The man whose name is a celebration in itself picked up the world's most portable instrument, the harmonica, at the age of 11 and was turning heads with his music within days. But it was his ability on one of the world's least easy to carry instruments, the drums, that keeps him working in one Cajun band after another. He also seems to have a knack for finding unusual venues for his music that also just happen to be popular places for folks to hang out. The first music job that put him out on the road was as a one-man band performing at drive-ins, while fiddler Kristi Guillory recalls attending Cajun jam sessions Champagne was holding at a gas station he used to own, named Rex Champagne's. Of a multitude of ensembles, he has been involved with down in the bayous, none are more descriptive in name than the Ole Tymer's Cajun Band. Boasting more than 250 years of combined professional music experience between its membership, this group formed in 1999 and released their first CD on Acadiana records the following years. Champagne is the drummer in this quintet, whose other four members are each legends of Cajun music: Leo Abshire, August Broussard, Hubert Maitre, and Jack Le Blanc. Known as "the crowd pleaser," Champagne also toured and recorded with the Mamou Prairie Band and appears on the group's 1993 CD Catch My Hat. The founder of that band, accordion player Bob Reed, also lured Champagne into a loosely organized project known variously as the Bob Reed Band and Croupique. This group also features fiddler Travis Matte, bassist Lois Sprague, and guitarist Sam Broussard. Champagne has also popped his musical cork with Leroy "Happy Fats" Le Blanc, another legend in this genre. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide