Issue Articles
What It Means To Get A Jazz Fest Gig
The crowd looks like a psychedelic wonderland of wildflowers. Sometimes clouds cast shadows over the uneven sea of vibrant caftans, gator-patterned button-down shirts, and festival hats, patches of midday sun illuminating masses of rosy faces. It’s a view familiar to generations of musicians privileged enough to stand on a festival stage—and a thrilling, if nerve-wracking, sight for New Orleans artists making their all-important Jazz Fest debuts.
A Woman Out On Her Own: Maggie Koerner craves authentic connection
Maggie Koerner came screaming into the world louder than any baby her mother had ever heard. This will surprise no one who’s seen the Shreveport native perform live, especially during her stint fronting the wall of sound produced by local funk-jam stars Galactic. Part soul chanteuse, part banshee, Koerner sings story-driven lyrics bleeding with the emotional vulnerability of a wronged shieldmaiden—an exhilarating combination Jazz Fest is smartly featuring on its biggest stage this year.
The Timekeeper: Keeping up with Doug Garrison
Doug Garrison nearly missed his Jazz Fest debut in 1989. That was the year the career drummer was backing rock legend Alex Chilton of Big Star fame… and NOPD wouldn’t let the band into the Fair Grounds because they didn’t have a valid parking pass.
The Secret Ingredient: Violinist Rurik Nunan is the quintessential sideman
Violinist Rurik Nunan is the quintessential sideman. Rurik Nunan was supposed to be doing snow angels on a bed of euros in France by now. Though he made the pilgrimage from Atlanta to New Orleans to study at Loyola University in the early 2000s, his focus then was international business, because wolves of Wall Street study finance to snag fancy banking gigs. Which Nunan did, for the record. By the time he was 24, the Atlanta native was packing bags for a job abroad with a French mega-bank, doing what the 39-year-old fiddler now calls “dressed up bullshit.”
It’s a good time to be Joy Clark
The lifelong West Bank native is having something of a “moment,” if such a thing exists in indie-Americana anymore. Joy Clark is finally gaining local notoriety and national attention after […]
The Queer Americana Scene: New Orleans’ Black, queer frontwomen Joy Clark, Lilli Lewis and Mia Borders claim their cubes.
Mia Borders will perform on the Festival Stage at Jazz Fest on Saturday, May 7, at 11:15 a.m.Lilli Lewis will perform on the Lagniappe Stage at Jazz Fest on Friday, […]
