Les Kerr and The Bayou Band with the Bayou Horns Saxophone Section will perform their 21st Annual Mardi Gras Concert on Fat Tuesday, February 21, 2012, at the Bluebird Café, 4104 Hillsboro Rd., Nashville, TN at 9:00 p.m.   Reservations are recommended and will be available February 14, 2012 by calling the Bluebird Café, 615-383-1461 or by visiting www.bluebirdcafe.com .

The concert will feature Kerr’s seven-piece band which includes saxophones, accordion, keyboard and harmonica, in addition to drums, bass and vocals and guitar.  The music menu will include Mardi Gras standards When the Saints Go Marching In, Mardi Gras Mambo and New Orleans-flavored originals and songs Kerr has recorded, such as New Orleans in the Spring.               

A Gulf Coast native, Kerr established the tradition of celebrating Mardi Gras in Nashville with his annual Fat Tuesday shows in 1992.  The annual Bluebird Café event has grown every year since its beginning.  With songs and beads, Kerr and his band will treat the audience to a musical gumbo and a lot of laughs.

In addition to recording New Orleans Set and five other CDs, Kerr was honored in 2010 by having two of his original lyrics included in the New Orleans poetry anthology, Maple Leaf Rag IV.  The songwriter performs periodically at a weekly performance series in New Orleans’ famed Maple Leaf Bar.  The book, published by Portals Press, includes the work of poets, writers and musicians who participate in the series. Kerr’s lyrics for New Orleans in the Spring and Below the Level of the Sea are his contributions.  The lyrics of Below the Level of the Sea are also now included in a public art piece to be displayed permanently in New Orleans starting this spring.

A Nashville resident since 1987, Kerr has performed at Nashville’s Independence Day Celebration at Riverfront Park, the Franklin Jazz Festival, Jefferson Street Jazz & Blues Festival, Southern Festival of Books and other events.  He also participates in the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Words and Music program which allows area students an opportunity to learn about songwriting from professional songwriters.