Saturday night at the festival belongs to the King of Zydeco, but Sunday night the King of Cajun, Jo-el Sonnier, takes the throne. Born to French-speaking sharecroppers in Rayne, Louisiana, Sonnier began playing accordion at just three years old. Heralded as a Southwest Louisiana sensation, the young Sonnier performed in local clubs, played live on local radio stations like KSIG, and made his recording debut at age 11. Sonnier moved to Lake Charles when he finished school, joining Robert Bertrand's Louisiana Ramblers and appearing on numerous recordings for the Swallow, Dupree, and Goldband record labels, billed by the latter as The Cajun Valentino. These recordings allowed Sonnier to stretch out his playing into a variety of styles, from Cajun two-steps and waltzes to swamp pop, rock, blues, and especially country. In the 1970s Sonnier looked to expand his musical opportunities and moved to Los Angeles and Nashville, becoming an in-demand session artist and landing a contract with Mercury Records. Mainstream success in the "Nashville Hit Machine" proved elusive, and he returned to Louisiana and his musical roots, recording Grammy nominated Cajun Life for Rounder Records.
In the early 1980s, Sonnier found new inspiration in an invitation from Merle Haggard to open for him on tour. He returned to Los Angeles, collaborating with Albert Lee and Garth Hudson and refining his new sound fusing traditional Cajun and hard country. While Texas country music and western swing had long been adapted into Cajun dance music through Harry Choates and the Hackberry Ramblers, Sonnier plays deep country in the Nashville neo-traditionalist style. Come on Joe, released in 1987, pushed him to the top of the country charts, yielding two top 10 hits -- "Tear Stained Letter" and "No More One More Time." Sonnier continued working as a songwriter and session player, performing on albums with Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Alan Jackson, Neil Diamond, Hank Williams, Jr. and on stage with Bob Dylan, George Jones, Little Feat, and Los Lobos. In the 1990s, Sonnier left Nashville behind and dedicated himself to Cajun music full time, releasing Grammy nominated albums with Michael Doucet and Eddie Raven, including Cajun Roots, Cajun Cookin', and his 2001 self-released Cajun Blood. As an ambassador of French Louisiana, Sonnier has taken Cajun accordion to stages around the world and even the Grand Ole Opry. Labels like "country" and "Cajun" seem inadequate to describe the energy, talent, tradition, and art in the music of Jo-el Sonnier now. He will bring the best of everything to San Antonio.
