If you blinked, you might have missed it. Cajun music just sprouted another branch, and this time it’s Kyle Huval and the Dixie Club Ramblers. Though the Ramblers may be young—16-year-old accordionist Huval fronts the mostly 20-somethings—it’s clear that they take tradition and the stalwarts who came before them seriously. Their pile-driving dancehall stuff stomps and pops; their waltzes are glorious, majestic and stirring. There’s a strong undercurrent of Dewey Balfa and the Balfa Brothers with several tunes credited to Dewey or hailing from the family repertoire. A few, like “J’aimerais te pardonné,” even feature Dewey’s grand nephew/guest vocalist Courtney Granger for another symbolic Balfa connection. Huval shows how tradition runs deep in his family by christening his ensemble after his grandparents’ Dixie Club nightclub that operated in Eunice from the mid-’40s to the mid-’60s.

While their devotion to tradition is steadfast, many aspects about this disc are quite novel. Not only is there a scintillating rendition of “Fiddle Sticks”—a rhythm teaching technique where one participant delicately hammers an object against the strings while the fiddler bows—but two more tunes are fiery fiddle tunes adapted to accordion. They allow Huval to showcase his chops, yet, the most unusual of all is the haunting “Marche du Mariage,” a wedding party promenade that practically fell off the radar in recent years since it wasn’t necessarily dancehall fodder.

“Liberty,” their last song, is nothing but pure joy. The crisply ringing t-fer kicks off the proceedings, a frolicking fiddle follows, a madly strummed guitar joins in next and finally the electric bass and accordion complete the artful progression, conjuring up images of ecstatic instruments dancing joyously in a round dance. Eventually, the merry, breathtaking pace causes instruments to drop out in order of entry until only the t-fer is left in solitary to transmit its beckoning rhythmic message: come dance.