[1] Adopting the name Balfa Brothers in 1967, Dewey, Rodney, Will, Hadley Fontenot, and Dewey's daughter Nelda started touring folk festivals and European venues, playing Cajun music at a time in which its impact on American music had largely been forgotten.

They made their first new recordings that year, and played at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

[1] Over time they experimented with blending traditional Cajun music with more modern orchestral sounds.

[1] The Balfa Brothers, performing with Marc Savoy, made notable film appearances in two Hollywood productions: the 1981 Walter Hill film Southern Comfort, where they perform "Parlez-nous à Boire", and the 1986 film The Big Easy, where Dewey Balfa appears in an uncredited role performing "La valse de Balfa" during a backyard barbecue scene.

[2] Two of the Balfa Brothers, along with the late Cajun accordionist Danny Poulard, are briefly in the movie Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers, a 1980 documentary film about garlic directed by Les Blank.