Chris Miller and Bayou Roots: Biographies
Chris Miller - Vocals, Accordions, Fiddle, Harmonica, Percussion
Chris was interested in music from the time he was born. His parents recall that he made a habit of waking early so that he could hear the "French Music" on KLFY's morning show "Passe Partout." Chris was also fond of singing and dancing around his home to his father's self-styled guitar playing. In fact, there always seemed to be music in the neighborhood. Most of Chris' aunts, uncles and grandparents lived within three miles or so. Many family members played guitar; Uncle Nolan Miller played accordion, fiddle, guitar, and few licks on the piano. After noting his early interests in music, his parents purchased a piano and Chris began lessons. This continued for a while until he decided that he could play boogie, swamp pop and country without taking any further lessons. Chris composed a few songs in middle school and won a few talent contests with his original piano works. As Chris approached his teens, he began to devote himself more and more to Cajun music and to teach himself Cajun accordion, guitar, and later fiddle. There were many other local influences besides his closely knit extended family who resided four miles north of Lacassine. Raul and Reoul LeBlanc played the old style of Cajun accordion that Chris grew to love. Harris Leger, a family friend and accordionist who was never recorded, also provided hours of inspiration at family gatherings and camping trips. The Vanicors of Lacassine and Welsh provided Chris with many opportunities to play and to learn from veterans of Cajun music's early years. Chris is a seasoned performer and entertainer. In 1999 Chris helped to form Louisiana's Kingfish which has had great success playing throughout Louisiana, Texas, and the 2001 Montreal Jazz Festival. In 2000 Kingfish released the CD Life in a One-Horse Town which continues to sell well and influence Louisiana music. For this CD Chris provided interesting and innovative arrangements, vocals, and accordion, fiddle, and guitar tracks. Chris has also played throughout the Eastern and Midwestern U.S. and France with Hadley Castille, the Cajun Swamp Fiddler. He also played at the Texas Folklife Festival in San Antonio with Rodney LeJeune and the Texas Cajun Playboys. Chris has won many accordion-playing contests throughout South Louisiana and Southeast Texas. He is in demand as a studio musician for projects that require that special "Cajun Sound". He has taught accordion to many young students including Sean Vidrine and Kaleb Trahan. Chris has Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Music Education from McNeese State University and is Choral Director at Barbe High School and First Presbyterian Church in Lake Charles. He is married to Avonna Busby of Eunice and has four children, Caressa, Colten, Camryn, and Candace.
Clint Ward - Vocals, Fiddle, Saxophone
Born to a Texan father and a Philippine mother, fiddler Clint Ward found himself living in the middle of a cultural Mecca. Growing up in South Lake Charles, he remembers the many nights that he stayed with his grandparents. Upon waking, he would often find his grandfather drinking coffee and listening to Cajun music on his AM radio. Clint's grandparents weren't Cajun, but they lived in the area for many years and had grown to love the music and food. Clint recalls that his father had branded him a "Texapino" with Cajun roots. Clint's father, Dale, was an accomplished hunter and he passed his passion on to Clint. He has spent many years hunting and fishing. He has even been known to work as a guide for businessmen and tourist who come to Louisiana for hunting and fishing. In high school, he began working part time as a taxidermy assistant and continued in that job for nearly seven years. In 2000, Clint had the opportunity to go to work with the Lake Charles Fire Department where he has worked ever since. In his late teens, Clint was drawn to the magical sounds of Cajun music despite the lack of interest that his friends had. Clint found that most of his friends liked to listen to Cajun music when they partied, but none had an appreciation for it or a desire to learn more about it. After saving his money for months, Clint bought his first fiddle at a pawn shop, and soon after, began to attend jam sessions. Within a couple of years, he became a much desired fiddler with the local bands. Clint developed an appreciation for old style fiddling citing heroes such as Lionel Leleux, Harry Choates and Denus McGee. He was awarded an apprenticeship from the CFMA which he used to study fiddle with internationally known fiddler, Ken Smith. Clint has also developed a knack for improvising melodies which has drawn criticism from the old folks because it ventures away from the traditional rhythm bowing. Through perseverence, Clint has claimed his rite as a Cajun fiddler by "paying his dues" and gaining the respect of those old folks. Paying dues is something that Clint believes in and feels that many young bands are trying to skip over that important part of growing as a musician. Clint has had the opportunity to play with many great bands. In the early years, he played locally with Percy Boudreaux, Jimmy Aguillard, Kenneth Thibodeaux and Jesse Lege'. It wasn't until fiddler Mitchell Reed decided to leave the Mamou Prairie Band that Clint got his opportunity to explore Cajun music outside of his hometown. Accordionist Bob Reed asked Clint to take Mitchell's place in the band. Clint played regular with the Mamou Prairie Band for about six months until the work started to slow down. It was then that he was asked to join Cory McCauley and his Evangeline Aces. Clint's gig with Cory led to his first commercial recording.In addition to fiddle, Clint also plays the saxophone and can be heard jamming it up with Bayou Roots during the Zydeco and Swamp Pop sets.
