Hackberry Ramblers

Formed in 1933 by fiddler Luderin Darbone, born January 14, 1913, in Evangeline, Louisiana, the Hackberry Ramblers—likewise billed as the Riverside Ramblers—stood as the leading Cajun ensemble of the decade. Darbone, who had passed much of his youth in Texas absorbing Western swing alongside traditional Cajun sounds, attended business college in the early thirties yet soon assembled the group and secured an engagement at KFDM in Beaumont, Texas.

The ensemble quickly emerged as the region’s most prominent act and entered the studio for RCA Bluebird in 1935. That roster featured Darbone, vocalist Lennis Sonnier, guitarists Glenn Croker, Lonnie Rainwater, Floyd Shreve, and Joe Werner, bassist Johnnie Parket, plus occasional accordionist Edwin Duhon. Their earliest sides appeared in French; however, an association with Montgomery Ward for broadcasts over KVOL in Lafayette led the musicians to cut English-language material under the Riverside Ramblers name, taken from the retailer’s tire line. Joe Werner handled most of those vocals, and the 1936 release “Wondering” achieved modest success, earning him a short-lived solo deal with Decca.

The band dissolved at the outset of the World War II era but regrouped in 1946, issuing recordings on Deluxe and securing a decade-long Saturday-night engagement at a Lake Charles venue. Still operating part-time, the Hackberry Ramblers cut an album for Arhoolie in 1963 and additional tracks for Old Gold while continuing to appear at occasional festivals and gatherings. In 1988 the Old Timey label assembled the strongest Bluebird and Deluxe performances on the collection Early Recordings: 1935-1948.