ALBUM REVIEWS - Bayou Perdu

Tacoma, WA Tom Petersen , February 2006 Lost Bayou Ramblers - Bayou Perdu - Swallow Records Purists are going to grumble when they hear the lap steel and maybe begrudge the precedent for a dobro in a Cajun ensemble, but they'll get over it quick once they spin this platter. The young men of the Lost Bayou are very much part of the tradition and this album actually gets in a plug for a side project of theirs, backing Ethel Mae Bourque, a 72 year old denizen of remote Vermilion parish who sings the songs her granpere taught her! How deep can you get? LBR is headed up by the Michot brothers, who have their own, very deep roots and a commitment to keeping the old sound and spirit alive. Louis sings that high, screechy sound to match his delightfully rude fiddling, while Andre makes the sound move and flow, alternating between the more traditional accordian and the aforementioned lap steel. This new effort marks the LBR's concern that the music stay close to its original purpose as dance and party music, hence the addition of drummer Oscar "The Train" Courville and wild man bassist Alan LaFleur, who not only keeps things chuggin' but astonishes the crowd with his acrobatics. Plays it under his chin - got the pictures to prove it! This is a very fine record by a maturing and increasingly important band, taking Cajun music into the new century without comprimises.

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