Louie “Pete” Nalda — accordion
Scott Allen — guitar
Various Brothers — bass
Jeff Hogan — percussion
The idea for a band called Rumbullion began around 1996 when Pete began sharing with Scott his collection of accordion music in general and the recordings of the 1930s French master Gus Viseur in particular. The two had met about ten years earlier while living in Los Angeles and had worked together on a rock album for a Paris-based record label. By coincidence the two later found themselves living and playing music around Austin, and after working together in a local band soon began to experiment with an instrumental accordion-based folk-jazz sound.
Being of Basque decent, Pete already had an ear for European folk. When combined with a jazz-influenced guitar the two would soon begin to develop the free-flowing style of valse musette, a 1930s Parisian sound that would later usher in the "hot club" era of Django Reinhardt.
The duo Rumbullion (an archaic word for Rum) began performing at parties and beer gardens around Austin, and were soon joined by the first of a number of bassists and Jeff on percussion. They began including a range of original compositions and other obscurities, often worked out in regular gigs at the HighLife Cafe in downtown Austin. Their first CD was released in 1998 and they have made numerous other recordings.
Rumbullion played hundreds of gigs over the years, mostly in central Texas, and was always in search of good times and an eclectic instrumental sound.