With over 30 contributing Acadiana artists including Valcour impresario Joel Savoy and project brainchild Josh Caffery, Allons Boire Un Coup avoids the trappings of being another run-of-the-mill Irish drinking songs type of affair by cutting a wide cultural swath that digs deep at the roots of Cajun-Creole music. Interestingly, several songs emphasize the genre’s folkier side, hinting at their medieval French origins, which is refreshing in that with this topic, it’d be easy to let the robust dancehall fare dominate the proceedings. Creole fiddling phenom Cedric Watson sings Canray Fontenot’s “Table Ronde” a cappella in a voice that recalls the legend’s dry, low rumbly vocal style. Feufollet’s Anna Laura Edmiston and Pine Leaf Boys’ Blake Miller play out the comic repartee between a wife and a drink-to-death destined husband on “Mon Bon Vieux Mari” (“My Good Old Husband”) with an arrangement that features, of all things, a banjo. But really, a banjo is not that out of place—as the crisp liner notes point out, some of the earliest South Louisiana French recordings showcased the banjo playing of Patrick Pellerin.

The dancehall side of the equation is well represented with Racines, the Red Stick Ramblers and the Lost Bayou Ramblers, and there are several selections that are downright experimental for Cajun. Feufollet rocks up Dewey Balfa’s “Parlez-Nous á Boire” with dirty mics, Chris Stafford’s organ and Dickie Landry’s psychotic sax. And speaking of organs, Wilson Savoy supplies an eerie touch to the intro of “Pine Grove Blues” before busting into the familiar bluesy riff. The Lost Bayou Ramblers don’t need an organ to be experimental on “Rye Whiskey;” they just slow it down and let André Michot’s lap steel guitar throb and swell for a cool, mood-altering effect. But if you’re on the wagon, don’t worry; you won’t fall off just by digesting this collection. Instead, you may just notice that few recordings in the Cajun and Creole fiefdom have ever run the gamut quite like this one.