For several years running, Bay Area fiddler Tom Rigney would coordinate a handful of gigs with BeauSoleil’s Michael Doucet, supported by Rigney’s band Flambeau. In 2020, it was destined to be the year, or at least they thought. Doucet would fly to the Bay Area, and between gigs, the fiddlers would cut their follow-up to 2016’s splendid Cajun Fandango. On March 11, 2020, Rigney’s promoters assured him all systems were still a go. By the time Doucet arrived the next day, the tour was canceled. Then, on March 13, the rest of their respective calendars were obliterated, with cancellations coming in by the hour. The only silver lining was Doucet and Rigney had more time to record. The song selection was plotted out beforehand, culling chestnuts from their expansive repertoires but with some modifications from the original recordings.
Roll On picks up where Cajun Fandango left off. The fiddling is phenomenal; world-class virtuosos going nose-to-nose, toe-to-toe with spontaneous interaction, swapping solos, glistening cloud-scraping notes, and peppy chromatic runs. Doucet has a lot of slides on the upper strings to his bowing, while Rigney adapts to his counterpart’s style with graceful, elegant lines of his own. Half of the tracks are top-shelf instrumentals where you feel the electricity of Doucet and Rigney’s fiddling. “Swamp Feet” is a prime example of their interlocking chemistry that ignites a fiery fiddle storm. It blazes along at a dizzying pace with call-and-response before blasting away together on the last ride.
It’s also a testament to how strong these songs originally were to endure another incarnation. Rigney’s “The Blue Hour” has a hypnotic aura swirling about. Compared to the Flambeau version, “New NOLA Blues” is considerably slowed down to highlight its haunting melody.
Though “Fais Pas Cą” was bluesy enough on BeauSoleil’s 1987 release Bayou Boogie, this incarnation brings out the melody’s similarity to Clifton Chenier’s “I’m Coming Home.” Compared to its 1989 Bayou Cadillac predecessor, this rendition of “Bunk’s Blues” is slower, lazier and more seductive.
Yet, Roll On is more than just a festival of fiddles. Rigney enlisted pianists Jon Cleary, Marcia Ball, and Flambeau bandmate Caroline Dahl to stir in a New Orleans boogie flavor. On “The Blue Hour,” Cleary jumps on the Wurlitzer for some spooky fill-ins to add to the tune’s mysteriousness.
Interestingly, the rendition of J.J. Cale’s “Roll On” was never planned to be the title track, but Rigney settled on it afterward to reflect their attitude in adapting to the dawn of a new COVID world and shattered gig calendars. The rousing “Allons échapper” (“Let’s escape”) was the only tune composed in the studio and does its job perfectly—closes the proceedings with a bang. Recommended for roots music lovers and aspiring fiddle students seeking extra credit.
