Writer/musician Ned Sublette grew up in Natchitoches, Louisiana, and his recent book, The Year Before the Flood, documents his time in New Orleans in 2004 and 2005. In it, he works to understand New Orleans’ second line culture and deal with the racial ghosts from his past while researching and writing his book, The World That Made New Orleans.

Sublette has been a New Yorker for years, and he was a part of the musically progressive Downtown scene in the 1980s. He’ll play a free show Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the New Orleans Museum of Art – his first show in New Orleans. He’ll debut songs from his upcoming album, Kiss You Down South. 

Here is Sublette’s appreciation of the late Earl Palmer.