For 18 years, OffBeat has promoted New Orleans and Louisiana music. Our mission is to expose local musicians and music businesses to a wider audience, including the business and governmental agencies in the city and state. We’ve tried to stimulate interest in and appreciation for music as the root of our culture. We’ve provoked, hopefully. We’ve attempted to stimulate positive change. We’ve certainly kicked up music coverage in the city quite a bit, as even the Times-Picayune now has a full-time music writer, which it didn’t when OffBeat started (unfortunately, the music writer and even photographer at the T-P is prohibited by their editors from covering our Best Of The Beat Music Awards events, which is too bad and just demonstrates that we’ve come a long way, baby, but not the incredibly old school Times-Picayune).
One thing we haven’t done-probably to our financial detriment-is to sell our editorial. One of OffBeat’s advertising reps was recently told by a band manager that because OffBeat hadn’t covered his band “properly,” we weren’t eligible for advertising the band’s reissue CD. “What, no cover story?”
Well, I guess we’re just going to have to maintain being a respectable music magazine. We’ve tried to build this business on integrity. If you’re reading this, then you’re aware of why we publish OffBeat… it’s all about the music, and not about being bought.
SXSW AND LOUISIANA
OffBeat has been a co-sponsor of SXSW for about 15 years now. We also sponsored the ill-fated LMNOP conference, and just about every other educational/networking music thing around. We’re co-sponsoring two SXSW showcases this year, along with the City of New Orleans and Louisiana Department of Economic Development. The Louisiana Showcase is on March 16 at Mother Egan’s (featuring Amanda Shaw, Jeff & Vida, Andi Hoffman & B-Goes, Papa Mali and the Bluerunners) and the New Orleans Showcase is March 17 at the Fox & Hound and features Basin Street Records artists Theresa Andersson, Jon Cleary, Kermit Ruffins, Los Hombres Calientes, as well as Cowboy Mouth and Supagroup. There’s also a Louisiana reception from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Brush Square Park with food by Jacques-Imo’s, many of the artists in the above showcases, and also Susan Cowsill, Grayson Capps and Shannon McNally. Sounds like a big Louisiana-style party.
Make sure you visit the OffBeat and Louisiana booths at SXSW. Bands and music businesses who want to send product to SXSW for distribution at our booth and the Louisiana booth, please contact OffBeat via email ([email protected], subject line: SXSW Booth) before March 9, as we have very limited space for materials.
WWOZ FINDS A HOME
WWOZ has finally located a new space for the station in the Krauss Building on Canal and Basin Streets. The Krauss Building has recently been approved for a huge condominium development. Station manager David Freedman confirmed that WWOZ was in negotiations with Elie Khoury of KFK Development for approximately 12,500 square feet of space, which would include office space and a studio on the first floor on the corner so that people on the street can see into the studio broadcast activities.
“We are negotiating with Elie Khoury, the developer of the condos on Canal. He’s been a real hero in all of this, incredibly supportive of getting station in there. He’s finally giving us a place where we can land,” said Freedman. “We were offered some space in the proposed music museum at the State Palace, but we don’t know when-or if-that project will be finished, and we really needed to do something now.”
WWOZ is negotiating to purchase the space as a condominium. Freedman estimates the move will take place within 18 to 24 months. Congratulations-finally Maryse will get to move out of her closet!
ROCK ‘N’ BOWL AND HIBERNIA BANK AT ODDS
Two icons in the local music business are currently involved in a potentially serious legal battle: John Blancher, who owns Mid-City Lanes, is reportedly suing Hibernia National Bank over a dispute concerning revenues paid by a movie production company that paid to use the venue for a multi-day shoot for the film Just My Luck, featuring Lindsay Lohan.
Blancher says that the venue, which is now owned by a family trust that’s managed by Hibernia, is entitled to the revenue for the use of the building. “I’ve been doing this for years; we’ve had so many film crews here, and we’ve never had any problems like this before. What makes me even more upset is that after I had made the deal with the production company, Hibernia went to my client [the film production company] behind my back and told them that they wanted 50 percent of the amount we’d agreed upon to let them film here. That’s just not the way business is done.”
Hibernia officials have told OffBeat that they are not able to comment publicly on this incident or on their actions on behalf of the trust by law, as they have a confidential fiduciary relationship with their clients (the family trust that owns the building), but there was “more to this that goes back a long time, even before Hibernia took over the building management.”
This is a legal problem that we’ll be watching carefully, since, as Blancher claims, this could potentially mean that the Rock ‘N’ Bowl might be in danger of closing.
FESTIVAL NEWS
French Quarter Festival will soon announce their entire schedule; at press time only a portion of the schedule had been announced. There is a committee actively searching for a new Executive Director, who will probably be hired prior to this year’s festival on April 8-10. Go to frenchquarterfestival.com for the latest info.
The Jazz Fest schedule is old news by now, although Festival Production tweaks the schedule and adds new acts weekly. Check offbeat.com for a searchable database of acts at Jazz Fest 2005, which promises a pretty exciting lineup, compared to the past few years. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation is instituting memberships in the organization, which will reportedly include special privileges for members at a certain level, including an OffBeat subscription. We’ll keep you posted in the Weekly Beat. WWOZ members at a certain membership level will also begin receiving the magazine every month by subscription.
Sign up for the Weekly Beat, OffBeat’s email letter delivered every Thursday, at offbeat.com. OffBeat is also set to launch its new improved web site sometime before Jazz Fest. Stay tuned…
LOCAL MUSIC HAPPENINGS
The Music Shed, the first industry-standard music rehearsal facility in the New Orleans metropolitan area is now open. The Music Shed offers high-end monthly and hourly rehearsal rooms and backline rental equipment and instruments, including drum kits. The Music Shed is at 1430 Annunciation Street in New Orleans, (504) 412-9995 or e-mail [email protected] for more information.
“Henry Butler & Friends” will hold a concert on Tuesday, March 8 at 8 p.m. at the Palm Court Jazz Café, 1204 Decatur Street. The concert will benefit the New Orleans’ Henry Butler Music Scholarship. Tickets are $20 at the door. An 11″ X 14″ Herman Leonard photograph of Duke Ellington, valued at $950, will be raffled off that evening as an additional fundraiser for Henry Butler’s public school music scholarship program. For more information, call 504-304-3801.
Congratulations to Shreveport native songwriter and music activist Maggie Warwick, who wrote two of the songs (“Reconsider Me” and “Soul Shake”) on the Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues 1945-1970 compilation. The album took home a Grammy this year in the best historical album category.
A new club, Grand Palace Jazz, has just opened at 1732 Canal Street at Claiborne. Jack Maheu’s crack jazz band plays there Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 8 p.m. to midnight, with the Heritage Hall Jazz Band every Tuesday and Friday. There’s no cover, and the club is easily reachable via the Canal Street streetcar, which stops right outside the place. The club is well appointed with lots of comfortable seating and a dance floor; the music is really fine; and it’s cool to be able to watch the streetcar pass on Canal Street as you enjoy the music. Check it out or call (504) 301-9200 ext. 2397 for more info.
A reincarnation of Good Rockin’ New Orleans, which originally had a location on Decatur Street above the old Record Ron’s store, is now open at 635 Pere Antoine Alley (behind St. Louis Cathedral). The store offers CDs, DVDs, music posters, memorabilia and a lot more, and is owned by Kathy Sebastian and Tom Stagg. Call (504) 525-2522 for more info.
Welcome back to the music industry to Jimmy Anselmo (famous for his old Jimmy’s Club on Willow Street). Anselmo is now booking music at the New Southport Hall in Jefferson, which has a stellar Jazz Fest schedule.
