This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen #108 (October/November 2003). The magazine is available on newsstands and by subscription.

Cajun Music's Hackberry Ramblers
We're Too Old to Retire
by Dan Willging

The Hackberry Ramblers are back on the air
We play all the tunes you always like to hear
We will gladly do your requests if you would let us know
The tunes you like best over the radio...

“That was our theme song for over 25 years,” Hackberry Ramblers co-founder Edwin Duhon said, referring to the ensemble's unofficial banner song.

When the Hackberry Ramblers' Luderin Darbone says “and we're still going,” you can bet your lucky stars he means every word of it. In fact, in many ways he practically defines his oft-used expression. His Lake Charles, Louisiana-based Cajun-centric band of 70 years has been going longer than any rabbit with a bass drum — or twice as long as the haggard, wrinkly-faced Rolling Stones, for that matter.

And anything the measured-speaking Darbone tells you, you can take to the bank. But in the last few years, the nonagenarian fiddler, along with lifelong pal Edwin Duhon (who's a couple of years older), have been going at it even though it was all supposed to be over decades ago. Those years have been particularly fruitful, beginning with a 1998 Grammy nomination for their independently released Deep Water CD, performances at the Grand Ole Opry, and an appearance at last year's Newport Folk Festival (which included the long-awaited return of Bob Dylan). In 2002, the band not only made its first trip to Europe, but the Ramblers also returned a month later for a second tour — as well as a quick jaunt to Quebec.

The litany of honors hardly ends there. In that same year, both Darbone and accordionist Duhon were anointed with a National Heritage Fellowship, conferred by the National Endowment for the Arts. This award, the highest form of federal recognition for folk and traditional artists, honored both men's lifetime contributions to America's living cultural heritage.

It's an award that Darbone is immensely proud of, but just like the band's many other recent accolades, it's something he sagely keeps in perspective. “Being that we were two from the same organization [the Hackberry Ramblers], they gave us each $5,000,” Darbone said. “I am working on our income taxes, and I am telling you, that is going to hit us hard,” he chuckled.

Joking aside, Darbone hardly minds, referring to the hullabaloo as something that keeps him going since becoming a widower three years ago. While last year would have been a banner year for anyone, this year the Geritol-fueled Ramblers are on a feverish pace to proclaim 2003 as the year of the Hackberry. By early March, they had already appeared on a trio of recordings: the historically significant The Hackberry Ramblers, Early Recordings 1935-1950, the more recent Boozoo Hoodoo! (a Boozoo Chavis tribute), and the Mississippi-based Thacker Mountain Radio live recording. In February, the Hackberry Ramblers were filmed by the “Today Show” crew, whooping it up at the Liberty Theater in Eunice (Louisiana), and barroom-by-the-bayou McGee's Landing in Henderson, with leggy blues chanteuse Marcia Ball at the mic.

“That was something else we had thought we would never be on,” Darbone stated modestly. “It was a surprise. Of course, what happened was that we had an article in USA Today, and that is where they found out we were the oldest band in the nation.”

In July, the oldest band in the nation reached yet another pinnacle with the world premiere of the full-length documentary Make 'Em Dance: The Hackberry Ramblers Story at the Saulieu Cajun & Zydeco Festival in Saulieu, France. Directed by Minnesota filmmaker John Whitehead, in association with Vetter Communications of Baton Rouge, the movie has been five years in the making, graciously funded by various grants (including the NEA) and much of Whitehead's own sweat equity.

Like so many things with the Ramblers, it only takes minutes of their zany, whoop-hollering, infectious live performances before the euphoric Hackberry bug takes hold. Whitehead's own epiphany came one hot spring afternoon in 1998. “I had been looking around to do a roots-music topic, and it was back in '98 when Buena Vista Social Club was a big hit,” Whitehead recalled. “And I was looking for something rootsy that hadn't been done before. I saw them at JazzFest, and they were great. Then that night, they played at the Mermaid Lounge. It kind of has a grunge kind of crowd, piercings, that kind of thing. They went on at one in the morning and just chilled.”

After that, there was no stopping Whitehead, who worked closely with the band's relatively youthful drummer/producer/manager Ben Sandmel. Normally in this type of endeavor, funding is secured before shooting begins, but in this case, the astute filmmaker realized that with a band of this vintage, time was of the essence. “So I just leapt in,” Whitehead said. “You know it is a wonderful thing to have the experience and go down there and meet these guys. That was certainly the payoff for me.”

This is an excerpt from an article in Dirty Linen #108 (Oct/Nov '03). Read the full text in the magazine, available via subscription or on newsstands and in bookstores.