I’m planning on taking in the 6:30-9:30 Happy Hour tomorrow night at Galvez Restaurant. One of my favorite New Orleans songwriters, Lynn Drury, will be playing there as part of Marc Stone’s duet series, which has been going on for several months with special guests like Camile Baudoin, Sunpie Barnes, John Fohl, John Gros and Bob Andrews. Stone hosts a laid-back, amiable songwriters’ exchange in which he plays acoustic guitar and lap steel. His accompaniment of Drury’s guitar and vocals the last time I saw this lineup was really good and the two vocalists harmonized beautifully. The casual atmosphere encourages a lot of risk taking and led to surprising moments like an impromptu version of Phil Everly’s “When Will I Be Loved” and a tradeoff on favorite Beatles numbers, “Cry Baby Cry” for Lynn and “Lady Madonna” for Marc. Lynn has been in great form over the last year, releasing the terrific album Sugar On the Floor and a very good collaboration album with songwriters Margie Perez and Monica McIntyre and percussionist Paul August Jepson, The Honeypots.

The restaurant, at 914 N. Peters St. in Dutch Alley, is on the second floor overlooking the Mississippi River and affords a terrific view along with a varied Ecuadorian/Spanish cuisine developed by owner/chef Laura Cedillo.

“Galvez opened about three years ago after the building was heavily damaged during Katrina,” said General Manager Aaron Angelo. “Laura grew up cooking for her family and developed the menu around old family recipes. Ecuador’s food is closely connected to continental Spanish cuisine.”

Happy hour is 5-7 daily but on Wednesdays it extends until 9:30 during the show. The Wednesday happy hour specials include a bowl of mouth-watering albondigas, Spanish ground pork and beef meatballs prepared with cumin and other spices and finished with a roasted tomato sauce, for $4. Other tapas featured at happy hour are roasted Spanish olives, the empanada of the day and patatas bravas, spicy braised potatoes in a roasted tomato sauce. There are also beer, wine and sangria specials.

“On August 1, I’ve got Benny Turner on the gig,” said Stone, whose Tuesday afternoon blues program on WWOZ, Soul Serenade, is a must-listen. “I don’t know why this guy is not a hero of the blues scene here. He is the real deal, for my money the best blues singer in town and the half-brother of the real Freddie King, who played with him for years. Turner worked with and knew every major player on the Chicago blues scene in the 1960s. He’s a truly under-appreciated treasure. I’m very excited to get to play with him, first time since I used to play with him in Marva Wright’s band years ago.”

Upcoming schedule Galvez Restaurant (914 N. Peters St. in Dutch Alley) all shows 6:30-9:30pm

Wed July 18 Marc Stone and Lynn Drury
Wed July 25 – Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes
Wed Aug 1 – Marc Stone and Benny Turner
Wed Aug 8 – Marc Stone and Patrick Williams
Wed Aug 15 – Marc Stone and Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes
Wed Aug 22 – Marc Stone and Irene Sage
Wed Aug 29 – Marc Stone and Chris Mule