Album Overview: 'My Suitcase Is Always Packed'

The Red Stick Ramblers combine Country, Cajun and Honky-Tonk

May 30, 2009

With an undeniable and honest affinity for classic Louisiana music, The Red Stick Ramblers unveil the act's most wide-ranging, genre-combining CD to date.

The youth-infused, roots-country act known as The Red Stick Ramblers has released its latest CD, My Suitcase Is Always Packed, and it’s a 13-track venture that’s a happy hybrid blend of honky-tonk, Western swing and Cajun sounds.

Released May 19, 2009, on the Sugar Hill label, Suitcase is the band’s sophomore album for the current label and the group’s fifth offering to date. With lead singer/fiddler Linzay Young at the helm, The Red Stick Ramblers adventure deeper than ever before into their myriad of country-based influences to showcase 11 new original songs—some in both English and Cajun French.

Baton Rouge-Based Country Group Boasts Flair for Louisiana Sound

Not surprisingly, the lineup—which also includes fiddler Kevin Wimmer, guitarist Chas Justus, bassist Eric Frey and drummer Glenn Fields—hails from Baton Rouge, La. Initially, they emerged at dance halls, festivals and concert halls around the world in 2002 before scoring their place on the Sugar Hill roster.

With production support from Grammy-winning Gary Paczosa and Brandon Bell, My Suitcase Is Always Packed kicks off with a Cajun-flavored opener, Je T'aime Pas Mieux, before launching into a bottle-clinking send-up dubbed Drinkin’ To You, a number that includes musical input from steep player Dave Giegerich.

Cajun Music-Inspired Country Album Combines Honky-Tonk & Western Swing

In a May 18, 2009, e-mail communication, group leader Young said the Drinkin’ tune found its inception with group member Frey, who “came up with this infectious hook not long before we recorded the record.”

In turn, the quintet’s drummer “wrote the chorus first and it had me and Chas both walking around with it stuck in our heads,” Young continued, “so the three of us sat down and completed it with some references to some of our favorite juke-box heartbreak hits … (because). sometimes you just gotta write a song about other songs”

As most know, too much Drinkin’ can lead to Bloodshot Eyes, and on the Suitcase CD, that’s precisely the outcome. Per Young, the cut—which features Bob Willoughby on a lush-sounding Rhodes electric piano, is “about the harsh reality of being in love with someone, but knowing that you might eventually strangle one another if you keep it up.”

Meanwhile, on The Barnyard Bachelor, the quintet strives honor some of its influences, Young shared.

“We wanted to pay homage to jump-blues greats likeLouis Jordan and Wynonie Harris with this one, with a little Foghorn Leghorn in there for good measure,” he said. “Thanks to (producer) Gary for letting us get all those farm animals in there for the take. I'm sending a check for the carpet cleaning as soon as those royalty checks come in,” he joked.

Dubbed the lineup’s most visceral and personal outing to date, country fans with a penchant for the Cajun sounds of country artists such Jo-El Sonnier will easily groove along with The Red Stick Ramblers’ Suitcase sound, which packs in the best of many music worlds, from the haunting banjo ‘n’ triangle-driven Nonc' Yorick song to the charismatic swing of Doggone My Time, among other tracks.

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