Steve Dougay - Vocals, Guitars, Bass
Guitar player and Lake Charles native, Steve Dougay is the elder statesman of the group. He began playing guitar at the age of twelve in the late '60s and participated in band programs in junior high and highschool in Westlake, La. While in middle school, Steve began to play some weekend dances at KC halls around town with his brother Charles and Cousin Dale. In the mid '70s, Steve met and married his wife Lana and decided that music could be put on hold while they started their family. Around 1985, he got a call from some old school buddies who wanted to start a band and they were looking for a bass player. He bought a bass and joined the Whiskey River band which lasted about a year. In 1988, Steve formed a new band with cousin Dale, Dave Savario and Ray Ellender. Together they formed the "Lifters" and played classic Rock and Soul. After a couple of years, the band thought it would be cool to add an accordion and do some Cajun flavored things. He recruited Chris Miller to play keyboards and accordion. Eventually, the late night barrooms took their toll of Steve and decided to leave the band because of burnout. They had also lost Ray on guitar so the band was left in disarray. They eventually regrouped and became "Louisiana's Kingfish." Shortly after leaving the band, Steve met Darrell Sallee, an Ohio native, and they were destined to become friends. Darrell reintroduced Steve to the music that he grew up on and loved. Together they began playing sit-down acoustic jobs at local restaurants and coffee shops covering tunes by James Taylor, Jackson Browne, the Birds and others. They were also able to mix it up a little with some Delta Blues, old-time Country and Bluegrass. Eventually, their busy gig schedule began to die down and eventually stopped. Steve and Darrell still jam from time to time, but rarely gig together any more. Chris knew that Steve would be a perfect choice when he was searching for a guitar player. A traditionalist at heart, Steve deeply appreciates the earthy sounds of acoustic music. He was raised on the sounds of Cajun music by the great Iry Lejeune and Bluegrass greats such as Bill Monroe and Del McCoury. Steve also plays mandolin and sometimes incorporates it into his Bayou Roots performances. Steve plays a L'Arrivee acoustic guitar model LV-03 and also a Fender Stratocaster tuned in "open-G" for slide guitar.
