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Lafayette, LA Herman Fuselier, March 2004 Lost Bayou Ramblers find their way in the old-time sound Cecil Doyle of KRVS Radio said the Lost Bayou Ramblers "play like they have dentures." Such words are a bouquet of compliments for MTV-era musicians trying to capture an FDR sound. But "Pilette Breakdown," a CD of the young Ramblers playing the western swing Cajun music of the 1930s and '40s, is working. Through a public poll, Offbeat Magazine of New Orleans named the CD one of Louisiana's Top 50 CDs of 2003. Reviewer Dan Wilging places it in his top 10. The Ramblers were even nominated as Best Emerging Cajun Band in Offbeat’s annual Best of the Beat awards. Brothers Louie and Andre Michot of Lafayette say they're only doing what they know best. Their father, Tommy, and uncles, Les Freres Michot, have traveled the world playing unplugged, traditional Cajun music for almost 20 years. "We just do what we've been brought up with," said Louie, the band’s fiddler and vocalist. "It's all French music, but we definitely pull on the bluesy aspects of it. We do some of that stuff from the '40s with no accordion. "Andre picked up the lap steel and we do a lot of Cajun swing standards. That aspect is nice because some people just don't like the accordion. "When we can play some swinging Cajun stuff, we can reach people that might have never listened to it before." The newfound fans are hearing the Ramblers resurrect gems like "La Valse Criminelle," first recorded by Leo Soileau and Moise Robin in 1928 and later redone by Octa Clark and Dewey Balfa. They put their own spin on Lawrence Walker's "Happy Hop" and "Les Bon Temps Rouler," which they call "Holly Beach." It's appropriate that the CD includes two tunes, "O Bye/Bluerunner" and "Louisiana Boogie Woogie," recorded live in Brooklyn, N.Y. at the Botanic Gardens. The band has done two tours of New York, including one trip to Brooklyn and Manhattan in which they played seven gigs in nine days. A trip to the Bay area of California yielded 11 shows. The Ramblers are currently on a return trip to New York, Maryland and Virginia where they are playing restaurants, night clubs, schools and theaters. "In New York, they kind of look at us like, 'Where are you from?' but they like it," said Louie. "We end up getting our own gigs, so we end up playing at places that are not your normal Cajun venue. We expose the music to a lot of people that didn't know about it. "We end up playing a lot of punk clubs and stuff." "We play a lot on the street and all of a sudden, there's a big crowd and people start dancing," added Andre. The Ramblers hope to have them dancing in Nashville when they play during the keynote address at the International Country Music Conference. The educational experience follows a similar workshop they did last year at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. In a session titled "From Country to Cajun and Back," the Ramblers played songs showing the roots of Cajun music, from its European origins to modern, country-influenced sounds and zydecajun. Folklorist Ryan Brasseaux of UL Lafayette was the keynote speaker and will perform the same duties in Nashville. "He's been a good friend for a long time and he's been helping us out a lot," said Louie. "Hopefully, the country music people will take a liking to us. They like to think of Cajun as subcategory of country music. It could be. I'll go for it." (Listen to Herman Fuselier's radio show at 10 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday on KRVS 88.7 FM. His TV show airs at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday on KDCG-TV 22.)

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