When Cajun musicians often talk about playing it the old way, they mean music played in an accordion-fiddle or accordion-fiddle-guitar configuration. Bobby Michot’s solo debut is a good example of this ilk, because it legitimately feels like it’s from 1929-1930 without the distracting pops and scratches time leaves on old 78s. He plays both sides of the accordion, especially the challenging left-hand side where all the honking, funky bass notes reside. Additionally, he loves screechy fiddle drones that, along with the squeezebox’s bass side, are techniques not prevalent in today’s music that add a vibrant, rhythmic thrust.

Nearly all of the selections were first waxed during Cajun music’s recording infancy, and a few originated with obscurer practitioners Adam Trahan, Slim Doucet and Frères Guidry. Two tracks were recorded in France, where Michot summers, and feature a hurdy-gurdy in the arrangement that nudges old-time Cajun and old world, medieval French music closer together. Michot also plants two originals in the proceedings—“Empty Bottle Revolution,” which feels more like a Celtic rock anthem with Michael Barney’s uilleann pipes, and the wheezy, rollicking “Gone Back Shuffle,” where Michot’s protagonist yearns for home.

Gone Back is not for everyone, especially those who can’t stretch past today’s slicker dancehall variety. For those who can, the results are rewarding.