NEDERLAND — Growing up in a musical family, Gene Terry DeRouen was surrounded by fiddles, guitars and the sounds of southeast Louisiana music.

But it was a performance by a young musician just getting his start in the business that likely led DeRouen to becoming a musician himself.

“I saw Elvis in Shreveport,” DeRouen, who was later billed as “Gene Terry,” said of Elvis Presley’s performance in 1954 during the Louisiana Hayride radio program. “At that time I was listening to Jim Reeves, Floyd Cramer, and there was this guy on stage in a pink suit and my dad said my eyes never left the stage.”

DeRouen recalled how Elvis performed the up-tempo “That’s Alright Mama” to an excited crowd.

DeRouen saw early stardom first with rock-a-billy music then swamp pop, cutting a few records and touring along the south before putting away the music and settling down and raising a family.

His contributions to Swamp Pop have not gone unnoticed. On June 5, DeRouen will perform during a Southern Rockin’ event at The Borderline in London.

Seated in his Nederland home, DeRouen recalled his career, describing in vivid detail the sights and sounds of the era.

DeRouen, a Lafayette, Louisiana native, and family moved to Port Arthur when he was two. With musical inspiration all around him it was no surprise when he approached his uncle, R.C. DeRouen, and asked him to teach him guitar.

“My uncle was in the bathtub and I went in and told him I wanted to learn how to play guitar,” he said. “I strummed the guitar and he said ‘that’s an E chord.’ I learned to play a clean ‘A chord’ from Jivin’ Gene (Bourgeois).”

At the age of 15 DeRouen started his first band, The Kool Kats. Later he would go on to create the Down Beats.

“I was once billed as Port Arthur’s own Elvis,” he said. “We played during intermission on Wednesday’s at the Don Drive-In.”

He remembers driving his 1956 Chevrolet to the Don and being waved in by an attendant who was familiar with seeing him during performances.

Gene Terry and his Kool Kats produced a single, “The Woman I love,” that was recorded in a local couple’s home. The record label was Rock-It Recording Company.

“I paid $50 for 250 records to be pressed. I was supposed to have passed them out but I was starting to drift to rhythm and blues,” he said.

DeRouen had kept a small stack of the singles but they were destroyed during Hurricane Ike with the exception of one scratched copy.

A music promoter from London inquired about the old records recently and told DeRouen that he would have bought 20 of them at $4,000 a piece.

As a young teenager DeRouen was working as a store clerk for 50 cents an hour as his singing career was taking off. He also began performing at a club making $24 a week. He quit the store clerk job and stayed with the music.

For DeRouen, it was all about the music. He quickly figured out the perfect formula for the sound he wanted and added horns and saxophones to his growing ensemble.

A smile plays across DeRouen’s face when he described the rich tones of the saxophones, the crescendo as the musicians played in unison.

His little band with eight members was called the Down Beats and he soon was playing nightclubs and often played at the Big Oaks Club in Vinton, La. They later signed on to play at Moulin Rouge in Lake Charles, La. and relocated there.

A five-year recording contract was penned with Eddie Shuler, producer of Goldband Label in Lake Charles and three 45 RPM singles were produced; Cindy Lou/Teardrops in My Eyes, Never Let Her Go/No Main Today and Guy With a Million Dreams/ Cinderella, Cinderella.

Live performances and stage appearance were important to DeRouen and the group and DeRouen’s mother made him 30-plus short tuxedo coats for his performances.

By 1960 his musical career began to wind down.

“I quit in 1960. I told the guys I’m coming to Texas to get a real job,” he said. At that time he was married with his first child on the way. Not long after he decided he wanted to be a police officer, a career his parents and grandparents didn’t think suited him.

He performed a little here and there while working as a police officer, a job he loved. By 1965 he got a call from DuPont. He didn’t want to leave the police force but with two children at that time he knew he needed a better income. He hired on at DuPont and stayed for 32 years.

DeRouen, and other local musicians, was the topic of Swamp Pop: Cajun and Creole Rhythm and Blues,” a book by Shane Bernard. The 1996 book features a teenaged DeRouen on the cover wearing one of the green short tux coats his mother made.

DeRouen was also inducted into the Louisiana Hall of Fame for his accomplishments.

His wife, Barbara Thibodeaux DeRouen, passed away in 2011 and a few years ago he married Mary Scully who was a widow. Mary DeRouen knew of his past musical accomplishments and encouraged him to get back on stage.

“I got him back into it,” Mary DeRouen said. “God gave him a talent.”

With her urging DeRouen started performing a little here and there, joining performers such as Jivin’ Gene Bourgeois and Ken Marvel.

Then, in February 2015, he got an offer to perform at the Ponderosa Stomp, an annual New Orleans event paying homage to different genres of American music scheduled for November 2015. Then, in July last year, he underwent open-heart surgery. As he healed he wondered if he would get his doctor’s approval to perform again.

“I asked my doctor if it was OK to do a show,” he said, adding the doctor inquired about the issue. “I told the doctor that back in the day I had a little notoriety.”

The doctor gave DeRouen the green light and he made his appearance in New Orleans. That’s where he caught the eye, or ear, of folks with the London gig.

“I started recording at 14, now I’m 76,” he said with a laugh.

His wife Mary believes she know why he stays relevant in the day and age.

“All these guys are old, his (DeRouen’s) age or a little older, she said. “But the crazy thing is that he still has a young feel and look. Even London can’t get over it.”

As the date for DeRouen’s London departure nears he wonders what will come next in his musical career. His friend Jivin’ Gene performed at The Borderline in the past which resulted in later performances during Rhythm Riot, a 1950’s rhythm, blues and rock ‘n roll weekend in London.

“This (The Borderline) could result in me going to Rhythm Riot next year,” he said.