Wayne Toups Trio
WAYNE TOUPS TRIO
High-energy showman Wayne Toups has long been dubbed “The Cajun Springsteen,” but now you can add the title “Grammy Award Winner” to his name. Wayne was honored with his first Grammy Award. His CD The Band Courtbouillon announced as Best Regional Roots Music Album at the prestigious ceremony.

“It was my first nomination and my first win,” adds the Louisiana music maker with a grin. “I’m batting 1,000.” The Grammy Award caps a wave of recent career highs for Wayne Toups. In 2009, he earned an Album-of-the-Year award from Offbeat magazine. In 2010, he was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. In 2011, he entered both the Gulf Coast Hall of Fame and the Cajun French Music Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame.

This year will also mark his continued activism in the Coastal Vision Foundation, the organization dedicated to restoring America’s eroding ocean coastlines.

“We are losing 2,400 acres a year in Louisiana, alone,” says Toups. “And it’s not just the Gulf Coast. Look what our eroded coastline resulted in when Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey and New York. We’ll be doing several fund-raisers for the organization this year.”

Wayne Toups picked up the accordion at age 13 and hasn’t put it down since. He mixes Cajun sounds with the rhythms of zydeco, adding elements of soul music and Southern rock. He calls the revved-up result “ZyDecajun,” and his electrifying group, “a Cajun fusion band with a rock ‘n’ roll attitude.”