Coco Robicheaux found his life as a musician in the gutter. "I moved into New Orleans from the countryside when I was 17," Robicheaux chuckles, "and I started playing guitar soon after that. In fact, I found my guitar one day when I was walking down Bourbon Street—I found the head of a guitar on the street. I picked it up and thought about hanging it up on the wall.

"So I kept walking, and about a block later I found the broken-off neck and fretboard from the same guitar. I picked th...