Grammy possibility for Deforest

When the Grammy Awards roll around at the first of next year, the category for "Best Cajun Recording" just may be connected to the Ozarks. Doug Driesel, who works under the name Doug Deforest, of Cherokee Village, Ark., and a native of Houston, Mo., received word this week that Bayou Roux, a Zydeco/Cajun group from Houston, Texas has a first round nomination for "Best Cajun Recording" for their CD "HeyDey." Deforest, who owns Lake Paradise Studio in Cherokee Village played on a few of the tracks, and recorded his part of the CD in Lake Paradise. Also Tim Crouch, a resident of Strawberry, Ark., added some spicy fiddle to the CD, which is in the running for the gold.

"Even though I have a small part in this CD, I'm very proud to be a part of the Grammy process this year" Deforest says. "There are millions of artists releasing CDs every year, so to be included makes you kind of feel special." Deforest has had numerous successful recordings as a producer and writer, having produced the European CMA record of the year in 2007 and wrote and produced the "Song of the Year" at the 2007 awards in Barcelona, Spain. Deforest's recording career has spanned 30 years and included working with such acts as Glen Campbell, Mickey Gilley, Blessid Union of Souls, Atlantic Starr, Tony Orlando, Eddie Raven, Jonathan Edwards and many more.

"This grammy thing would be a nice thing to hang on the wall" says Deforest. "It just goes to show that even a hillbilly can every once in a while hit one out of the park."

Doug will be performing Oct. 10 at Afterwords in Hardy, as part of "Rounds, Roark and Deforest" to promote the release of "Another ten years/Odds and Ends" which is a collection of work from the last decade. Showtime is at 7 p.m.