Trent LeJeune, and Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys have popularized this modern form of Cajun music. The band Atchafalaya, active from 1982 to 1986, is another example of this style. More recently, the Lost Bayou Ramblers have experimented with mixing traditional instruments and cutting-edge technology, as showcased on their last two records, Mammoth Waltz (2012) and Kalenda (2017). This sound has been dubbed “Heavy Cajun Psych”. Doug Kershaw recorded "Louisiana Man", an autobiographical song that he wrote while in the army. The song sold millions of copies and, over the years, it has come to be considered a standard of modern Cajun music. "Louisiana Man" has been covered by more than 800 artists. Lyrics and instruments The unaccompanied ballad was the earliest form of Cajun music. These narrative songs often had passionate themes of death, solitude or ill-fated love — a reaction to their harsh exile and rough frontier experience, as well as celebrations of love and humorous tales. Ballads were ritually sung at weddings and funerals, and sung informally for small groups of people at house parties as the food cooked and young children played. The early songs were mixtures of la la, contra dances, reels and jigs and other folk influences from Black, white and Native American traditions. Early song lyrics were entirely in Cajun French. Though songwriting in French is still common, today some Cajun music is sung in English with younger singers and audiences. In earlier years, the fiddle was the predominant instrument. Usually two fiddles were common, one playing the melody while the other provided the séconde, or back-up part. Twin fiddling traditions represent the music in its purest form, as it was brought to Louisiana with the early immigrants and before popular American tunes mingled with it. Gradually, the Cajun accordion emerged to share the limelight. In the early 1930s, the accordion was pushed into the background by the popular string sounds of the time. Piano and other string instruments joined fiddle to create a jazzy swing beat strongly influenced by Western Swing of neighboring Texas. The Cajun fiddle was a well established instrument which had been somewhat eclipsed by the German accordion fad, which had similar effect in French Canada. But in the Depression era the tide turned, and, according to Stricklin et al., it had never been eclipsed. After World War II, the accordion regained its popularity in Cajun music. Also,