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.

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.

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 Yiddish swing and Klezmer band The Sisters of Sheynville singer songwriter Max Woolaver and with the Alistair Christl Rock-a-Billy band.

Dave has been holding down the drum-and-triangle chair with Swamperella for almost six years now. A graduate of York University's music program, he has spent the last 10 years playing professionally in and around his native Toronto. Some notable gigs have been backing a young Justin Rutledge for 8 years, playing in an early run of "Evil Dead: The Musical" and performing live with comedian Sean Cullen. Dave also continues to study drums and jazz piano with noted instructors Jim Blackley and Brian Rudolf

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