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By weekday, Ruffin Rodrigue is a mild-mannered outside salesman for Coburn’s Supply Company.
On weekends, he’s a warrior, fronting for Ruff N Ready and keeping the party rocking.
Rodrigue’s been playing music for years. In the ‘80s, he was even in the Untouchables with Houma bluesman Tab Benoit.
For just over a year, he’s festival-hopped with Ruff N Ready, quickly gaining a loyal following.
The band – Ruffin on lead vocals; Pat Forniers, lead guitar; Wayne Gros, keyboards; Ricky Gros, drums; and Rodney Treadaway, bass – saw its popularity soar with the release of the popular “Bud Light Song,” which was recorded at Waylon Thibodeaux’s studio. Featured on youtube, the song has generated nearly 5,000 hits.
“I’ve had different musicians through the years, but this is the best group that I’ve ever had,” Rodrigue said. “We really enjoy playing together. It’s very good chemistry.”
Ruff N Ready are probably one of Houma’s harder working bands. They’re on the festival circuit all month, with stops at the Gumbo Festival, French Food Festival, Downtown Live in Houma and the late Gene Bonvillain’s fundraiser in Cocodrie and a festival in Cut Off before closing out the month at Best of the Bayou.
With a diverse playlist – everything from the Eagles, Aerosmith, Zac Brown Band and a load of classic rock hits.
Ruff N Ready are at work, too, on original material. One song, a cha cha tune, “I Could Fall in Love,” is posted on YouTube.
“The problem is working full time and playing all the time makes it hard to get in the studio,” Rodrigue said. “It’s hard to find time to practice, too. We basically learn original songs in the studio.
“If we had the time (to record), we’ve got a lot of songs written,” he said.
