Louisiana's multi-faceted dance band The Red Stick Ramblers play the Iron Horse this Tuesday night

The music of Louisiana has a lot in common with the food. An initial blast of heat followed by the creep of subtler flavors. The nappily dressed Red Stick Ramblers connect styles as diverse as traditional Cajun, western swing, blues and old-school jazz. “From day one, we were into all sorts of music, from Django Reinhardt to Duke Ellington to the Cajun stuff that a few of the guys in the band grew up around,” says Mississippi-bred guitarist Chas Justus. On “Made In The Shade”, the Baton Rouge-based quintet’s fourth album, the Ramblers romp and stomp through a crazy-quilt of originals and classic covers with the high-octane energy that could only come from a band accustomed to keeping dance-floors jumping for hours at a time. “Three hour dances are not uncommon where we come from. We could probably pull out a hundred or so songs on a given night if we had to.” While they’re not slaves to tradition, the Ramblers have a good deal of respect for it -- as borne out by the stellar backing they provided on Linda Ronstadt and Ann Savoy’s acclaimed “Adieu False Heart”, as well as in their marshalling of the annual Black Pot Festival, a celebration of south Louisiana’s culinary and cultural history.