Tim Broussard - Vocals, Bass, Accordion
At a very young age, little Timmy Broussard picked up his father's accordion. He would play it while his father was at work. Then one day he got caught. The elder Broussard told his son, "If you wanna play that thing, we gonna get you your own." And so, they did. By age twelve, Timmy had mastered his accordion to a level that most adults never achieve. His younger brother, Marty had picked up the guitar and soon would discover the instrument that would change his life. Marty Broussard was to later become one of the most respected steel guitar players in Cajun music history.Timmy joined his first band, along with his brother, when he was fourteen years old. Two young boys, with three grown men, made the best music from Houston to the Louisiana state line on the East side. They literally played every "juke-joint" spanning 250 miles across Texas and Louisiana. Sometimes playing four nights a week, Timmy's father made the commitment to get his boys to every gig. At the same time, working full time and raising six kids. On gig night, the brothers would load their instruments into the camper shell of the truck. At the same time sisters Christine and Kautchia and twins Sherman and Sharon loaded their pillows and blankets in preparation of a good night sleep in the truck before school the next morning. It was a sacrifice that everyone in the family is proud of and an experience that none of them would trade.By the time he had become an adult, the desire to be a musician had taken over Timmy's life. He had mastered the accordion and was fast becoming the most demanded bass player in Southwest Louisiana. Fortunately, by this time, he had also come to understand music in a way that most never do. In this part of the woods, nearly everyone aspires to be an accordion player. In addition, every accordion player aspires to be a star. Timmy realized that being a star was not important. Being the best musician he could be was important. Those people who want to be stars, will never accomplish it if they don't have a strong foundation behind them. He wanted to be that foundation.While working his own dump truck, Timmy continued to play gigs with various band almost every night of the week. Some of today's biggest stars like Mark Chesnutt, Tracy Byrd and Sammy Kershaw were playing in local bands and all were calling Timmy to play bass. In 1987, he got the call that changed his life. Country star Mark Chesnutt, needed a bass player. Timmy was the perfect choice. Chesnutt had recorded a couple of songs using Wayne Toups on the accordion. Toups wasn't able to tour with him because of his own commitments. With Timmy on bass, they could make a quick swap during the show and cover the songs.This went on for nearly 13 years. There isn't a corner of these United States that they didn't travel to, and at every show, Little Timmy Broussard played his "dual-pitched melodeon" built by Randy Falcon. During the show, the lights would dim with a spotlight on Mark. Behind him in the dark, the crowd had no idea what was happening. When the lights came up, Timmy would move to center stage with his accordion playing Frenchie Burke's fast version of Grand Mamou.
Dale Dougay - Drums, Percussion
Former drummer and percussionist for Louisiana's Kingfish, Dale Dougay has fond memories of his earliest exposure to the live music scene in his hometown of Lake Charles, Louisiana. "It was those Friday nights back in 1964...the sounds of French music coming over the radio, broadcast live from the Shamrock Club...that caught my ear." Dougay recalls how as a youngster, he would pull two vinyl kitchen chairs together during the radio broadcast, and while sitting on one, would use the other as his "drum set", his drumsticks being whatever implements he could find. After ruining enough chairs, he must have convinced his folks that a set of drums was in order. Dougay started drumming with local bands at the very young age of fourteen. He recalls that he was allowed to be in the bars and nightspots, but was not allowed to leave the bandstand. For approximately five years he played with various Cajun and Country bands in Louisiana and Texas. In the early 1970's, now old enough to wander off the bandstand, Dougay began playing in a group called Southbound. Specializing in Rock, Swamp-pop and Country, they performed in the Lake Charles area for approximately five years. In 1976, Dougay helped transform the acoustic bluegrass band Javelina, whose members included Louisiana's Kingfish musicians Dave Savario and Rob Broussard, into a "NewGrass" group by adding his talents and a full set of drums. When Javelina disbanded in 1981, Dougay took a break from the full-time music scene, playing jobs occasionally with established groups. After a few years, however, he realized that music was "in his blood" and he was ready to play again. Again teaming with Dave Savario, Dougay became part of the local band The Homeboys, playing a mixture of Rockabilly and Blues for about a year. Desiring to play more dance-based music, they then helped form a variety dance band called The Lifters, which along with the addition of Steve Dougay and Chris Miller, became one of the more popular party and club bands in Southwest Louisiana. After The Lifters had been performing for nearly nine years and after the departure of Steve Dougay, Dale Dougay, Savario and Miller decided it was time to branch out into another direction. With the addition of Rob Broussard on vocals and bass, the four formed the group Louisiana's Kingfish in 1998, combining their talents and love for their Cajun roots to produce the "unique blend of Cajun-flavored music" for which they were known for during the bands existence through the late 90s through 2005. Dale left Louisiana's Kingfish and joined with Chris Miller and Bayou Roots in the early spring of 2005.