With songs about Tabasco, fishing and mudbugs, Waylon Thibodeaux’s latest Cajun-country effort is bound to have widespread commercial appeal, regardless if the listener’s a Southeast Louisiana native, a first-time tourist, or even a Jayhawker in America’s heartland who’s never ventured beyond Kansas City.

Yet, of this obvious hook-filled affair, nothing is as clever as “Heaven on the Times Picayune,” a reference to the piles of crawfish served on top of newspapers. The lyrics adroitly cover the whole gamut, from confused tourists tying on bibs to downing pitchers of beer and the sales ads that peek through once a few pounds have been consumed.

But what makes this an album of smart choices is Waylon’s genre hopping, especially on the funk-slippery “Swing Like That” featuring trombonist Big Sam and the French-sung “Funky Monkey” that’s about a fiddle-playing monkey with pepper under his tail. From a Cajun cultural perspective, “Chanky Chank Music” is interesting―a household hiding its allegiance to Cajun music on the radio while the father demands country only. “Two Steps” and “You Waltzed Right Back into My Life” are beautiful eye-glazing, romantic waltzes.

Even the version of “Calling Baton Rouge” bodes well compared to the original New Grass Revival bluegrass version since Thibodeaux sings with a high-tenor voice as did the song’s original vocalist John Cowan. Given that most tunes are delivered in Thibodeaux’s rollicking, fiddle-fueled style, the tag still fits: Louisiana’s Rockin’ Fiddler.