Ingrid Lucia takes a beat from music and motherhood during a rainy Friday lunch at a Mid City taqueria. It’s been almost two years since the New Orleans songstress lost her father, William David “Poppa Neutrino” Pearlman, at the age of 77, and she’s still processing the “wake-up moment” of his passing. “I guess it’s like, if you’re gonna be here, then why not make it a fun vacation?” she muses.

Poppa’s — and by extension, Lucia’s — “vacation” has been well ...