December 2013
BackTalk
- BackTalk: Bonnie Raitt, Coming Around the Bend (Interview)
After losing both parents and her best friend in a short period of time, Bonnie Raitt took some unprecedented time off…
Cover Story
- Wendell Pierce of HBO's Treme and New Orleans' Joshua Generation
David Simon and Eric Overmyer’s HBO series Treme took docudrama well past its previous boundaries, blurring the distinctions between the actual…
Features
- Christmas on St. Claude Avenue
As more businesses open along St. Claude Avenue and in Marigny and Bywater, shopping locally for the holidays just makes sense.… - Gregg Martinez: Creole Soul, Surreal Power
At the corner of East Grolee and North Oak―in a historic, tree-lined neighborhood that Gregg Martinez jokingly refers to as Opelousas’… - Throwing Muses' Kristin Hersh Finds Purgatory and Paradise in New Orleans
Whenever a rock ’n’ roll figure moves to New Orleans—from biggies like Courtney Love and Trent Reznor to cult heroes Alex… - Walter “Wolfman” Washington Celebrates 70th Birthday
For better or worse, the pool of active New Orleans musicians in 2013 who were also active during the so-called “classic”… - New Venues Tip New Orleans' Venue Equilibrium
"Let me see your tits!” A group of young men with Mardi Gras beads dangling from their necks lean over the…
Fresh
- Society of American Travel Writers Ranks New Orleans Number 1 for Live Music
Ever wonder why Austin, Texas is know as the "Live Music Capitol of the World"... Marketing. A recent survey by the… - OffBeat's Elsa Hahne's The Gravy Nominated for New Orleans Library Society Award
The Gravy: In the Kitchen with New Orleans Musicians by OffBeat Art Director and Food Editor Elsa Hahne, based on her… - Momma Tried Magazine: In the Flesh
Even if you only read Momma Tried for the articles this new, local, conceptual nudie mag brings together some remarkable New… - It's Five Somewhere with French Quarter Fest's Marci Schramm
Christmas is usually associated with snowy weather. Why do you believe that New Orleans could be a Christmas destination? Christmas New… - Zydeco at the Apollo
Harlem was jumping with zydeco and Louisiana seafood during Lafayette Night, held October 26 at the historic Apollo Theater in New… - My Music: Ryan Scully
"My music is really about the relationships I have with my friends in the Morning 40s and the Rough Seven. That… - Jay Mazza's New Book Captures Magic of Kermit Ruffins at Vaughan's
Although Kermit Ruffins recently announced the end of his nearly 20-year-run of Thursday night shows at Vaughan’s Lounge (4229 Dauphine St.),… - Running of the Santas 2013
Barcadia (601 Tchoupitoulas St.) becomes the South Pole as the starting point of the annual Running of the Santas, which concludes…
In The Spirit
- In the Spirit: Strange Saz by Booty's Street Food's Ted Blumenthal
"I started bartending when I was 20—nobody realized. I ran the bar program at a shitty hotel bar in the CBD…
Letters
- December 2013 Letters to OffBeat Magazine
NOT JUST THE NORMAL Just wanted to say thanks for the kind words and the article [“Sounding It Out” by Paul…
Mojo Mouth
- Mojo Mouth: 'Tis the Season
As I write this, it’s sunny and beautiful outside, in mid-November; pre-Thanksgiving and way, way before Christmas. And yet I do…
OffBeat Eats
- Dining Out: Clever & Co. (Restaurant Review)
Farm-to-table is a term most often associated with the image of men in straw hats and overalls carefully tending to tilled… - En Route with #FFFFFF and DJ TunaFist of Sex Party at the Fat Falafel Food Truck
What do you like about Fat Falafel? Their delicious, delicious, delicious, delicious food. What do you usually order? Tuna and… - Mr. B's Bistro Chef Gerard Maras' BBQ Shrimp Recipe
New Orleans Cooking Experience offers twelve-on-one cooking classes throughout the year with renowned local chefs, such as Frank Brigtsen and Gerard… - In the Spirit: Strange Saz by Booty's Street Food's Ted Blumenthal
"I started bartending when I was 20—nobody realized. I ran the bar program at a shitty hotel bar in the CBD…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: Clever & Co. (Restaurant Review)
Farm-to-table is a term most often associated with the image of men in straw hats and overalls carefully tending to tilled… - Christmas on St. Claude Avenue
As more businesses open along St. Claude Avenue and in Marigny and Bywater, shopping locally for the holidays just makes sense.… - New Venues Tip New Orleans' Venue Equilibrium
"Let me see your tits!” A group of young men with Mardi Gras beads dangling from their necks lean over the…
Photo Op
- Photo Op: Nightdares, Street Skating in the City by Brad McCormick
To the naked eye, the potholes and busted sidewalks of the Crescent City don't seem like a skateboarder's paradise. But to…
Reviews
- Ingrid Lucia, Living the Life (Independent)
Living the Life’s been a long time coming: Ingrid Lucia already discussed the album in an OffBeat cover story and promised… - Mike Zito & the Wheel, Gone to Texas (Ruf Records)
The area between Breaux Bridge, Louisiana and Hunstville, Texas—a space roughly described by guitar slinger Mike Zito, musically and lyrically, on… - Jayna Morgan & the Sazerac Sunrise Jazz Band, Mistletoe & Stockings (11th Commandments Records)
