Red Stick Ramblers to Perform at UPB

Red Stick Ramblers, a Cajun, country, string and swing band with a music video aired on Country Music Television, will perform March 20 at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.

The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Bromeley Family Theater of Blaisdell Hall. Tickets are $26 or $22 for the public and $11 or $9 for all students,. The show is a part of Pitt-Bradford’s Prism Series.

“This definitely isn't your grandfather’s Cajun band,” said Randy Mayes, director of arts programming at Pitt-Bradford. “This is addictive, toe-tapping music that washes over you and makes you move to the beat whether you want to or not.”

Drawing on Louisiana culture, the band combines Cajun, country, stringband and swing. The Red Stick Ramblers’ shows are reminiscent of all-night dances, laid-back campfire sessions, dusty honky-tonks and raucous family reunions.

Now a five-member band, Red Stick Ramblers formed in 1999 in Baton Rouge, La., and released its self-titled debut in 2002.

Since then, the band has released five albums, including “My Suitcase is Always Packed” last year, “Made in the Shade” in 2007, “Right Key, Wrong Keyhole” in 2005 and “Bring it on Down” in 2003.

A reviewer from Billboard.com reviewed the band:

“Dedicated enough to regional roots to open with the French Cajun ‘J’Taime Pas Mieux,’ they take cheerful excursions into barroom string (‘Drinkin’ to You’ and ‘Bloodshot Eyes’), Texas swing (the title song) and even the Johnny Mercer-influenced pop of ‘Lay Down in the Grass.’ The spirit is so uplifting that you could expect to hear ‘Goodbye to the Blues’ in an ad for an antidepressant."

The Red Stick Ramblers have shown their commitment to preserving their Louisiana heritage in ways other than their concert performances. Members started the South Louisiana Black Pot Festival and Cookoff in 2006.

The band includes Linzay Young, vocals and fiddle; Kevin Wimmer, fiddle and vocals; Chas Justus, guitar and vocals; Eric Frey, bass and vocals; and Glenn Fields, drums.

“I dare anyone to listen to the first set of this concert and try to come out at intermission without a smile on his or her face. It is impossible,” Mayes said.

A pre-show dinner will be served with honey-fried chicken, jalapeño-cheddar buttermilk biscuits, sour cream garlic red potatoes, fire-roasted sweet corn, Mesclun salad with grapefruit and pecans, and caramel apple pie at 5:45 p.m. in the Mukaiyama University Room of the Frame-Westerberg Commons. Cost for the dinner is $20.

For more information, visit www.redstickramblers.com. Tickets are available by calling the Bromeley Family Theater Box Office at (814) 362-5113.

For disability-related needs, contact the Office of Disability Resources and Services at 814-362-7609 or arj4@pitt.edu.