So I finally got back in the groove last Wednesday (January 13th)… checked out my first live show of 2010. Let’s just say that I was holding out for something that I knew would take me to another level. On deck was the avant-funk stylings of Khris Royal and Dark Matter, who, as of the new year, can been seen holding court at the Blue Nile every Wednesday. Since graduating from Berklee in ’07, the alto saxophonist spent some time touring and recording with The Regiment Horns (who have provided grooves for such acts at Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu, and The Game among others) before settling back in the Big Easy and stepping out on his own. Led by Royal’s streaming sax, Dark Matter’s self-described space funk fusion went on to blur the boundaries between the earthly and the ethereal.

So 2010 is just two days away… and from the looks of things, I’ll definitely have no shortage of new material for you. But before I get ahead of myself, I’ve got to finish up the posts from the tail end of 2009. Here’s a photoblog from the third New Orleans Indie Rock Fest.


This set was taken on the first night of NOIR III at One Eyed Jacks and features Vox and the Hound, One Man Machine, MyNameIsJohnMichael, and Gamma Ringo.


This set was taken on the second night of NOIR III at the Blue Nile and features Loren Murrell, Micah McKee, Givers, Giant Cloud, and Hurray for the Riff Raff.

As always, for more shots on from the New Orleans music scene, check out GS on flickr.

Merry Christmas Eve! Finally I’ve got a few minutes to myself, so I figured that I’d start delivering on these reviews I’ve been promising over the last few weeks. Let me begin with the second night of the third New Orleans Indie Rock Fest, which took place at the Blue Nile on November 22nd and featured singer-songwriter Loren Murrell, Lafayette, Louisiana party monsters Givers, new Park the Van Records act Giant Cloud, and folk trio Hurray for the Riff Raff.

Wayward wordsmith, Loren Murrell opened the evening with a sweeping set of enigmatic acoustic melodies. Joining Murrell was Silent Cinema frontman Micah McKee. Together, the pair, which can often be seen cutting up at the Circle Bar, delivered several stirring, folk-flavored lullabies. Murrell’s tender cries drifted above McKee’s bracing rasp as the duo's haunting songs sailed about the room. A bit erratic and definitely unplanned, this show was definitely one of my favorites.

It's that time again... time for the monthly photoblog.  February was a phenomenal month for music in New Orleans.  And it'll only get better as the festival season approaches.  Featured in this post are: the Derek Trucks Band, Erik Mongrain, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, James "12" Andrews, Revert "Peanut" Andrews, Glen Andrews, Glen David Andrews, Theresa Andersson, MyNameIsJohnMichael, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Billy Iuso, Rob Wagner, Simon Lott, Jesse Morrow, the Annuals, Jessica Lea Mayfield, What Laura Says, Susan Tedeschi, James Hunter, Derek Huston, Flow Tribe, The Revivalists, Hightide Blues, and Funk.Soul.Family.

By the time Mardi Gras weekend rolls around, there’s no escaping the fever.  Everywhere you turn, there’s a party going on.  And while the celebration runs wild in the streets of New Orleans, the music from the clubs heats up the night.  In city that plays host to such renowned musical families as the Marsalises and the Nevilles, no other family embodies the true carnival spirit more than the Andrews family.  Comprised of – I hope I get most of this right – ringleader James “12” Andrews (trumpet), the Rebirth Brass Band’s Glen Andrews (trumpet), the Dirty Dozen Brass Band’s Revert “Peanut” Andrews (trombone), Crescent City phenom Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews (trombone), and the fiery Glen David Andrews (trombone) and his comrade from the Lazy Six, Terrence Andrews (bass durm), The Andrews Family Band kicked off the weekend’s funkiest party, the Backbeat Foundation’s 3rd Annual Marid Gras Funkstravaganza, at the Blue Nile on Friday, February 20th.  And to top things off indie sensation Theresa Andersson and infectious upstarts MyNameIsJohnMichael kept the party going well into the early hours of the morning.