The Westbank ethos is a bit grittier, more industrial than the present day Eastbank, a little like something out of a James Lee Burke novel. Perhaps it harks back to what the Irish Channel or the Ninth Ward was like 50 or 60 years ago. But it is part of the tapestry of New Orleans.

Ryan and Brendan Foret grew up playing music alongside their older relatives, just like youngsters from the Treme, or from the bayous of Acadiana. Their inspiration was not heavy metal or commercial rock, like m...