The 75-mile drive from Texarkana to Shreveport is the least favorite portion of the route to the Promised Land, but we took the trip to see Ganey Arsement open the Mudbug Madness Festival in Shreveport Thursday. The Lakeside Gamblers turned out to be a pick-up band with Ganey being the only familiar face, owing to the gainful employment that prevented all the Lakeside regulars from making the trip. However, the performance was really enjoyable.

Playing non-stop for a 2-1/2 hour marathon, the band cranked out the gamut of Cajun favorites, and threw in some Texas Swing, and the requisite Jambalaya for out-of-Acadiana gigs. Ganey gave a memorable performance on accordion and vocals, exhibiting talent a notch or two above our expectations. Drummer, Ray Thibodeaux, wailed some traditional French vocals that would turn the ear of any Cajun music fan.

Opening the festival and for Wayne Toups, the group bore a heavy burden, but shouldered it well and presented themselves favorably. Having seen Wayne Toups a couple of times in April, we gave him the hop and returned to T-Town. The Lakeside Gamblers gave us the show that we came to see.

Nice!! Ray is an excellent drummer and vocalist, also a hell of a nice guy. Saw him with Jason Frey and Ken Smith a couple of weeks ago. Glad Ganey and them rocked the house for ya'll. Who was on the fiddle?

The names are muddled by my maltose memory, but he is Ray's stepson. Chad Huval (Brazos' brother) on bass, and I'm thinking the fiddler was ? Benoit, a young dude.

I'm not taking anything away from Ganey who is an excellent vocalist, but Ray can sing like those LeJeune boys.

Ned,
Thanks for coming out. We saw a few familiar faces out there, and Shreveport made us feel welcome for our second year there. Here is a rundown on the band. They weren't really a pick up band, except for bass because of uncontrollable circumstances.

On fiddle was Travis Benoit. Travis is my first pick for backup fiddle when Clint can't make it. In fact he plays about half of my gigs. If he isn't available, I call Chris Miller. Chris played this festival with me last year.

On Drums was Ray Thibodeaux. Ray is Travis' step-father, and one of four drummers that I use regularly. Since we spent the majority of the last three years playing as a three piece, I haven't yet found the drummer that is a perfect fit, but Ray does a great job.

On bass was Chad Huval. I like to refer to him as the original Huval. He is the oldest of the Huval clan. He and I played together in the Basin Brothers fifteen years ago. Our roles were reversed. He played accordion, and I played bass. I had my second choice bass player, Todd Ardoin, lined up to play the gig on Thursday, but unfortunately, due to complications with diabetes, he had to have his leg amputated on Tuesday. I had to scramble to find a replacement. The last person on my list was Brazos Huval. He wasn't available, but quickly called Chad to see if he could do it. Chad wasn't at all familiar with our set, but did a great job.

Still a great set, and I hope they have back again.