Drivers of southern backroads know those bullet-riddled yellow signs that warn wanderlust motorists about the “Loose Livestock” claiming roadways as their own. One of those signs, slightly misremembered, was the inspiration for LOOSE CATTLE, the five-piece roots rock outfit declared “favorite Americana cowpunks in New Orleans” by OffBeat Magazine.

Led by the double-barreled frontperson duo of Kimberly Kaye and Michael Cerveris, the band is as passionate about stampeding through wild, Southern rock barn-burners as it is ambling through their gentler, harmony-drenched folk ballads. Their rootsy, worn-in original songwriting likewise veers between wry observations of human frailty and stalwart objection to the injustices of these times.

Kaye and Cerveris hammer out their differences in LOOSE CATTLE, welding them to a shared love of X, The Mekons, Johnny and June Carter Cash, Dolly and Porter, Neil Young, George and Tammy, John Prine, and Drive By Truckers. Their unholy marriage of blood harmonies and chiming guitars over the soulful, swampy rhythm section of Renè Coman and Doug Garrison, is stitched together with Rurik Nunan’s keening, fiery fiddle.

Americana music for the people America keeps forgetting.

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Formed in 2018 as a duo, the RIVERBEND RAMBLERS pare cajun dancehall music down to its rhythmic core and build it back up from there.

Neighbors in New Orleans’ Riverbend neighborhood, Eric Heigle (guitar, drums) and Andre Michot (accordion, vocals) solidified their sound as part of the Take Me to the River tour, playing alongside Dirty Dozen Brass Band, George Porter, Ivan and Ian Neville, 79ers, Monk Boudreaux and more.

They were joined in 2019 by Bryan Webre (bass) and Johanna Divine (steel guitar, vocals) adding a slate of Divine’s original tunes to their wide-ranging repertoire. A collaboration that same year with Luther Dickinson of North Mississippi Allstars became a regular gig with performances around south Louisiana.

As members of Lost Bayou Ramblers, Andre, Eric and Bryan won a GRAMMY for their 2017 “Kalenda” release. They’ve toured with Arcade Fire, Violent Femmes and members of the Pogues and performed with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in 2023. A singer/songwriter in her own right, Johanna lends her tunes and talents to round out the RIVERBEND RAMBLERS’ sound.