Greensboro, NC-September 13, 2007
The Red Stick Ramblers
Made in the Shade
Sugar Hill Records
Rating: 3.5 (of 4)
As more and more groups come forward touting an antiquated aesthetic and old-timey attitude, one can't help but ask whether or not the world needs another act venerating forgotten genres and sporting three-piece suits in the name of Americana.
Well, if that group is anything like The Red Stick Ramblers, the answer is assuredly yes.
The Ramblers hail from Baton Rouge, La., so it makes sense that the honky-tonk piano and country shuffle of title track "Made in the Shade" is followed quickly by the melancholy Cajun fiddle of "Les Oiseaux Vont Chanter."
In between you'll find that the jazzy low-key swing of "Evenin'" flaunts the group's musical range and wide-ranging musical tastes.
Although this sort of genre hopping runs the risk of sounding unfocused — or even downright schizophrenic — it works here, thanks to the interwoven sonic textures these songs share.
Fiddle, guitar and piano take turns sharing the spotlight so effortlessly that you hardly notice when the songs become bilingual (there's tradition Cajun music on the menu, and the band members are traditionalists, after all).
It's just this diversity that gives the Ramblers one up on most other Americana revivalists who are content with a single genre.
The Red Stick Ramblers remind us of the breadth of Americana and why that ever-amorphous genre was appealing in the first place.
- Daniel McMillan