Bas Clas (pronounced ‘bahs clahs’) is a rock band formed in Lafayette, Louisiana in the late 1970s by brothers Donnie and Steve Picou.
[2][3] In 1982, author and producer Samuel Charters heard Bas Clas live at Grant Street Dancehall and sent a cassette tape demo of the band's music to his friend, producer John Hammond Sr. "You may not know who the hell I am, but I was a vice-president of CBS Records for many years and had a lot to do with everybody from Billie Holiday to Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen; and frankly it does take quite a lot to impress me.
Hammond and his longtime assistant, Mikie Harris, met with the Picou brothers, and for the next couple of years shopped the band around to labels, but there were no takers.
While in Atlanta the band secured a management deal with music promoter John Scher,[2] but again, no record label interest, and they parted ways by 1990.
3: Gatherings of the Tribe") at Grant Street Dancehall for the annual "Medicine Show" benefit for the Dr. Tommy Comeaux Endowed Chair in Traditional Music at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and began a new journey.