When Cajun Du Nord gets together to practice their favorite Cajun standards, it takes hundreds of miles of travel and a few border crossings. When they travel to play Festivals Acadiens, it takes an ocean crossing.

The band, now making their third Festivals appearance and fourth Louisiana trip, hails from four cities across three Scandinavian countries. From Copenhagen, Denmark, come both Elsebeth Krogh (fiddle, washboard and vocals) and Jorgen Hansen (guitar and vocals). Arve Haland (accordions and vocals) joins them from Bergen, Norway, where he played in a band named Cajun Gumbo. Gsran Lomaeus (bass and vocals) resides in Stockholm, Sweden. Harald Aanes, the drummer and a resident of Oslo, Norway, helped found the group and played in Bygg Band, the only Cajun band kicking in Norway circa the early 1980s. Although the band has only been around since 1992, after Aanes and Krogh met at a folk festival in Sweden, their roots extend back to the early '80s. When Krogh discovered the music through records some 20 years ago, she began playing with another Cajun band not bound by geography including members from Denmark, Germany and France. Around the same time, Hansen started The Zydecers, having discovered the genre through similar means. At the time, Hansen didn't know much about the background of the sounds he was emulating, but sought to change that.

"The first I got to know about Cajun (culture) was the music. After that I learned about the area from friends who had been there. When they mentioned Tabasco, I started having an idea of what the food would be like," writes Hansen via e-mail from Las Vegas where he was visiting friends. "I learned about the Cajun history at the same time I picked up the music. To me there was a close connection between the music and the history. In order to understand the feeling and swing in the Cajun music, it helped me knowing what route and what populations and circumstances the Cajuns had been influenced by."

To learn the sound, which he sings in Cajun French despite being from a Finnish-speaking country, he and fellow singer Krogh study the records that introduced them to the genre and consult with his Cajun friends. It also helps that Krogh has spent time in Louisiana soaking up the cultural gravy, even giving tours of the area and joining Sheryl Cormier's all-female Cajun band.

"I feel we have a good grip on the swing and the build-up of the music. I personally feel it is a challenge to sing the Cajun French lyrics because the pronunciation is difficult to non-Cajuns," adds Hansen, who cites brothers Balfa and Basin, D.L. Menard, Marc and Ann Savoy, Balfa Toujours and Steve Riley as key influences.

It might seem odd that a band from so far away plays music so close to home, but there is a significant presence of Cajun and Zydeco music in Europe. Not only do European audiences embrace acts like the Hackberry Ramblers and Keith Frank, but the area provides its own two-stepping music with scores of bands from across the pond. While at worst, some bands sound like a spice-infused polka, there are bands that actually sound as if they have a South Louisiana zip code. There's even Zydeco Zity, a multi-stage international Cajun and Zydeco festival in the Netherlands that draws talent from countries across Europe and Louisiana (this year will feature Curley Taylor, among others). When there is such a warm place in Europe's heart for Cajun music, could Cajun Du Nord play music so closely tied to an area and resist a pilgrimage to the holy land of all things chank-a-chank?

"It is of tremendous importance for us to come to play in Lafayette area. The atmosphere, the dancers, the music, the Cajun food and the joy of music that people share with us is like having your car full of gas and the motor running," writes Hansen.

At the encouragement of Krogh, the band made a Festivals stop in 2000. On the same visit, they played the Liberty Theatre in Eunice where Terry Huval of Jambalaya offered to take them into the studio. The finished product so impressed Huval he handed it over to Floyd Soileau of Swallow Records, which released Cajun Du Nord in 2000. Between their close study of Cajun standards and actual respect and interest in the culture behind the music, it was fitting that the band made the trip from Scandinavia to accept the Cajun French Music Association's Prix Dehors de Nous award for best Cajun band outside of Louisiana at their August 2001 ceremony.

"I think when it comes to out-of-state groups, they rank very high," beams Larry Miller, an accordion maker who heads the CFMA committee that annually nominates and chooses the best non-Louisiana Cajun band. "Naturally, it's next to impossible for a group that didn't grow up in this part of the country to be able to duplicate the vocals of the locals that grew up speaking Cajun French. So their vocals are going to be a little short, but their music quality is almost as good as what you will find over here. The quality is high, the authenticity of sound is almost there. It's well done. ... it's not bad at all I tell ya, its really good."

After receiving the honor, Cajun Du Nord launched a victory tour of South Louisiana hitting Café Des Amis, the Museum Cafe in Erath and four other stops.

"We felt a hearty welcome everywhere we played. People were curious on how Scandinavians got into playing Cajun music," writes Hansen. "We would (say) that the joy of the music and the dances combined with the good food is an universal element that people all over the world could benefit from."