The great thing about BeauSoleil is, throughout the band's 40-year history, they've defied the conventions of critics who might've pigeon-holed them as throwback roots music revivalists. They've taken in peoples' confusions and cranked out fun, can't-stay-in-your-seat music that sounds like it's literally made by the light of the "beau soleil"-- the beautiful sun, in French. Meanwhile, they've brought the genre to new heights. They were the very first Cajun group to ever win a GRAMMY, for L’amour Ou La Folie in 1998, and they went on to win another in 2010. They've become mainstays on NPR's "A Prairie Home Companion." They even performed at the Super Bowl in 1997. In four decades of writing, touring, and recording together, the band has released 25 albums, the most recent of which was 2013's From Bamako to Carencro, a culture-crossing release designed to highlight the connections between Bamako, Mali, in West Africa, and the kind of music made in Lafayette, LA, suburbs like Carencro. There's a "sonic bloodline" there, one running straight back into the band's Louisiana roots, but that doesn't stop them from exploring swing, blues, jazz, R&B, and even bluegrass on the album, where guitarist David Doucet, "even tucks an occasional Lester Flatt-style G-run into his highly melodic guitar solos." Tickets are $45. $43 for members, and $40 for students.
Hosted by the Earlville Opera House.