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.

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.

[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.

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."

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.

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.

[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.

Scott Billington, a producer for Rounder Records who was familiar with the Louisiana zydeco scene, picked up on the buzz surrounding Beau Jocque and signed him to his label.

Beau Jocque's rapid rise to the top of the zydeco circuit created some tension with the older musicians, who felt he hadn't paid his dues.

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.