The Gambit Weekly
New Orleans, LA - November 16, 2006

MUSIC: Red Stick Ramblers

Formed in 1999 in Baton Rouge, this nattily dressed band quickly made its way from a house party secret to a Jazz Fest favorite, playing an enthusiastic and vintage-sounding blend of Cajun, honky-tonk, Western, country blues and hot jazz that would raise the roof of either a Harlem speakeasy or a Eunice barn dance. Recently, the band racked up some high-profile gigs, contributing music to the film All the King's Men and playing on country-pop legend Linda Ronstadt's Adieu False Heart, her 2006 collaboration with Ann Savoy. As an extra feather in the band's fedora, Ronstadt recorded one of Rambler Chas Justus' original songs, "Rattle My Cage," on the critically hailed album. The quintet currently is putting the finishing touches on an upcoming 2006 release, a follow-up to 2004's jazzy hot toddy Right Key, Wrong Keyhole, which broke the top 10 on the Americana Music Association's radio airplay charts. Now the quintet's members are straightening their ties and strutting back home to New Orleans. This would be a fine time to catch them, as they may not be playing venues as cozy as dba much longer.