JOHNNY AND SCOTT I first came across OffBeat back in the 1990s. I had discovered this new singer,
COCO ROBICHEAUX It was a pleasure to get to know you. What a wonderful person, talented musician, what a character! I would love to see you walking on New Orleans streets saying hi to everybody in your purple suit, cowboy hat and alligator boots. We are gonna miss you so much. One day, we were [...]
HALLOWEEN SHOOTINGS This is in response to Jan Ramsey’s blog post “Rotten, Really Rotten Apples” commenting on the Halloween shootings by suggesting to set up random checkpoints in the French Quarter and high crime areas at night.—Ed. Unfortunately it really isn’t just New Orleans. Here in Memphis—where the Beale Street district is much smaller—the police [...]
REMOVE THE FENCE We enjoyed the free concert in Lafayette Square and went to Rock ’n’ Bowl, Blue Nile, Funky Pirate and some clubs on Bourbon Street. We stopped off briefly in Armstrong Park on September 24 in the daytime. We have been there many years ago and I wanted again to look at Congo [...]
ARMSTRONG PARK This is in response to Jan Ramsey’s blog post “Armstrong Park—Give it Back to the City!” wherein she details how to get Armstrong Park functional and open to the public.—Ed Up until that bitch Katrina destroyed much more than houses alone, I always took friends for a walk in the park on my [...]
BIRTHDAY It was refreshing to read a researched article on 100-year-old Lionel Ferbos. I liked it so much I reprinted 200 copies and distributed them for his Palm Court birthday party. He deserves all this and more. Sorry he wasn’t on your July cover. —Sue Hall, New Orleans, LA FRENCHMEN VS. BOURBON As a professional [...]
RADIO REQUESTS I was told that a guy from River Ridge was in the write-up on a band called the Missing Monuments. I don’t know him personally but I enjoyed reading the article. To the person who wrote the article, Sam Levine, I want to point out something. The comment on someone sitting by the [...]
ADVERTISING MUSIC This is in response to Jan Ramsey’s blog post “Pick Your?”.—Ed. Right on about increasing Louisiana tourism by advertising our music! We play many festivals, performing arts centers, concert series, etc. At every show, we pause at one point and ask the audience, “Who here is from Louisiana?” Then we ask, “Who has [...]
CULTURE ON A PEDESTAL I am a native Louisianan who grew up in Baton Rouge and Hammond and I’m an avid music lover (especially any music with roots in Louisiana). After moving to Atlanta to attend college, I moved to Washington, D.C. to begin working at the U.S. Department of Labor. I recently returned home [...]
NOT AN ACCORDION Thank you for the review of my new CD On the Street. It captures what the band sounds like on the recording and what we are trying to achieve in general. I want to clear up a couple of mistakes. On “Louis Collins,” that is not an accordion—it’s Andy Forest’s soulful harmonica [...]
