in Da Capo Press’ annual round-up of music journalism, Best Music Writing 2010, this year edited by the Los Angeles Times‘ Ann Powers. Congratulations Geoffrey, and here’s the rest of the table of contents.
YouTube du Jour: David Doucet
May 24, 2010 – 10:35 am
On Monday nights, BeauSoleil guitarist David Doucet performs a casual show at the Columns. Here’s a video from 2002 during which he plays “Midland Two-Step” and explains its tuning.
Always Beating
January 1, 2010 – 12:01 am
Vote for YOUR favorites here: http://www.offbeat.com/bob09 Who’s the Artist of the Year? Veterans BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet, whose Alligator Purse underlined BeauSoleil’s place in the Americana conversation, or Allen Toussaint, who recorded an artful take on traditional jazz with The Bright Mississippi? Or Theresa Andersson, who spent the year introducing the country to Hummingbird, Go! [...]
Tri-Fest-A
June 1, 2009 – 12:01 am
Thought festival season was over? Not so fast. Three staples of Louisiana culture—the Creole tomato, seafood, and Cajun and zydeco music—will come together once again for this year’s Vieux-To-Do. The two-day event will be held on Saturday and Sunday, June 13—14, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and it will bring together three festivals: the [...]
Fun with Grammy
May 18, 2009 – 3:35 am
Last week, the members of BeauSoleil received their Grammy awards while on tour. David Doucet brought his boxed, unopened Grammy home to New Orleans on a flight with members of Dr. John’s band including Herman Ernest and John Fohl, both of whom wanted him to open the box. They won a Grammy for Dr. [...]
We Win!
March 1, 2009 – 12:01 am
This year’s Grammys were good to Louisiana. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences gave out its awards February 8 and handed four trophies to Lil Wayne. His album Tha Carter III led to Grammys for Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song (“Lollipop”), Best Rap Solo Performance (“A Milli”) and Best Rap Performance by [...]
Jimmy Breaux & Friends, Live at Festivals Acadiens (Way Down in Louisiana)
March 1, 2009 – 12:01 am
Despite hailing from a dynasty of Cajun musicians—great-aunt Cleoma and husband Joe Falcon waxed the first Cajun side “Allons à Lafayette;” grandfather Amédée recorded the original “Jolie Blonde”—Jimmy Breaux has always maintained a quiet presence as one of the genre’s greats. He’s held the accordion chair in BeauSoleil for 20 years now and released two [...]
Where the Winners Go
March 1, 2009 – 12:01 am
The Grammys and the south Louisiana town of Maurice (population 642) have as much in common as Lil Wayne and Alison Krauss. But just as Wayne and Krauss are multiple Grammy winners, so is Maurice’s hidden music gem, Dockside Studios. Dr. John’s City That Care Forgot, winner of Best Contemporary Blues Album, gave Dockside its [...]
Cajun Mardi Gras: The Rules of the Road
February 1, 2009 – 12:01 am
Like its New Orleans counterpart, Cajun Mardi Gras is a processional festivity. But unlike its better-known brethren, it’s rooted in the medieval fête de la quémande, a ceremonial begging ritual. During a Mardi Gras run, costumed, masked revelers travel from house to house along the countryside to obtain ingredients for a communal gumbo to be [...]
