About four years ago, a group ofUniversity students residing on Carlotta and State Street startedplaying music together for neighborhood ears. In a residential areaknown for its bohemian elements, the members of the Red StickRamblers were at home. From there, they started experimenting withjazz and various styles of traditional music, which after fiveyears in the making, has crystallized into a strange, yet colorful,blend of music they call “Cajun gypsy-swing.”
    ”We all met at LSU and would just sitout on Carlotta Street, barbeque, and jam together,” said Ramblers’guitarist Chas Justus.
    Justus, Joel Savoy, Lindzay Young, JoshCaffery, and Glenn Fields became college friends and startedsharing their musical tastes and influences, which convergedtogether with the likes of Bob Wills, a country folk star, DjangoReinhardt, the legendary gypsy jazz guitarist, and Dewey Balfa, aLouisiana Cajun fiddler.
    While loyal to their formativeinfluences, the Ramblers have created an original sound.
    ”The style they play–southern LouisianaCajun swing, Celtic, gypsy, and traditional–has a timeless soundthat appeals to everyone: young, old, big and small,” said DaveRemmetter, booking agent for Chelsea’s Caf����.
    Since their LSU days, the Ramblers havebeen busy honing their sound, both on the road and in the recordingstudio. Laying down old classics, as well as original songs, theiralbum releases include “The Red Stick Ramblers” and “Bring It onHome,” which was nominated “Best Cajun Album of 2003” by Offbeatmagazine. They currently have another album in the works and wererecently added to “MerleFest Live! The Best of 2003″–a compilationalbum of the best performances at the popular bluegrass festivalMerleFest.
    In the meantime, the band is doing justwhat they set out to: ramble. Finding far-ranging audiences fortheir music, the Ramblers have been busy touring the U.S., Canadaand Europe to spread their Louisiana gypsy-jazz sound to otherparts of the world. They have performed for festival crowds atMerleFest, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the FestivalInternational de Louisiane and many more. While touring, they haveopened for big name artists such as Ricky Skaggs and EmmylouHarris.
    Despite their growing popularity, theband still calls southwest Louisiana its home and always likesreturning to Baton Rouge, whose culture has indelibly influencedtheir sound, not to mention their name.
    ”Playing in Baton Rouge is a homecomingof sorts,” Justus said.
    Baton Rouge has a reciprocal affectionfor The Red Stick Ramblers. The Ramblers are real crowd-pleasers,according to Remmetter.
    ”The Ramblers run the gambit on thecrowd,” Remmetter said. “They consistently draw two hundred or morepeople to each and every show, and they get everyone dancing.”
    Tonight, the Ramblers will be “Bringingit on Down” to Baton Rouge after a five-week cross-country trek andwork on their latest album. Tonight at 10:30 p.m., the Ramblerswill be playing at Chelsea’s Cafe, which is only a block away fromwhere they first met and spent hours jamming on their front porch.Although they have travelled far and wide, The Red Stick Ramblersare still local musicians by preference. The show starts at 10:30p.m.