Beau Jocque

Beau Jocque was born Andrus Espre[1] in Duralde, Louisiana[2] to Sandrus and Vernice (née Allen) Espre. His father (nicknamed "Tee Toe") was a well-respected accordion player who performed at many local dances, but who quit playing music when Andrus' older brother was born.[3] Andrus played guitar in a high school band[3] but his influences were not zydeco musicians but rather acts such as War, ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughan, James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, and Santana.[4]

He enlisted in the Air Force[5] after high school, and eventually made it to the rank of sergeant, had a top security clearance and was stationed in London and Germany.[3] He once escorted Henry Kissinger around Europe.[6] Espre had his first near-death experience while in the Air Force, when an explosion left him in the hospital with amnesia.[3] He spent nine years in the military,[7] then came home to work as an electrician and welder. He was a long time resident of Kinder, Louisiana. He was also known to write poetry, and preach about respecting nature.

Working in an oil refinery after leaving the Air Force,[6] Espre experienced a work-related accident on September 4, 1987,[3] which left him temporarily paralyzed from the waist down.[4] During his recuperation, as part of his therapy he began playing his father's button accordion.[2] After a year of practice and gaining proficiency on the accordion, Espre and his wife Michelle (AKA Shelly) began to study the styles of the successful groups on the zydeco circuit. "We checked out C. J. Chenier, Buckwheat Zydeco, Boozoo Chavis, John Delafose and I'd watch the crowd. When they got real excited, I'd try to feel what was happening at that point. Was it the rhythm guitar? The drums? The accordion style? I realized that when you get the whole thing just right, it's going to move the crowd."[6]

Espre grew up speaking Louisiana Creole French and spoke it fluently. As he was physically a large man at 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) tall and 270 pounds (120 kg), he took the stage name "Beau Jocque," which was a childhood nickname in Louisiana Creole meaning "Big Guy." In 1991,[4] he put a band together, including his wife Shelly on rubboard.[7] They initially talked themselves into a few gigs in small clubs or for trail ride parties, and word spread quickly about a new zydeco artist. He especially appealed to a younger crowd by incorporating rock guitar solos, blues-rock beats, and rap lines into his songs, along with his bass vocals and growling lyrics.[6] His initial recording got airplay on local radio stations and the larger zydeco clubs began to take notice. Within a short amount of time, Beau Jocque was playing clubs four to five nights a week[4] and just a few years after his accident, Espre was one of the biggest draws on the Louisiana zydeco circuit. In June 1995 one newspaper stated that "There has simply never been a zydeco phenomenon like Beau Jocque and the Hi-Rollers" who have "thoroughly modernized zydeco".[8] His major zydeco influence was Boozoo Chavis who also played the button accordion, with hypnotic riffs and two-step stomps that were favorites with south Louisiana dancers.[6]

In 1995 Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers were the headliners on the Rounder Records "Louisiana Red Hot Music Tour".[7] In June 1999 they were a featured band at the first annual New Jersey Arts and Music Festival.[9]

Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers won the Big Easy Music Awards three times as Best Zydeco Artist.[10][11][7]

Espre and his wife Michelle ("Shelly") had two sons, Andrus Adrian and Justin Travis.[7]

In 1995, Espre suffered a heart attack in Austin, Texas while touring with Marcia Ball and Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys. Radio stations in Louisiana had reported the 1995 heart attack was fatal, and he surprised his fans (including the town's mayor) by shortly thereafter appearing in the local supermarket in Kinder.[14]

On September 9, 1999, Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers performed a two-set show at the Rock n' Bowl in New Orleans, and afterwards drove the approximately 200 miles on Interstate 10 back to Kinder.[4] The next morning, Beau Jocque was found collapsed in the shower by his wife, dead of an apparent heart attack[2] at the height of his career. He is buried in Saint Matilda Cemetery, Eunice, Louisiana.[4]

Espre's death was preceded only two weeks earlier by the death of his father, Sandrus.[5]

Members of the Hi-Rollers include:[14]

• Chuck Bush (bass)
• Steve Charlot (drums)
• Russell "Sly" Dorion (guitar)
• Ray Johnson (guitar)
• Mike Lockett (keyboard)
• Wilfred Pierre (rubboard)

• Louisiana Blues (directed by Jean-Pierre Bruneau, 1993); Beau Jocque appears as himself in a film history of Cajun and Zydeco music.[15]
• The Kingdom of Zydeco (directed by Robert Mugge, 1994); Beau Jocque and Boozoo Chavis appear in this documentary which features their friendly rivalry while both were seeking to earn the title "King of Zydeco" following the deaths of Clifton Chenier and Rockin' Dopsie.[16]
• By the River of Babylon: An Elegy for South Louisiana (TV documentary directed by Don Howard and Jim Shelton, 2015); includes music performances by Beau Jocque and Clifton Chenier.[17]

• 1994: Big Easy Music Awards, Best Zydeco Artist[10]
• 1994: Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers were voted Hottest Band at the inaugural Zydeco People's Choice Awards. Additionally, band member Classie Ballou was named as Best Bass Guitarist at the same awards ceremony.[20]
• 1995: Big Easy Music Awards, Best Zydeco Artist[11]
• 1995: Beau Jocque's composition "Yesterday" (from his Pick Up On This! album) won the Best Song of the Year award at the Second Annual Zydeco People's Choice Awards. Hi-Rollers bandmate Ray Johnson also received the award for Best Lead Guitar Player.[21]
• 2000: Big Easy Music Awards, Best Zydeco Artist[22]

• Sandmel, Ben (1999). Zydeco!. photographs by Rick Olivier. Jackson, MS: University of Mississippi Press. ISBN 9781578061150. OCLC 40143040.

• Beau Jocque at AllMusic
• Beau Jocque discography at Discogs
• Beau Jocque at Find a Grave