It wasn't the first time a band approached Mark Falgout about recording a live set at the Blue Moon Saloon.

Usually, though, those recording requests ultimately amount to a band performance with a single mic and a portable DAT recorder thrown onto the stage.

But when the Lost Bayou Ramblers approached Falgout about recording their live album, which would become the Grammy-nominated Live à la Blue Moon, they brought their own audio engineer -- Austin's Chris "Frenchie" Smith.

Smith set up shop in the venue's bathroom during a rare-for-the-Moon two-day set last Jan. 12-13. His seat was a toilet. He adjusted knobs and occasionally peeked his head out the door to send signals over to the band. All this while the patrons' beloved Saints battled through the playoffs. Many of the crowd sounds captured for the recording were in response to stellar, televised plays, rather than the on-stage performance.

Very fitting, says Louis Michot, fiddler and lead vocalist for the group.

"It was the perfect place to record it," Michot says. "It's not the most controlled environment. You don't know what you're going to get -- and that could lead to the best stuff."

The venue choice seemed only natural, considering the Ramblers were one of the first acts ever to perform at the venue.

"They don't do a whole lot of rehearsing," says Mark Falgout, owner of the Blue Moon Saloon and witness to the two-day recording session. The band's natural energy, Falgout says, coupled with the Grammy tie, encapsulates exactly what he wants his venue to represent.

The reward, of course, is the Grammy nod for the Lost Bayou Ramblers and the immortalizing of the venue in the album's title. The duality of it makes spreading the gospel of Acadiana that much easier for the group.

"I think the first year, having six bands from Louisiana is going to help to promote what our music really is," Michot says. "It's going to open more eyes to it.

He adds that he believes the Grammy stamp of approval legitimizes their efforts among fellow musicians -- that he hears it's a pretty accurate representation of what people in the industry like as far as music goes. That it's "not a political thing."

The group had no Grammy expectations upon completing the album. Swallow Records, the band's label, submitted Live à la Blue Moon for consideration just as it had done with the group's previous three releases.

"It just so happened this year we were able to get entered into the Cajun-zydeco category, which narrowed our chances a lot, of course," Michot says. "It just came out of the blue. It was an amazing surprise. We've worked a lot in the last five years. Just putting ourselves out there -- trying to turn new people on to our music. I think that's probably what's done it for us."

Today, the Ramblers spend most of their time living up to their name -- by keeping a busy tour schedule.

"We definitely are very hard working," Michot says. "We try to make the most out of our time. If we're on the road, we're going to play as many gigs as we can. We ended up playing 13 sets in four states over five days last summer."

Family life hasn't slowed the group much. Between now and the awards ceremony, the group will be playing four shows, including one at the Blue Moon Saloon Feb. 2. After that it's back to spreading Acadiana sensibilities through music.

"The music is just really a byproduct of the whole picture down here," Michot says. "Everything else didn't follow the music -- the music is just burrowed out of what we are. People who get a taste of how different the music is and they imagine how different the rest of life is down here."