Album Notes

Take Me Back is the result of our myriad journeys to SW Louisiana and our connections with other Cajun musicians and friends from the bayou and prairie.

One of these sojourns involved an experience that lead to the writing of our song "Karleen". We met her at a drive-through daiquiri bar in Holly Beach before Hurricane Rita blew the bar out to sea. Our exploration of the bayou and the Louisiana prairie has provided great inspiration for our music.


Take Me Back captures a feeling of longing...... to return to a place where you have danced or laughed, played music or shared a poignant moment. To return to a place where everything was simple and good...... Where the air smelled sweeter, the beer was colder, the food was spicier and the music hotter still. It's a place both internal and external.

A review of Take Me Back From Roll Magazine.....

CLEOMA’S GHOST—
TAKE ME BACK: A CAJUN REVERIE
(Little Bird Records)
The music of Cleoma’s Ghost sounds like a
party, especially on their new album, Take
Me Back: A Cajun Reverie. It’s the kind of party
found on rickety front porches on lazy summer
nights, fireflies dancing in the distance. In
many ways, the album’s Cajun party vibe is
inherent in the music, some originals and some
already familiar. But even more so, it’s in the
authenticity the musicians bring to the table.
Take Me Back, according to the Cleoma’s Ghost website, is the
culmination of numerous trips to Southwest Louisiana, soaking up
the atmosphere, as well as meeting new people like “Karleen,” who
Buffy Lewis and Roger Weiss met at a drive-thru daiquiri bar in
Holly Beach before it was blown out to sea by Hurricane Rita.
Lewis, who sings and plays guitar, and Weiss, who plays the fiddle
and also sings, combine to form a perfect musical pairing, each
aware of what they bring to the party without stepping on one
another’s toes. It’s a natural trait which serves them well, not only in
their own interplay, but also when other musicians enter the picture.
Covers of “Jambalaya,” “Iko Iko” and other traditional numbers weave
seamlessly with originals, like the accomplished title track.
If you’re a fan of the fiddle, you’re in luck. Of the 16 songs on Take Me
Back, 14 begin with the fiddle, with only “Louisiana Boogie Woogie”
(guitar) and “Born in the Country” (a cat, a dog, and then the fiddle).
Take Me Back is more than just a travelogue; it’s likely to transport the
listener to another place. —Crispin Kott