Eclectic Company: Fruge Family Band Reunion at Sylvia’s Bistro This Weekend

Guitarist/vocalist Ronnie Fruge is happy on the highway, rolling south from Monroe to Lake Charles, because he’s anticipating seeing his Momma, Leola “Bea” Benoit Fruge, and many of his six siblings, at the annual Fruge family reunion, which this year will honor his dad, the late Dudley Joseph Fruge, who died in an accident in 1964, when oldest son Ronnie was just 11 years old. “I’m definitely a momma’s boy,” Fruge admitted with a little laugh, “because I’m so proud of my mom for all she did. When my dad died, she was 29, and there were six of us. In fact, she was 3-1/2 months pregnant with my baby brother Dudley II. She was alone, and she had seven kids to take care of, and she worked hard to make sure we were able to follow our dreams.” As it happened, many of the Fruge siblings dreams included working in music.

“I had just gotten my first guitar, a Sears Silvertone, before my daddy died,” Fruge reminisced. Less than a year later, the musical youth played well enough to be hired as guitarist for an older kid playing music on the bus to their Iowa school – accordionist August Broussard, whose band played local Cajun dances and private parties around the area. Then, it turned out, Ronnie was just the tip of the family musical iceberg; five of the Fruge kids played instruments and sang. So they became the Fruge Family Band. “Momma helped and encouraged us," Fruge explained. “She traded in her car for a station wagon to drive us to teen centers and little festivals for years. She bought our equipment, and basically acted as our manager.” Fruge’s pride in his mother continues today: “Everyone knows Bea, if they ever buy flowers from the Albertson’s on Ryan Street. She still runs that, at 73!”

While the Fruges are in town for their larger family reunion, Sylvia’s will host the musical members of the Fruge family this weekend, on Friday and Saturday, September 11 and 12, in a rare reunion of the Family Band. “It gives us a chance to get together, to play the old songs together, and to make a little bit to help finance the cost of traveling,” Fruge said cheerfully, contemplating the coming weekend. Listening to Fruge’s own songs on www.myspace.com/ronniefruge, you will hear the country-flecked style that Fruge’s writing and performing these days. But in the old days, the Family Band covered R&B and soul, among other styles, with a sturdy backline fronted by KJ’s angelic singing and Ronnie’s tasty lead guitar work. “We’re 100% Cajun – half Benoit on one side and half Fruge on the other – but we never played Cajun music in the Family Band,” Fruge told me. When pressed for sample songs and styles we’re likely to hear at Sylvia’s, he mentioned Aretha Franklin, Percy Sledge, and Wilson Pickett. Three excellent choices. I can’t wait.

The Fruge Family Band featured oldest brother Ronnie Fruge (guitar and vocals), sister KJ Fruge Smith (vocals and percussion), Darrell “Bro” Fruge (bass) and first Clinton Fruge and later Dudley Joseph Fruge II (drums) when Clinton joined the military. In the ‘70s KJ went to Nashville for a time, where she played with Billy Troy, son of the bluegrass band Flatt & Scruggs’s dobro player, Josh Graves. Then she returned to Lake Charles and traded in her musical career to become a popular physical therapist. Which didn’t surprise Fruge at all: “KJ’s like my grandmother, who was what the Cajuns call a “traiteur” or “treater,” with real prayer power in her hands. And KJ’s got this presence – she steps onto a stage and the sun just comes out.” Brother Clinton too gave up playing music. He moved to Colorado and became a pipefitter after a couple of tours of duty with the Marines. But Ronnie, Bro and Dudley went on to play music professionally as adults, working with some great names and great talents over the years.

Ronnie moved to various music cities, including Austin, and five years ago to Nashville, where he’s worked as guitarist for songwriter Alex Harvey (famous as composer of the 1970s megahit “Delta Dawn,” and for 17 covers of his songs sung by Kenny Rogers, including three on “The Gambler” album). With his sweetheart Julie Hardy, Ronnie also sings and plays with blue-eyed soul singer Jimmy Hall, and other Nashville musicians. He still doesn’t play Cajun music for a living, but among the tunes linked to his myspace page is a self-penned number featuring famed Cajun accordionist (and former fellow Nashville resident, now living in Moss Bluff) Joel Sonnier.

Dudley II moved to Lafayette, played with Zachary Richard’s band, and with the girl group Evangeline, a band that Jimmy Buffet signed to his label and took on tour as his opening act for several years, and even played on “The Tonight Show” a couple of times. Most recently, Dudley’s been playing with the Lafayette-based Louisiana roots band, Roddie Romero and the Hub City Allstars, who were nominated for a Grammy in 2007 – the first year for the new Cajun & Zydeco category. (roddieromero.com). Bro is no slouch either, having joined up with Lake area Cajun musicians Moe-D, and when that band retired, with fiddler and accordion player Abe Manuel (who was once Merle haggard’s bandleader and fiddler), to record with him on the soundtrack sessions for the Lake Arthur-produced film, “Little Chenier.” “For a while there, Dudley, Bro and I were all in Zachary Richard’s band as his rhythm section,” Fruge recalled. “We were pretty good.”

And as for the family reunion offstage? Fruge is looking forward to spending time with his Momma and honoring her. “I’m anxious to hear the stories the family members will tell about daddy, and there’ll be pictures and souvenirs,” Fruge said. “But it will also be a great time to honor my Momma.” The Family Band’s reunion will have a big role in doing just that. “I’m a musician today because my Momma made sure we could all follow our dreams. She showed me with her hard work and her loving support that we could be whatever we were willing to work for. We’re very lucky she was there for us.” And so are the Fruge Family Band’s fans.