Name: Beau Soleil avec Michael Doucet with Special Guest Richard Thompson
Start: 2025-04-05T20:00:00-04:00
Location: The Kate - Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center

BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet with special guest Richard Thompson
For 50 years, Grammy-winning band BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet has been making potent Cajun music and can be credited with taking it from its regional roots in Louisiana to popularity worldwide.
Born out of the rich Acadian ancestry of its members and driven by bandleader Michael Doucet’s renowned fiddle playing and soulful vocals, BeauSoleil is notorious for bringing even the most no-nonsense audience to its feet. The band’s distinctive sound is a stirring mix of New Orleans jazz, blues, rock, folk, swamp pop, Zydeco, country, and bluegrass.
They are joined by longtime friend — and legendary English singer-songwriter and guitarist — Richard Thompson.
Richard Thompson
Richard Thompson’s musical influence cannot be overstated. Having co-founded the groundbreaking group Fairport Convention as a teenager in the 60s, he and his bandmates invented the distinctive strain of British Folk Rock. He left the group by the age of 21 which was followed by a decade long musical partnership with his then-wife Linda, to over 30 years as a highly successful solo artist. In 2011, Thompson received an OBE (Order of the British Empire) personally bestowed upon him by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. The Los Angeles Times called him the finest rock songwriter after Dylan and the best electric guitarist since Hendrix and Rolling Stone has named him one of the Top 100 Guitarists of All Time. He has received lifetime achievement awards for songwriting from Britain’s BBC Awards, the Americana Music Association, and was awarded the prestigious Ivor Novello Award. His song “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” was named one of TIME Magazine’s “100 Greatest Songs Since 1923.” A wide range of musicians have recorded Thompson’s songs including Robert Plant, Elvis Costello, R.E.M., Sleater-Kinney, Del McCoury, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Jones, David Byrne, Don Henley, Los Lobos, and many more. His massive body of work includes many Grammy nominated albums as well as numerous soundtracks, including Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man. Thompson’s genre defying mastery of both acoustic and electric guitar along with engaging energy and onstage wit continue to earn him new fans and a place as one of the most distinctive virtuosos and writers in Folk Rock history.