“I was captivated by the city’s sights and sounds and after the whole experience, I thought, ‘Man, I’d be a fool not to come here,’” says guitarist Colin Lake of his first trip to Jazz Fest. But when he visited New Orleans in 2008, he fell for more than just the music. Bored awaiting a [...]
Tag Archives: guitarists
French Quarter Fest Focus: Olga Wilhelmine
April 1, 2012 – 12:21 am
In 2000, Olga Wilhelmine Munding packed her car with water and an emergency aid kit. She was headed for the Hill Country. “I have a profound connection with North Mississippi,” she says. “It’s something that’s always lingering in my soul.” Born in San Francisco, Munding meandered to New Orleans 12 years ago. Today, with three [...]
Little Freddie King
April 1, 2012 – 12:10 am
Photographer: Marie-Dominique Verdier Little Freddie King was one of many New Orleanians who agreed to pose by a wall in their own neighborhood, as part of my book New Orleans Walls: Still Standing. I drove throughout Freddie’s neighborhood for about an hour before finding “his” wall, by a cemetery. I then picked up [...]
Little Freddie King, Chasing tha Blues (MadeWright Records)
March 1, 2012 – 12:57 am
While Chasing tha Blues gets off to a promising start, it begins to lose steam well before the conclusion of the chase. King is New Orleans’ resident free-form country bluesman, and when not on the bandstand he can often be seen riding his bicycle through the Quarter and the Marigny. His style will never be [...]
Chris Thomas King, Antebellum Postcards (21st Century Blues Records)
March 1, 2012 – 12:56 am
I often think that it must be hard to be Chris Thomas King—to have a restless musical imagination that prompts him to explore a host of styles and the chops to excel in all of them. What do you do? Deny the competing impulses and hew to one path, or follow them all and produce [...]
The Breton Sound, Eudaemonia (Independent)
February 1, 2012 – 12:49 am
You could accuse the Breton Sound of creating awfully high expectations for itself if you assume that the pop/rock music audience knows its Aristotle. Eudaemonia was his term for the highest human good, but more people will likely learn that as I did (by Googling it), so the album title signals little more than these [...]
Obituary: Michael Aaron (1962-2011)
February 1, 2012 – 12:09 am
Some guitarists like myself don’t have that fluid, natural style that some are born with, no matter how hard they practice. Michael Aaron was born with it. The first time I saw Michael was in the mid to late-‘90s at the Dragon’s Den. My band had a weekly show there with Jerri Cain Rossi opening, [...]
Keb’ Mo’ + Anders Osborne at House of Blues, January 29: Photos
January 31, 2012 – 7:00 pm
After a short tour supporting blues singer/guitarist Keb’ Mo’, Anders Osborne returned with him to New Orleans for a show at House of Blues Sunday, January 29. Osborne opened the concert with a solo acoustic performance, playing seven new songs and even blowing some tunes on the harmonica (see him play the harp on “Back [...]
John Rankin, Best of the Beat Honoree, Talks Music Education on Fox 8
January 25, 2012 – 11:03 am
“The more you listen, the better you can ask questions and stimulate them.” Guitarist and Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement in Music Education Award honoree John Rankin talked about teaching music at the university level this morning on the Fox 8 Morning News with Shelley Brown, Liz Reyes and OffBeat Publisher Jan Ramsey. “We [...]
