As anyone who’s been there will testify, New Orleans is a city that changes the way you think about life.

Decadence becomes something to be embraced when standing at the jazz brunch buffet in the French Quarter’s Court of Two Sisters restaurant. Who cares about the guaranteed hangover—one more drink seems like the best thing in the world when considering that fifth hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s Bar. And, in the case of Sam Doores, New Orleans can make you realize the last thing you want to do is be sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar when everyone wants to hit the dance floor and party.

When the multi-instrumentalist and eventual Deslondes cofounder first arrived in the Crescent City, he was a 19-year-old kid enamoured with the likes of Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie. Pretty quickly, he realized he wasn’t in the right town if he wanted to be spending his nights getting introspective for captive audiences.

“Being a solo musician in New Orleans doesn’t last for very long,” Doores says, speaking on his cellphone from a Colorado tour stop. “It’s a real dance culture there, not so much of a sit-and-listen culture. If you play enough solo shows you eventually want to have a bigger sound and a more energetic show. And there are so many amazing musicians to play with that you start putting bands together for fun just so you can play together.”

The first big step towards doing that was renting a house.

“I was looking for a place with a buddy who was my roommate at the time, and we’d always go down to the Lower 9th Ward and walk around the levee because of the beautiful view. There were all these beautiful little houses that no one was living in, so my friend wrote a letter to the landlord and put it in the mailbox, saying ‘If you’re looking for someone to move in, we’d love that.’ And the guy actually wrote back.”

It was there that the Deslondes came together, the group named after the street its jam house was situated on. Doores would hook up with four songwriters who also sang lead: bassist Dan Cutler, guitarist Riley Downing, drummer Cameron Snyder, and pedal-steel player/fiddler John James Tourville. All came from a wide spectrum of musical backgrounds, leading to a sound on The Deslondes that’s rooted in rambling country (“The Real Deal”), but also dabbles in Crescent City jazz (“Out on the Rise”) and morphine-drip R&B (“Low Down Soul”). Binding the songs together is a sonic aesthetic reminiscent of a time when vinyl was the only format that mattered. The Deslondes’ warmth has everything to do with the album being recorded on analogue equipment. And, perhaps, the band coming together in a fashion that was decidedly organic.

“Over the years we’ve had a reel-to-reel set up and campfires in the backyard,” Doores relates. “So we’d hang out in the backyard, trade songs, and have band practices. And that’s where the band really became a band.”

A band that’s a bit of an anomaly in a city known for its Cajun acts. Which is fine, Doores notes, because at least when the Deslondes play locally, he knows that people are going to be dancing. Yes, he’s changed since arriving in New Orleans wanting to be the next Woody Guthrie.

The Deslondes play the Cobalt on Wednesday (August 3).