In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the Free Agents Brass Band will re-release their landmark album Made It Through That Water on August 22. Originally conceived in the wake of the 2005 disaster, the album is both a cultural touchstone and a musical chronicle of survival, defiance, and rebirth in New Orleans.

Written, recorded, and released during the city’s post-Katrina recovery, Made It Through That Water became a fierce and soulful testament to the resilience of New Orleans. Blending explosive horn lines with second-line rhythms, the album captured the urgency and spirit of a city in flux—and of the musicians who refused to let its traditions slip away.

The 2025 reissue will mark the first time the album is available on vinyl. Alongside the standard 12″ LP, the new edition will include fresh liner notes by music scholar Kyle DeCoste, detailing the formation of the group and the cultural context that shaped the record. In a distinctive nod to analog nostalgia and archival storytelling, the reissue will also include a custom View-Master reel, featuring rare photographs of the band and expanded liner notes.

“This album is more than music — it’s a historical document,” said Free Agents founder Ellis Joseph. “We were trying to represent ourselves and the city when no one else could. We were the soundtrack to survival.”

The Free Agents Brass Band was founded in 2005 as a coalition of seasoned musicians who came together in the midst of displacement, grief, and uncertainty. Their name—“Free Agents”—signaled their independence from any single band or institution, and embodied a spirit of creative self-determination in a time of institutional breakdown.

Pre-orders for the vinyl reissue began this week via Bandcamp.

Whether revisiting the album or hearing it for the first time, listeners are invited to experience a defining work of post-Katrina New Orleans brass band music—one that remains as urgent and powerful today as it was two decades ago.