Doug Kershaw, Two Step Fever (Susie Q)

For years, there hasn’t been a lot of new Kershaw on the market. Oh sure, there have been plenty of recycled jobbies recycling the same stuff over and over, which never failed to include the proverbial “Diggy Diggy Lo” and “Louisiana Man.” But now, hallelujah, there’s some new Kershaw we can all praise, some of best Kershaw of the modern age. It’s Doug you can dig, a return-to-roots affair of all French material, other than a verse sung in English on “My Hat.” Similar to the dynamic live shows, there’s no let up in energy here either as this one stomps all the way through. The Ragin’ Cajun may be the terror from Tiel Ridge on fiddle but he’s also the accordionist for most of this. Guest accordionist Lee Benoit only plays on three tracks, including the twin accordion sizzle of “Back Door.” With Michael Doucet, there are gemini fiddles launching into orbit with “Johnny Can’t Dance.” Similarly, it doesn’t hurt to have Freddie Pate, guitar, Mark Miller, bass, and Eddie Bodin, percussion, as part of the arsenal. One thing may remain a mystery: Did Kershaw really write all those tunes like “Mamou Two-Step,” “Bosco Stomp,” “Midland Two-Step” and eight others as liner notes list? Or should it read Doug Kershaw, arranger? That would be something you can ask the legend next time you shake his hand but one thing remains true—he can still play the hell out of ’em.