November 2008
Cover Story
- Don Vappie: Give Me Back My Banjo
In 2007, the Folk Alliance hosted a concert by three banjo players at Memphis’s Marriott Hotel. The three men sat in…
Fresh
- Graduation Day
“We’d like to model ourselves after Ben Harper,” says Revivalists’ drummer Andrew Campanelli. “He’s in the jam scene, but he doesn’t… - Roller Derby Moves
Nothing said “Good times” like roller derby amid the leftover float parts at Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras World. There’s no question;… - Po-Boy Fest Returns
The second annual Po-Boy Preservation Festival returns to Oak Street and South Carrollton November 23. There will be po-boys from the… - Mardi Gras, Sunflower Style
Life on the Kansas prairie has been good to Truckstop Honeymoon’s Mike West and Katie Euliss in the post-Katrina era. Except,… - Rock 'n' Bowl Turns 20
New Orleans is full of bars and clubs with rich histories and traditions. Some we relinquish to the tourists, but the…
Features
- Earl Palmer: Hiding in Plain Sight
In his 1978 book Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans, writer John Broven quotes Earl King attributing the word “funk” to… - The Iguanas: Before the Fall
- Swamp Fest: An Uptown Swamp
“You can hear Cajun and zydeco music and dance anywhere, but nowhere else do you do it in a zoo,” says…
BackTalk
Bookmark
- Randy Poe, Skydog: The Duane Allman Story (Backbeat)
In Skydog: the Duane Allman Story—recently released in paperback—author Randy Poe has written the definitive biography of the late Allman Brother…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: The Joint
New Orleans does not like to be naked. We like costumes, nice clothes, wrought iron, and masks. In a way, this…
Letters
- November 2008 Letters
TRUMPETER FOUND Thank you for your cooperation trying to find a young trumpeter with a broken horn [“Weekly Beat,” August 21,…
Live Wire
- Fleet Foxes, Howlin' Wolf, August 28, 2008
Fleet Foxes have been heavily praised for knocking some harmony and mysticism back into the young folk music scene, and are… - "Zydeco, Zare", Heymann Performing Arts Center, Lafayette, October 11, 2008
Zydeco has never seemed more fun, flirting and sensual. Those words best describe “Zydeco, Zare’,” the first modern dance project based…
Mojo Mouth
- More Music, Less Sports?
As a native New Orleanian who has lived in other cities, I do know what it’s like to miss New Orleans.…
Obituaries
- Obituary: Michael P. Smith (1937-2008)
Michael P. Smith, a renowned photographer who helped spearhead the New Orleans cultural awakening of the 1960s and 1970s, died at…
OffBeat Eats
- Dining Out: The Joint
New Orleans does not like to be naked. We like costumes, nice clothes, wrought iron, and masks. In a way, this…
Reviews
- Fujiya & Miyagi, Lightbulbs (Full Time Hobby)
English group Fujiya & Miyagi make clever dance rock based on Krautrock’s motorik beat, and Lightbulbs picks up where Transparent Things,… - Take 6, The Standard (Heads Up)
Raphael Saadiq and Take 6 performed with New Orleanians on their new albums. Here’s a take on the tracks they perform… - Raphael Saadiq, The Way I See It (Columbia)
Raphael Saadiq and Take 6 performed with New Orleanians on their new albums. Here’s a take on the tracks they perform… - Bob Dylan, Tell-Tale Signs (Columbia/Sony)
Think about the changes in Bob Dylan’s career and how often they’re associated with lineup changes. Most famously, he made news… - Metronome the City, 720 Degrees (Independent)
From the moment the electric guitar elevates in anticipation for the first level to start, you’re no longer in your bedroom… - Los Po-Boy-Citos, New Orleans Latin Soul (Independent)
We’ve waited for the post-Katrina influx of Latinos to be felt in New Orleans music, and despite the album title, we’re… - Christian Serpas and Ghost Town, Hoot and Holler: Live in New Orleans (Independent)
Christian Serpas writes the sort of clever, classic country songs that invite parody, but he does them well. “Bad Side of… - Pat Savant and the Louisiana Playboys with Joe Turner, Pat Savant and the Louisiana Playboys with Joe Turner (MTE)
Though he’s not the most active accordionist on the crawfish circuit these days, Pat Savant has indelibly etched his initials in… - JJ Grey & Mofro, Orange Blossoms (Alligator)
If there was one thing that made artists establish Stax Records and the Muscle Shoals studios as their homes away from… - Danny O'Flaherty, Secret Garden (Hy-Brasyl LLC)
Though he may call Jasper, Texas home these days and his French Quarter pub has been long eradicated from the sonic… - Leon Chavis and the Zydeco Flames, Holla @ Me (Independent)
A couple of years ago, Leon Chavis learned how to make an album while recording his debut disc, The Heat Is… - Joe Krown/Walter "Wolfman" Washington/Russell Batiste, Jr., Live at the Maple Leaf (Independent)
Every Jazz Fest seems to bring another stack of one-off, local supergroup, live jam albums. What’s different about this one? For… - Quintron and Miss Pussycat, Too Thirsty 4 Love (Goner)
It’s always a wild ride whenever the sonically inclined mad scientist Quintron fires up his custom-made musical creations. On his latest… - Jean Knight, R&B Queen of New Orleans (Supersoul)
At long last, someone has assembled a Jean Knight retrospective. Knight often gets left off the list of Crescent City hit… - Various Artists, Rock Beats Paper (NOIRC)
Often, the downfall of indie rock is that it sounds amateurish. It is frequently the sound of people learning to play… - Warren Battiste, Quiet Storm in New Orleans (Progressive)
In a city graced with a good number of first class jazz guitarists, Warren Battiste remains a standout. Though thoroughly grounded… - Lucinda Williams, Little Honey (Lost Highway)
Last year during an unprecedented live tour, Lucinda Williams recreated five of her classic albums in their entirety. Were she to… - Marc Broussard, Keep Coming Back (Atlantic)
In a time when classic soul men are in short supply, Carencro’s Marc Broussard jumps hip deep into the brink. Keep… - Porter-Batiste-Stoltz, Moodoo (Highsteppin' Productions)
From the start, one of Porter-Batiste-Stoltz’s strengths was their lack of a keyboard player. The power trio format is fresh territory…
