FootLoose is all over the map with the band's 2005 release, Trip to the Moon. Much of the CD has a Celtic feel to it, despite some unusual instruments for Celtdom (clarinet and sax), but other influences are at work here, too. There's a French feel to "Le Vin," for instance, and several tunes show an Eastern European flare.

The North Carolina-based quintet is Rex McGee (fiddle, banjo), David DiGiuseppe (accordion, cittern), Dean Herington (clarinet, soprano sax), Pete Campbell (piano, bass) and Jim Roberts (percussion). Herington and DiGiuseppe also contribute original compositions -- and what sci-fi fan can resist a CD that includes a tune called "Dr. Who Returns" (in a set: "Trip to the Moon/Swing the Devil Below/Dr. Who Returns")?

According to the band's website, FootLoose's primary purpose is to "rock the socks off of contra-dancers." I'm not a contra-dancer, but I think I just saw my socks dancing away across the room.

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