vocals & lead fiddle and washboard
When you hear her sing you might think she was born on the bayou, but Soozi Schlanger is a Toronto girl. She fell in love with Cajun music in 1992, began playing the fiddle and immersed herself in Cajun culture. During trips to Louisiana, she studied the playing of the Balfa Brothers and Dennis McGee. Soozi teaches fiddle and also has a busy career as a painter and sculptor. She is currently working on performing her own songs as Soozimusic
Conny plays guitar and developed an obsession with Cajun music the first time she heard it. A veteran of the Canadian alternative music scene, she has recorded and toured with the bands Mother Tongue, Lillian Allen, Courage of Lassie and singer songwriter Laura Repo. Learning guitar at an early age, she put it aside for years to study drumming and traditional West African percussion -- until she met Soozi and joined the ranks in Swamperella's rhythm section.
vocals, accordion and fiddle Born in Devon, England, Peter came to Toronto by way of Edmonton. While busking in Paris he heard a recording of the Balfa Brothers, leading to a life long infatuation with Cajun music. After a six-week trip to Louisiana he founded the Cajun Ramblers who performed a mix of Cajun and Zydeco around Toronto. Peter has performed with the Grievous Angels and is also spending a lot of time playing traditional music from Quebec.
Born in New York City, Rachel Melas started playing Bass in 1976 at the age of 16. She worked her way through 2 Mel Bay for Bass books and learned the basslines off of a pile of blues, jazz and reggae records and since has played music continually in many different settings. She has been a bump on the log of Canadian music for about the last 20 years performing every thing from the post punk groove music of the Animal Slaves to the World beat of Mother Tongue and the atmospheric Folk of the Courage of Lassie, amongst others. Playing string bass in a Cajun Dance Band is the logical culmination of a long and varied career. She currently performs with Klezmer band The Horables, singer songwriter Max Woolaver, French pop jazz outfit Amelie et les Singes bleus and vintage swing specialists Moo'd Swing.
Dave MacDougall is a drummer and percussionist in Toronto who plays many types and styles of music from pop with Stephanie Martin and Andrew Austin to jazz with Richard Whiteman, Sean Bray and the Toronto Jazz Orchestra. He has played and recorded with many of Toronto's leading musicians and is also noted in Toronto's music theatre scene. Dave started out as a fan of Swamperella and is happy to have been playing with the group for the past two years.