By STAFF WRITER, Nassau Guardian

The Lasido Boys will take a break from their usual gig at Dis We Place this weekend to defend their "King of Rake 'n Scrape" title at the Cat Island Rake 'n Scrape Festival in Arthur's Town, Friday, June 6 to Sunday, June 8.

Commissioner Charles King says Arthur's Town has been buzzing with final preparations for the festival for weeks in preparation for the upcoming event now one of the foremost cultural events in the country.

While the competition is open only to bands from Cat Island, there will be plenty of other entertainers on hand, including The Bahamas' favorite troubadour, Ronnie Butler.

Other bands performing include Andrew Jones & The Spirit House Band, The Down Home Dancers,The Falcons, RV, Terez, KB and Ancient Man.

The festival kicked off this year' on Thursday, May 29 with a performance by The Cat Island Rushers, Gospel Eagles Band, The Rahming Brothers, The Dynamic Features and the Region Bells.

But the real party gets underway on Friday, June 6. The battle begins Friday evening and carries over to foot-stomping

final performances and the crowning of a new new king on Saturday night.

Former title-holders include Offie and the Websites, Bohog and the Rooters, Franko and the Dogs and the Turning Point Band, led by Commissioner King.

Early arrivers can hop aboard a kick-off boat cruise aboard the mail boat MV Seawind, leaving Smith's Bay Dock at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 5. The legendary Lasido Boys will be performing. Island favorites such as goat souse will be served, along with a special Cat Island cocktail, the 21 Gun Salute — with a secret ingredient said to make old men believe they're young and frisky again.

The festival was launched after a few Cat Islanders sat down under a big tree in Arthur's Town, according to King. They wanted to create an event that would highlight the musical talents of Cat Islanders and preserve the tradition of Rake 'n' Scrape, and they came up with the idea of putting on a competition.

Joe Ferguson, then Commissioner of Cat Island, along with Pamela Poitier and Eris Moncur, put together a committee that organized the first festival in 1998. It has only grown in stature and attendance ever since.

Today, it's a hugely popular family event that has something for everyone, including a down-home food fair which begins at noon, at where festival-goers can enjoy such delights as potato bread, flour cake, benny cake and crab 'n dough.

The festival also includes a host of children's activities, "old-timey" games, plaiting the maypole and an open-mike "Cat Island Talent Star Search".

Among the festivities are performances by the Cat Island Marching Band accompanied by the Police Cadet Corps. Also on tap is the Battle of Junior Rake 'n' Scrape bands, where the next generation of musicians is keeping the genre alive, honing their skills before a live audience.

The Festival gives back to the community by awarding scholarships for top students to further their educations at the College of The Bahamas and supporting the island's high school debate team.

Rake 'n Scrape music is said to have originated in Cat Island, where the locals are renowned for making do with materials near at hand. The early bands might include a bass instrument made from fishing line, a tin tub and a piece of wood.

Other instruments could be a conch shell horn, a harmonica fashioned from a comb and tissue paper and a smoking hot goat-skin drum. A saw, scraped with a screwdriver or other piece of metal, provides the driving beat. Today's musicians are more likely to use goombay drums and the concertina but the carpenter's saw is still the signature sound of rake 'n' scrape music. Traditionally, it was used to accompany the Bahamian Quadrille and the Heel and Toe Polka, still seen during cultural celebrations today.