Simien is an eighth generation Creole from one of the earliest Creole families documented to have settled in the Mallet area of St. Landry Parish.[2] He was introduced to music via the piano at home, the Catholic Church choir, and in school band programs where he played trumpet.
While in his teens, he taught himself to play accordion and formed his first band Terrance Simien & The Mallet Playboys, and began to play the regional zydeco club and church hall circuit. In the early 1980s, Simien was a youth in his early 20s and one of only two (Sam Brothers was the other) emerging zydeco artists leading a band and performing their indigenous zydeco roots music.[3] This was a pivotal time in zydeco music history since the pioneers of the genre were aging and the music was in jeopardy of dying off without the critical presence of emerging artists continuing the traditions.[4] Upon being asked about his opinion of his debut album in a 1991 interview, Simien said: "I think we've done what we set out to do, and that is catch the energy of the live performance. Also give the audience something new that we couldn't do live. But we basically stayed true to what we were doing; we didn't try to make a hit song. We just put out what we've been doing for the past five years on the road, and it couldn't have come out any better than it did. There are some disappointments. You always wish you had more time, more money, more everything."[5]
Simien and his business partner/wife, Cynthia, are active in Creole music education and advocacy. They created the "Creole for Kidz & The History of Zydeco" performing arts program, which provides informational performances to K-12 students, teachers and parents. Since it was created in 2001, Creole for Kidz has reached nearly 500,000 students, parents and teachers in more than 20 states, Mali, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Paraguay, Canada and Australia. The Simiens understand the importance of mentoring emerging artists and created MusicMatters, Inc., a non-profit for education and advocacy.[8]
Simien and several of his other bandmates, Danny J. Williams, Stan Chambers and Jose Alvarez won their second Grammy in 2013, in the category Best Regional Roots Record for Dockside Sessions, produced by George Receli, (Bob Dylan, White Trash, Lou Garou).[citation needed][clarification needed]
