I suppose I would never have started a business like this if I didn’t have a passion for reading and learning. I can thank my parents and teachers for instilling curiosity about the world in me early on.

I read voraciously from the time I was a little kid. My first library book was a fairy tale by Oscar Wilde (The Selfish Giant), and I moved on quickly to devour every kid’s book in our small library about fairy tales, or myths. Soon I became bored by the kids’ section, so I sneaked into the adult section and started checking out books. I was probably nine or 10 when I read my first romance novel, and became quite a fan of those as well.

Needless to say, my love of reading meant I did well in school. It also meant that I found most writing assignments pretty interesting and fairly easy. I was really a classic nerd, I guess—into school and reading. My grandfather (“PawPaw”—yes we really did call him that) lived with us and had built a homemade hi-fi system (this predated stereos), and from a really early age, I was exposed to everything from classical music to big band, pop, Elvis (on the radio!), opera, and Broadway musicals. Then I discovered local radio stations, where I heard the regional music that you could enjoy back then: Art Neville, Irma Thomas, Chris Kenner… and then came the Beatles. I was a goner. I lived for music.

How can anyone know about all the music that’s out there today? How deeply can one “get into” music when they’re bombarded with so much music, day after day, on MySpace, through Internet radio, satellite radio, land-based radio, the various and sundry download sites? It just boggles the mind.

Is it really possible to develop and appreciation for words and music when there’s so much of it that all you can really do is to skim the surface of what’s out there? What will be the consequences in the future when the world is controlled by people who can’t concentrate long enough to listen to a piece of music or read a book, or even a newspaper?

Before everyone who’s under 30 jumps on my case: please, I love you. Your brain cells are obviously working seriously overtime. You’re using a lot more of them than I can possibly kick-start, but take a minute to put things in context. Do a little considering and analysis of what you read, see and hear. Books are a pleasure. Peruse newspapers for real, in-depth content and find out what’s happening in your world, other than the headline news. Step away from the computer and actually talk to someone—at length.

I live for music, but if you take one look at me, you can also tell that I live to eat! This month, we’re introducing an ongoing series called “The Gravy,” a series that will take you inside the kitchens and cooking of local musicians. Everyone cooks here. Everyone has their own “touch” on New Orleans classic dishes including red beans and rice, gumbo, and this month, Irma Thomas’s take on macaroni and cheese. Our on-staff food guru is Elsa Hahne, who also is our graphic designer and staff photographer. OffBeat is working with Elsa to compile a series of interviews, recipes, anecdotes and photos for an upcoming New Orleans musicians’ book about their cooking and relationship to food. Elsa also has a wonderful new book out called You Are Where You Eat, and it’s an exploration of the people and cultures that comprise New Orleans home cooking. It’s a New Orleans cookbook like you’ve never read before. Highly recommended.

I apparently stirred it up a bit in my column in our weekly newsletter the Weekly Beat (You can sign up to get the Weekly Beat free at OffBeat.com). My new stepdaughter, her husband and his parents (all from Norway) were in New Orleans for our wedding, and they extended their trip so that they could stay in town for Satchmo SummerFest. They went to the Club Strut and stayed all day at the Old Mint. They went to Snug Harbor at least four times, and countless times to Frenchmen Street.

This love of our music by international visitors was really on my mind. It occurred to me that after all these years, the city has not focused specifically on music to attract international tourists. It was quickly pointed out to me by the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation and the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau that all of the city’s advertising efforts include musicians. Musicians go to some of the trade show junkets, and print and television ads include music. But most of the ads I’ve seen only include music as part of the mix of entertainment that New Orleans offers, along with food and the French Quarter. New Orleans isn’t promoted as a destination for music.

It’s not that the city hospitality officials don’t use music on their ads. But music could be used as a primary attraction for people to come here. Let’s put New Orleans out there as the source of America’s musical art form: jazz. Let’s base some serious marketing campaign strictly around this concept. The question is: how can we do this in an efficient, cost-effective way? Advertising in foreign publications and broadcasting is prohibitively expensive. Why not use guerilla marketing techniques to get the message out on a consistent basis to a targeted market of international visitors?

It would be really wise for all the local festivals that offer music to organize and market the city as a music destination internationally. Together—not individually—they would probably have the resources to use the Internet and email to target internationals who love local music and who will travel to New Orleans to get it. I truly believe most internationals would travel to New Orleans if it’s marketed as an American music destination,even if that means changing planes in New York or Atlanta or Houston. One other proviso: everyone is going to have to work together to make this happen. Turf protection and politics should have been swept out with the Katrina flood.

There’s a new, rather unique, festival in town: The Steam Train Bluegrass Festival, which will be held at “The Fly” on the river behind the Audubon Zoo. You’ll be able to experience a historic Southern Pacific steam locomotive, “The Spirit of Louisiana,” along with her exhibit train featuring bluegrass music from live bands that will perform every hour. The music component of the festival is new this year, and it will be New Orleans’ first bluegrass music festival (long overdue). There will also be a model train layout, a kiddy train, antique cars, a gift shop and of course, great food and drink.

The Steam Train Bluegrass Festival will be held on Saturday, October 4 and Sunday, October 5 (Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) The festival is free but there is a fee to view the exhibits aboard the train. For more information call 504-897-2464 or go to www.LASTA.org.