*** The Hackberry Ramblers

DEEP WATER

(Hot Biscuits)

These old coots in boots have been at it longer than Jesus. Come to think of it, He had only 33 years to make it in the music business. The Ramblers have been plying their brand of Cajun country music since 1933, at dances and parties in southwestern Louisiana -- and even recording for Bluebird. Singers Marcia Ball, Rodney Crowell, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore join them here -- Gilmore's Jimmie Rodgers warble on "Deep Water" is especially apt -- to help sell the CD, but what's hippest is the Ramblers' vintage hot-footed melodies. They're played (usually on guitar, fiddle, or accordion) with the slow-paced intensity and love of detail that was the hallmark of great pre-rock-era country soloists. And the Ramblers perform Cajun classics, traditional folk numbers, country swing, and "Proud Mary" with the pride and dignity of the wizened old oak that produced all the acorns that sprouted the forest at its feet.

-- Ted Drozdowski