Gimme Shelter

Pictured: Chauncey the Bywater goat, enjoying sun.
also: the northbound entrance to the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway. 24 miles; the longest bridge in the world. and:
Nick filtering vegetable oil for fuel in his diesel truck. and:
The first set of new tiles for Chartres Street.


I've been in New Orleans for a little over a week and played one show so far. I've been able to check out some music and see the town, but much of my first week has been spent shaping up the shotgun style house that I'll be living in. The house is on Montegut street in the Bywater, very close to the river and not far from Frenchmen Street and the French Quarter.
Our landlord hasn't exactly been holding up his end of the bargain and thus I've been living without a few basic creature comforts. Appliances, for instance. On the bright side, I haven't had to spend any time scouring craigslist in search of shelter in a new city.
New Orleans is an American city unlike any other. The streets are alive with sounds and smells hundreds of years in the making and first timers don't have to walk too far to see something they've never seen before. Unlike the very green, clean and presentable city I've been living in, much of New Orleans is pretty rough looking. In many buildings there is plywood where windows should be and much of the city has been reeling for 3.5 years from blows dealt by Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing strife. The roads and highways are a mess (and have been since well before the hurricanes). The streets of the Bywater and the Quarter don't feel much different to a driver than the gravel roads in rural Louisiana. I-10 became noticably more rough as Alex and I crossed the border from Texas to Lousiana.
"Looks like somebody ain't payin' they road taxes", I remarked. More likely, the taxes got paid and the state got billed, but repairs never quite took place.
I'm living here with my friend Nick, a New Orleans native and artist who works in a variety of mediums. Currently he works out of a studio on Burgundy Street where he is hand-making the iconic blue and white New Orleans street tiles that mark streets and intersections throughout the city. Nick has been commissioned to make the first batch of these tiles since the originals were shipped over from Spain in the 1920's. His tiles will soon find their way into New Orleans sidewalks wherever originals are broken or missing and will stay there for years and years to come.
In addition to learning how to get around, I'm learning to adjust to the tempo of the city. It is, in a word, relaxed. This suits me fairly well - most folks who know me understand that I'm not usually in a big hurry. I do, however, maintain a hypocritical expectation that others get things done in a timely fashion. As with music and women, however, things in New Orleans happen just when and as they are supposed to and there is little point in trying to change that.

In a few weeks, I'll be flying back to the Northwest for a series of shows with Wellbottom in Idaho, including an opening set at the Knitting Factory in Boise for JJ Grey and Mofro. We'll also be playing in McCall and Pendleton, OR, two of our favorite towns to play.
I'm hoping to have a stove by the time I get back down here.