Okay, so I’m flipping through channels, looking for something to entertain me before I go to work. I come across the movie Clueless, which I’ve seen umpty thousand times and the scene’s on where a character is having his head shaved at a high school party, to the horror of his fashion-conscious girlfriend, who threatens to call his mama. ”Hey, I’m just keepin’ it real… keepin’ it real!” he protests. Stupid old white woman that I am, I ponder: what does that mean, anyway? So I googled the phrase and came across the ”Urban Dictionary,” a pretty interesting take on slang. According to the UD, ”keepin’ it real” can be anything from (1) ”When staying true to your ‘roots’ or your priorities or principles as a person and applying to a certain type of a event or situation” to ”Keeping ‘the game’ honest, whatever the game may be.” But this one is my favorite (you get to vote on this site for which definition you like the best): ”Staying true to yourself, your faith, your life and constantly seeking the truth. You are keeping it real as long as you do not harm yourself or anyone around you physically, mentally or spiritually. You try to benefit the environment and society that surrounds you and eventually serving [sic] humanity for the greater good. By keeping it real, you are authentic and do not follow the geopolitical or corporate economic norm, but you strive to develop a norm that is centered on peace, truth, and unity.” Nice one.

So I started thinking about the quest OffBeat has been on for the past 20 years: loving, promoting and marketing Louisiana music—it fits the criteria of the last definition above. Fats Domino, the Neville Brothers, any Cajun/zydeco, brass bands, Mardi Gras Indian chants, any kind of jazz or bands like Bonerama, the Radiators or Morning 40 Federation, etc., etc. are never going to burn up any industry charts, despite how much we love the music. It just ain’t gonna happen, ’cause it isn’t mainstream music. God bless New Orleans hip-hop! Radio play for indie music is pretty much ancient history. The filters that used to exist via record labels’ marketing machines, radio play, MTV and even record stores have now been replaced by Web sites where you can find any kind of music you could possibly want. Despite all the pressures placed on musicians here, they’ve pretty well kept true to keeping it real within the context of our culture, which is kind of a hard thing to do. Let’s face it: we may be the last bastion of true, rugged individualism and musical independence on this planet, and nothing’s going to keep us from being true to ourselves. There’s nothing like it, and it can’t be generated by people who don’t live here and who aren’t immersed in our cultural environment. It’s more than our heritage; it’s our way of life—our relationships with our family and friends, what we eat and drink, what we do for fun—that influences our music. You’re just not going to find it elsewhere. And while that means that New Orleans and Louisiana music is never going to be mainstream, it makes our music and culture an even more valuable commodity. You can only get it here; not in L.A. or New York or Nashville or Austin, or Chicago or Memphis or Clarksdale. Viva Louisiana music and musicians!

Our 2007 Best of the Beat Awards were the best yet. We’ve received so many thanks and letters from the people who attended, all raving about the music, the food, etc. We love the awards and love to honor our great musicians, and we love to throw a great party for them and all of their fans. Thanks to all who were involved, including the fantastic musicians and restaurants and our major sponsors: the House of Blues, Miller Brewing Co., Renew Our Music Fund, Capital One Bank, Harrah’s New Orleans, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, WWL-TV, and the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation for making the awards possible. There are way too many great photos of the event to publish in the print edition of OffBeat, so go to offbeat.com to take a gander, and plan on attending next year.

News of note: there have been some major shake-ups in the festival business in New Orleans: French Quarter Festival, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary on April 11-13 2008 has hired a new executive director, Marci Schramm, whose experience in non-profit management at the New Orleans Opera and as a meeting planner will help her guide the city’s largest free music, food and cultural festival into its next 25 years. The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival expands back to its (pre-Katrina) seven-day format and welcomes back the Neville Brothers to close out the fest. Rehage Entertainment, the producer of the Voodoo Music Experience will take on the production of the Essence Music Fest in July.

Clubs have stayed open, but all are feeling the pinch from the dearth of convention business that used to be the backbone of the hospitality industry in New Orleans, along with restaurants and retailers, particularly those in the French Quarter. One venue is returning in mid-February: Michaul’s, a long-time resident of the Warehouse District. The restaurant and venue was a casualty of Katrina, bar owner Michele Jacob has decided to reopen the venue with their traditional dance lessons, and a new mix of music that will retain the southwest Louisiana Cajun/zydeco traditions, but add in a mix of Latin spice as well. Michaul’s reopens on February 14.