Today
In just a bit, my wife and I will be leaving to head for the French Quarter. More specifically, we will be going to the Old Mint which is located just past the outdoor Farmers Market and Flea Market located on the southeastern edge of the Quarter. The grounds of the Old Mint actually front on Esplanade Avenue at its southern terminus. We are headed for the debut of the Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco Festival which is being held in conjunction with both the three-day New Orleans Seafood Festival which showcases New Orleans area restaurants, chefs, and dishes AND with the Creole Tomato Festival being held today at the Farmers Market. Wow, three festivals in virtually the same place in one day! I gave a heads up earlier in the year about festival weekends in South Louisiana with my article, Food, Fun, and Festivities, "Louisiana" Style. IF you didn't get a chance to check that out, you can find it at http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976946541
Tab Benoit
While we enjoy festivals, we are really heading down to "the Quata" to enjoy the music of Tab Benoit, an award-winning "Swamp Blues" musician, born and raised in the South Louisiana bayous. He now makes his home in Houma, Louisiana. I have been enjoying Benoit's unique style for several years now. He ranks at the top of my list of favorite musical artists and just happens to be local. You can check out his website at http://www.tabbenoit.com/ .
Benoit has recorded multiple CD's and plays his Fender around the country. However, Tab Benoit is more than a musician. He is an avid activist in the fight to conserve Louisiana's Wetlands. In fact he founded a very vocal and active, non-profit organization, Voice of the Wetlands: the organization's web site is located at http://www.voiceofthewetlands.com/mainpage.html . Along with young local musican, Amanda Shaw, Benoit was featured and helped narrate the recent IMAX film made in collobration with The Weather Channel, entitled, Hurricane on the Bayou. http://www.hurricaneonthebayou.com/ .
Again, I love Benoit's music. Previously nominated for a Grammy Award, the Louisiana Blues Singer has recently received two national awards. This year he received Contemporary Blues Artist of The Year and B.B. King Entertainer of the Year as part of the Blues Music Awards, formerly, the W.C. Handy Awards. I could write much more on Tab, but its time to head across The Crescent City Connection.
If you want to hear Benoit's music, his tour dates are listed on his web sites. If you are local and cannot make it to the French Quarter today, make plans to attend the Voice of the Wetlands Festival in Houma, LA on October 12-14. Maybe I will see you there!
Thanks For Reading!
Robb
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Comments: 29
Jerry R
Still, I think you deserve a big HELLO !!!
LOL
Have a super day!
Hey Renda, down here south of NOLA we don't really know which week "fall" will fall on before the cold and wet of the end of the year holidays. Let us SELA Gatherites know when you are headed this way.
Hey O.J. Natchez isn't all that far away. Just follow that big muddy river on down. If it will make you feel any better, I miss my frequent trips to the Tunica Hills area, just between St. Francisville and the MS line.
Hey Penny, Have a good time, but be careful in the heat, wear something cool, bring an umbrella, and drink plenty of fluids...........and "sachet by..........all the way...from Bourbon St. to (the end of) Esplanade.:->
Ron, thanks for the advice, but I don't have any fans. A long time ago I had one, but she got to know the "real" me.
Wheryat?
It was so hot in the Quata, I feel like I was rolled over by the "good times."
Thanks for reading and leaving a comment. I was born and raised in SELA and I guess I'm "acclaimated," but that doesn't mean I enjoy it either. As they say, "it comes with the territory. If I had to chose one New Orleans Festival beyond Jazz Fest, as the best it would be the one you attended. Houma is really on the western edge of Cajun Louisiana and is steeped in that culture. It was in the Atchafalaya Basin and along the River where their ancestors first settled. To name the current hotbed of the culture, I think I would point to an area across the basin, to Lafayette, and the many small towns surrounding it with names like Breaux Bridge, Mamou, Lebeau, Rayne, Kaplan, etc. If you think about it, let me know what you think about Benoit's music. I meant to include in this article, that his last CD, made in collaboration with the once defunct band, Louisiana LeRoux was nominated for a Grammy.
I can't blame anyone for not wanting to be in LA in the summertime. If only we could go north until October :?
I don't know if I would know how to act anywhere else. I am an educated redneck from Baton Rouge. I grew up running through the woods and swimming the rivers of Livingston Parish. I am tilted just enough to fit in here on the outskirts of a city where its okay to be tilted. Even though I got a bit sick at the end of the crabbing trip last Friday, due to the heat, I really did not notice it that much while I was pulling in crabs hanging on to a chicken neck tied to the end of my string. Where else am I gonna get to do that........besides, if I leave here, I'd be going alone. My wife will never be budged.
Great, but too hot and humid!
I also want to get to the french quarters to look around and take post hurricane shots, but once again no one I know will go with me....:>(((
Steph, Your daughter doesn't want to go to the French Market or the Quarter? Even if we don't have any money to spend, Jake always asks if we can go walk around. I don't think you will get too many post-hurricane shots in the Quarter. It really didn't receive much damage and what little there was has long since been repaired and back to business....now other areas are a different story.