The Bois d'Arc Bottom Band" has come a long way since the night they were reprimanded by a sponsor of the
Ladonia Rodeo for playing a Rusty Weir tune "I Heard You've Been Laying My Old Lady," at a dance following that
event.
Not in terms of distance, with Ladonia only 12 miles from Commerce, but more importantly in the sound of their
music which has made a "drastic" change, in the band's opinion.
Appearing every Friday and Saturday night as the house band at The Key, 1603 Live Oak, three instruments and
two members have been added to the original six-member progressive country group which began as a band at the
rodeo dances of last summer.
The drums, played by Mike Erwin, 27, Honey Grove, organ and electric piano music provided by Gary Manning,
28, Bonham, and the Shobud steel guitar music of Boyd Hudgens, 20, Honey Grove, banjo picking member of the
original band, comprise the recent additions to their sound.
Erwin, an ET graduate who now teaches English and coaches basketball at West Lamar High School in Paris,
joined the group about six months ago.
"He's got to be the fastest drummer around," Hudgens stated. "A banjo is a pretty fast instrument, but the other
night I couldn't keep up with him."
That may be saying a lot for Hudgens, an electronics engineering student at Paris Junior College, who won first
place at ET's First Bluegrass Festival. The self-taught musician, who also teaches digital electronics at E-Systems
in Greenville, plays a variety of stringed instruments.
Hudgens is also credited with having given the band its name. The "bois d'arc bottom" is an area of forested
lowland northwest of Honey Grove and Bonham approximately 30 miles from Commerce.
Manning, who will graduate from ET this semester with a degree in social work, not only provides the keyboard
sound to their performance, but also does back-up vocals and sings lead on some songs.
Manning has been with the band about two weeks, after moving back to this area from Houston, where he played
professionally with "Hard Times", a western swing and country band. They played at various clubs in Houston
and appeared once on television.
Gary Don Moreland, 28, Honey Grove, sings lead vocals and plays rhythm guitar with the group. He is introduced
on stage as "the bod" by Manning, who makes light of Moreland's five years experience as a mortician.
Bob Robinson, 27 a former ET student who hails from the small community of Gober, utilizes his ear for music by
providing lead guitar on his Les Paul and doing some back-up vocals on stage.
Kelly "Hip" Connell, 19, a former ET student from Wolfe City, is bass player for most of the show, but also is
featured playing fiddle and doing vocals on a couple of songs.
Another ET student, David Trout, 22, Bonham, sings lead on several tunes, as well as playing rhythm guitar with
the band. He is scheduled to graduate this semester with a B.S. in industrial technology.
Harmonica and harmony vocal notes are provided to complete their musical performance by Phillip Rozell, 20,
Wolfe City.
Although they rely heavily on the songs of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, with Moreland doing a close
version of Willie's vocal sound on "Good Hearted Woman" and "Devil In A Sleeping Bag", the band adds some
versatillity to the "honky-tonk" atmosphere of The Key on the weekends.
Their bluegrass tunes are accentuated by the wild banjo picking of Hudgens, and their copies of the Southern-rock
sounds of Charlie Daniels and Marshall Tucker come convincingly across with Trout's vocals.
Area Band Finds Hardships, Hopes in Performing
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A newspaper article from 1976
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