Mem Shannon is the blues personified, and he has been going places for 25 years. He is one of the most well-traveled men you'll ever meet—yet he's never ventured north of Interstate 10. He's heard the secrets of doctors and diplomats, seamen and CEOs, policemen and prostitutes.

From the grand Uptown mansions to the 9th Ward housing projects to the Mid-City cemetery neighborhoods, Shannon knows his way through every hidden nook and cranny between Lake Pontchartrain and the mighty Mississipp...