Undeniably, New Orleans is changing. It’s becoming more modern, and in some ways, a lot less charming than it used to be. Why? “Progress.”

One of the things that always confounded me about my hometown is how screwed up it’s always been, and yet, it’s persisted through all these years–almost 300–to be exact. But part of what make New Orleans unique and interesting is that it’s just not like anywhere else in America. We have our own ways of doing things, attacking problems (usually making them worse before they get better), we’re the biggest small town anywhere. Everyone knows everybody else; you are probably my third cousin, and I don’t even know it. The degrees of separation in New Orleans are probably two, compared to the “six degrees of separation” elsewhere.

This also applies to music. The times are definitely a’changin’.

A couple of longtime OffBeat subscribers from Milwaukee dropped in to visit us today, and I asked them if they had seen any changes in the city. These folks are like many OffBeat subscribers: they are New Orleans music freaks, and they feel at home here in a way they don’t anywhere else. But they told me they have definitely seen a negative change—from their point of view—in the city’s music.

“There’s just not as much of it on the street anymore,” they said. “Frenchmen Street has changed a lot. We’re worried about what’s happening to New Orleans.” They’re afraid—as some of us are—that while the city is getting more “progressive,” it’s losing some of its quirky charm, and especially its music, as a consequence.

Me, I’d make sure that music is welcome in neighborhoods. I’d certainly remove that stupid moratorium on music in the French Quarter and on North Rampart Street That is ridiculous and should be removed. We need music venues like the Funky Butt and Donna’s in our music community again on the street that also borders Congo Square.

The fact is that unless the people who live here and who are moving in from other places realize that music is a big part of our quality of life and culture—and they do something to make sure that music is an integral part of living here–then New Orleans could possibly turn into just another homogenous American city with great architecture and food.