What Morgan brings to Frenchmen Street—classic traditional swing music—is all captured mostly successfully on Mistletoe & Stockings. Pianist and flutist Meghan… - Travis Matte, Old Time Cajun Songs (Mhat Productions)
Along with Jason Frey in Lagniappe, Travis Matte was an integral part of the outstanding À la Vieille Manière album that… - Soul Avenger, The Cash Route (Independent)
“Introducing the most critically acclaimed musical masterpiece of the century!” an anonymous and appropriately portentous voice announces at the beginning of… - Barry Cuda, New World Blues Roots (Barry Cuda Music)
Pianist Barry Cuda is a longtime fixture on the Key West scene and has pounded out thousands of gigs at Sloppy… - Bipolaroid, Twin Language (Get Hip)
A few years ago, an album titled Unknown Mystery ’60s Group stirred up some notice in garage-rock collectors’ circles. It was… - The Planet D Nonet featuring Michael Ray, Rays of the Sunday (Eastlawn Records)
Fans of Sun Ra—the legendary keyboardist, composer, arranger and Arkestra leader who left the planet on May 30, 1993—remain appreciative that… - Earl Long, Term Two (ShamGORILla Records)
Give this new vinyl release a spin while alone on a stormy night and you’ll scare yourself to sleep. In a… - Earl Poole Ball, Pianography (Tin Tube Tunes)
Mr. Honky Tonk Piano, a.k.a. Earl Poole Ball, left his native Mississippi in 1961 to find fame and fortune, eventually landing… - K. Jones & the Benzie Playboys, Oh Yeah (Hive Hill Records)
Zydeco musicians are tough critics when it comes to bestowing praise upon their peers, let alone out-of-state practitioner such as K.… - Myles Weeks, Sense of Self (Independent)
Only a jazzman would promise “a collection of compositions that tell the story of my life” on the inside jacket of… - Jim Robinson with Kid Thomas, Ernie Cagnolatti & De De Pierce, Self-Titled (G.B.H. Records)
This is a classic CD featuring two bands on two dates in New Orleans in the mid-‘60s. The first session with… - Dirty Bourbon River Show, Volume Four (Independent)
God save the Dirty Bourbon River Show. You expect them to title their seventh release proper with Volume Four in the… - The Dana Abbott Band, Self-Titled, (Independent)
The Dana Abbott Band describes itself as a “modern R&B extravaganza” and that’s accurate: the opening song on their debut EP,… - Jim Pharis, Having a Ball (Independent)
Lafayette’s Jim Pharis’ debut album consists of seven originals and two covers, all adeptly finger picked on a steel-body resonator guitar.… - Buddy Flett, Rough Edges (Honey Bee Entertainment)
Quite frankly, this was almost the recording that never happened. Sometime after Buddy Flett’s splendid 2007 release Mississippi Sea, the Shreveport… - Ganey Arsement, Le Forgeron (Salty Bayou Music)
Formerly of the Lake Charles-based Lakeside Gamblers Cajun-folk trio, Ganey Arsement steps out here with a 15-track (nine original) affair that’s… - Che Prasad, Shiva Me Timbers (Independent)
San Francisco-based singer-songwriter and guitarist Che Prasad on this solid Nola-infused release showcases remarkable musical and lyrical dexterity as he expertly… - Various Artists, Louisiana Saturday Night Revisited (Ace Records)
British reissue label Ace has long championed the unique music of South Louisiana, be it zydeco, Cajun or, especially, swamp pop.… - The Scorseses, Magnumopus (Independent)
“Progressive ska-punk” is the label often applied to this local quasi-supergroup, which features a former Trombone Shorty bassist and two former… - J.J. Caillier & the Zydeco Knockouts, I Can Give You What You Want (Caillier Records)
On his seventh album, J.J. Caillier demonstrates how he is a master of developing an idea into a densely layered track… - Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas, A New Road (Cha Cha Records)
It’s been seven years since Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas’ last album, Hang It High, Hang It Low, a startling… - Jan Luley, Blues Gumbo (Luley Music Records)
Forty years ago, inspired in part by New Orleans émigré Champion Jack Dupree, a whole school of German boogie-woogie piano players… - The Rotten Cores, Sweet Fellowship in Shame (Independent)
The Rotten Cores bill themselves as a rockabilly band and they certainly have elements of that in their DNA but that… - The Plum, Magnetic Terra Animata (Independent)
Somebody was bound to mate gentle folk (music, not denizens) with banjo, with tabla, with oscillating prog-rock structures traveling up and… - Dan Penn, A Road Leading Home (Ace Records)
Along with George Jackson, Dan Penn is one of the most prolific and acclaimed Southern rhythm-and-blues songwriters of the last five… - Walter Jr., Doorway to Heaven (Gatortone Music)
Without the cover art and photographs of religious icons in a country church, the spiritual overtones may not be immediately obvious… - Buddy Guy, Rhythm and Blues (RCA Records)
Buddy Guy is probably, let’s face it, the greatest living electric guitar player besides B.B. King. Can you prove it with… - Missing Monuments, Self-Titled (Independent)
As Bo Diddley knew, you can’t always judge a book by its cover. With their flying V’s, Black Flag and Blue…
