Dylan Aucoin and the Judice Ramblers
A Brief History…
“Dylan Aucoin & the Judice Ramblers” are made up of a great combination of young and seasoned musicians from the Acadiana area. While performing mostly Cajun Dancehall tunes, these guys are also at home with Swamp Pop and even Country music. No matter what the style, Dylan Aucoin & the Judice Ramblers will be sure to keep you on your feet. Joining Dylan as vocalist on the album is Luke Huval along with additional musicians, Blake Huval, Brazos Huval, Laine Thibodeaux, Richard Comeaux & Pat Breaux.
Reviews…
Dylan Aucoin and the Judice Ramblers (SW 6238)
BLUESRAG MAGAZINE, August 2024
Well-played move, Dylan Aucoin, to open your album—and your recording career—with “Flammes d’enfer.” Those first, quick, infectious, highly peppered minutes—translated from Cajun-French as “The Flames of Hell”—serve many purposes in one fell swoop. Namely, to introduce yourself to the world as a storming, singing accordionist with a hot band and a deep appreciation of the music’s roots embedded in forefathers from the accountable Austin Pitre to Belton Richard, whose long reach continues feeding generations of setlists (this one included) around the Cajun kingdom.
But no sooner has the plume of dust begun to settle than the quintet immediately veers into a synchronized slowdown to accommodate the soft but deliberate spin of “Wedding Bells,” an old Hank Williams tearjerker, still drenched in the wails of steel guitar, but adapted to south Louisiana waltz-time. Wingman/singing fiddler Luke Huval grabs the mic for this one.And so, within the combined nine leadoff minutes of his self-titled debut, Aucoin underscores his expertise at operating under the basic essential speeds to keep ears, feet and hearts super-happy: two-steps and waltzes. The 10 other tracks keep the party grooving. His Judice Ramblers are accordingly built for dancehalls rather than porches, doubly reinforced with bass and drums to bring the oomph needed to cut through the din of large rooms packed to the gills every Saturday night and push dancers around the floor. Songs get sung in French and English. “The Prison of Her Memory” plus a second original help restock the Cajun songbook. And, of course, heartbeats jump all the higher whenever Aucoin’s accordion seizes the melody.
Once in a blue moon, though, that squeezebox takes a breather, and the frame of reference changes. Like when the teardrops running down “Living in Misery” get tinted by warm guitar chords and a flash of saxophone that stamp the ballad as Swamp Pop. Or the country feel given to “I’ll Try” when the accordion takes a backseat to flights of fancy flown by fiddle and a particularly cheery steel guitar serving notice we’re on love’s upside.
And that mood swing is significant. Because grounded on such sentiments as “Sound of Loneliness” and “Give Me Another Chance,” Dylan Aucoin and the Judice Ramblers could well serve as a blues album. Except that everything is highly danceable, with “She’s Gone, Gone, Gone” being just as much a blaster as is “Went to the Dance.
By: Dennis Rozanski
Dylan Aucoin and the Judice Ramblers (SW 6238)
OFFBEAT MAGAZINE, January 2024
It must be an exciting time for Cajun music with all the emerging young guns carrying the cultural banner forward. Count 23-year-old Dylan Aucoin among that class. The talented accordionist has been fronting The Judice Ramblers since high school, not long after meeting soulmate and fiddler Luke Huval at a jam. When Aucoin landed his first gig, he dialed Huval immediately, and bam, the nucleus of the band was formed.
The group performs mainly as a quartet but occasionally snags a steel guitarist for the gala gigs. For Aucoin’s auspicious debut recording, he loaded up on steelers with Richard Comeaux and Laine Thibodeaux, who play five and six tracks each. With this hefty steel presence, it’s evident that Aucoin and the Judice Ramblers bask in the dancehall style of Cajun music, but the influences go deeper than that. Aucoin, a country-leaning vocalist, never desired to sing until inspired by High Performance’s Jamey Bearb. Like High Performance, The Judice Ramblers also adores its idol, Belton Richard, by performing three Belton originals and renditions of Lefty Frizzell’s “She’s Gone Gone Gone” and Hank Williams’ “Wedding Bells” that Richard once translated into French.
Aucoin kicks off the proceedings with a bustin’ version of “Flammes D’Enfer,” a vivid testament to his masterful chops. He practically breaks the speed limit while maintaining uncanny precision and accuracy. Thibodeaux adds a sense of swing to “Flammes” with his offsetting fill-ins before soaring on his solos.
Similarly, the rambunctious closer “Went to the Dance” will require short, quick steps if dancers want to keep pace. Indeed, it’s a band that performs at a high level. Huval exhibits a lovely tone in his fiddling that sometimes can be eye-watering (“Give Me Another Chance”). When it comes to vocals, many bands would kill to have quality vocalists like Aucoin and Huval, who convey the utmost sincerity.
What else is interesting is the Judice Ramblers’ integration of English-sung country songs into its Cajun dancehall format. Willie Nelson’s “Sad Songs and Waltzes” lament and Conway Twitty’s pulsating “I’ll Try” are a natural fit, culling from the best of both worlds.
Yet, it’s more than just chops, hops and props. Aucoin and Huval are also budding songwriters, with one original each. Aucoin’s swamp popper “Living in Misery” is sung ever so soulfully, enhanced by Huval’s fluid electric guitar lines and guest Pat Breaux’s sax work. Huval wrote the poignantly beautiful “The Prison of Her Memory” in French. Initially, he describes a young couple in love from a third-person perspective. Seasons change to the winter, and the girl soon finds another. In the last couple of lines, Huval reveals that guy was him, eternally trapped in the prison of her memory. It’s a poetic, emotional moment, augmented by the Ramblers and steeler Comeaux’s majestic treatment. This is more than just an auspicious debut—it’s a knockout.
by: Dan Willging