C.C. Adcock - Once every ten years C.C. Adcock puts out a record. His first conjured up a vision of Louisiana reeking of Spanish moss, sex, and - tremolo. Rather than sounding like so many roots records--simultaneously sterilized and mummified--Adcock's debut put you right in the corrugated-tin roadhouse shack, with the condensation on the walls, the beer flowing like Niagara, and the women's skirts hiked to their waists. What made it one of my all-time favorites was the way it captured the infectious deep bayou feel without sounding like a Clifton Chenier carbon--that is to say, Adcock and producer Tarka Cordell seemed to be fully aware that they were making a RECORD, understanding that to create the excitement of a live performance in the studio requires a certain type of production voodoo, adjusting for the fact that you are not actually being sprayed with the singer's sweat.

In the decade between that offering and Lafayette Marquis, Adcock has been recording tunes piecemeal with kindred spirits like Doyle Bramhall II and the late, legendary Jack Nitzsche (Ry Cooder, The Stones), as well as keeping his roadhouse credentials current with the swamp-supergroup Lil' Band O' Gold. Lafayette Marquis picks up where he left off while nodding to all that has come since. Tunes like "Y'All'd Think She'd Be Good 2 Me," and "Slangshotz N' Boom-r-angs" demonstrate Adcock's comfort with the collage production techniques of hip-hop and electronica. His genius lies in his ability to layer loops and guitars without losing the immediacy and greasy funk that makes swamp music so irresistible. Such is the strength of his distinctive artistic voice, that stripped down to an acoustic guitar, fiddle and voice, a Cajun-style tune like "Runaway Life" nestles naturally next to the fuzz-guitar wall of sound of "Loaded Gun."

Let's just hope that it isn't ten years to the next one.

• Michael Ross

Being raised in southwest Louisiana with zydeco bursting out of every juke joint has given C.C. Adcock a different take on standard four-bar blues. The Lafayette-raised Adcock, a guitarist, singer, and songwriter, doesn't play straight-ahead blues; his music is heavily laden with unconventional blues-rock melodies and zydeco rhythms. The many thousands of miles he has logged touring with the likes of Bo Diddley and Stanley Dural (better known as Buckwheat Zydeco) show through in his playing, which is fiery, intense, and most of all, danceable.

Charles Clinton Adcock spent his teen years supporting musicians like Dural, Diddley, and Bobby Charles, touring with them when he could. His demo tapes with British producer Tarka Cordell caught the ears of some executives at Island Records, and he was signed to a deal. Adcock recorded most of his debut album in his native Lafayette and in studios in Los Angeles, featuring local musicians like Tommy McLain and Warren Storm. On his self-titled major-label debut for Island Records, a 1994 album, Adcock fuses a smorgasbord of styles, including Louisiana blues, zydeco, Cajun, and classic R&B into a musical gumbo that is uniquely his own. He puts his own musical stamp on songs by Art Neville ("Fool to Care"), Arthur Alexander ("Sally Sue Brown"), and Gene Terry ("Cindy Lou"). Six years after his first album, Adcock resurfaced with a reissue of his debut, but this time around called it House Rocker. Four years later, he released Lafayette Marquis on Yep Roc. Richard Skelly, Rovi