If nothing else, this is a clear testament to why street musicianship in New Orleans should be encouraged, not banned. This debut album is a fine collection of originals by Augie, who with his band has played New Orleans streets for some years. Augie has a good raw quality to his vocals and plays a mean acoustic rootsy blues guitar. The sound of the band, with the estimable Scott Kirby on piano and Randy Torgerson on harp, is tight, clean and clear, but down and dirty too. In fact, this is the way the blues needs to be played—spare and mean. These guys (and one girl—Lisa Driscoll on washboard) have obviously experienced some livin’ down in the Quarter.

I like “Down on the Floor” (but then I like them sexy blues). I have to admit that I’ve always been partial to Percy Mayfield’s “(Please Send Me) Someone to Love,” (the only cover tune on the album, and one that just wrenches out your heart—Augie, Jr. does this lament to a fare-thee-well and Kirby’s piano is in fine, fine form). “Hoboin” showcases Torgersons’s harp, and “Hot Tub Gumbo” is an upbeat zydeco party. Maybe the finely-crafted country blues tune “Jefferson Girl” sums up the attitude New Orleanians have towards many of their musicians: “The girl from Jefferson don’t pay me no mind” but the girl from Georgia (Alabama, Memphis, etc.) sure does. It’s the same way on the streets. This album is a tribute to the creativity that New Orleans elicits from her musicians and is an auspicious debut from a band I wish we’d see more of in local clubs.