Festival International is an incredible, award-winning event that brings many cultures from around the world here to Lafayette. So you can imagine how thrilling it must be for an artist to get the honor of playing for the world-renowned festival.

That's especially so for Lafayette native Lil Nathan of "Lil Nathan & The Zydeco Big Timers." He's been in the music business basically all of his life. Lil Nathan began playing rubboard in his father's band at the age of 5 (His dad is the leader of Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas).

I was always the kid. I wanted to do what my dad did. So I thank God that he did something positive in life and showed me a very good trade, which is being a musician...That's where the passion started, just watching my dad on stage, being on stage at the age of 4-years-old at Festival International, Crawfish Festival, Jazz Fest with my dad made me want to have my own band. So, now I'm at that point where I have my own sound, my own band...It's great to know where we came from as far as being a Williams in the industry of zydeco.

He released his first CD at the age of 14, and has gone on to release many more since. And while he's toured all over the country, from California to Florida, even crossing the border into Montreal, coming back to Lafayette means a lot to him, especially at Festival International.

It's home for me...It's a pleasure being in the front of the home crowd. It's always a blast. Everybody's always enjoying it. You get UL-Lafayette involved with the festival scene also. And being amongst so many different ethnic groups, so many different bands from different parts of the world, to come together for this one event is very exciting for me.

Lil Nathan has performed in numerous venues, from clubs to trail rides to benefits, such as nursing homes and daycares. He says his music "has really brought me joy because...it's touched a wide range of ages....It's a pleasure to see people of all ages enjoying my music at one time. It's brings me great joy to know that what I love to do is bringing love to others...with my music, the gift that God gave me."

"Lil Nathan & The Zydeco Big Timers" will be performing at Festival International on Sunday from 5:15 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. There will be CDs available at the festival for you to buy. You can reach Lil Nathan at www.nathanwilliamsjr.com or on facebook or by calling 337-344-3910 or by email at lilnathan_4@hotmail.com.

For a complete interview that aired on "Your Afternoon Drive Home" on Newstalk 96.5 FM KPEL, CLICK BELOW:

To watch a previous Festival International performance from "Lil Nathan & The Zydeco Big Timers." watch the video below:

To listen to the song that intro'd the interview, watch the video below:

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