Tag Archives: new orleans

HOME GROWN: From a cozy Cajun kitchen, Linda Ronstadt and Ann Savoy reach for Grammy gold

It started in the kitchen, like so many good things do in Louisiana. There might have been biscuits in the oven, or gumbo on the stove, or a pot of coffee or tea on the countertop. Children would float in and out, or a telephone might ring, but that was OK. This was informal, natural, […]

SMOKEY ROBINSON: The Way He Does the Things He Does

Have you ever belted out a heartfelt rendition of “The Way You Do the Things You Do” to your sweetie when that Motown chestnut popped up on the radio? Did you dance to “My Girl” with your daughter at her wedding? Whenever you watch “The Big Chill,” do you sing along to “The Tracks of […]

JAMES TAYLOR: At Home on the Road

He tours almost constantly, across the country and around the world. He plays benefits for environmental causes. He does cable and public television specials. Every so often, he cuts another album. For a star of his magnitude in the galaxy of rock ‘n’ roll heroes, he is surprisingly averse to taking it easy. Meet James […]

STILL IN ROTATION: “The Big Easy” soundtrack

[Guest post on California-based blog Midlife Mixtape (“For the years between being hip and breaking one”), March 4, 2014.] Still in Rotation is a feature that lets talented writers tell Midlife Mixtape readers about an album they discovered years ago that’s still in heavy rotation, and why it has such staying power. Ron Thibodeaux has been one […]

KRIS KRISTOFFERSON: Back on tour, singing hits he wrote in the Louisiana oil fields

Mention Kris Kristofferson to women of a certain generation and they’ll still swoon over his performance as the bare-chested, bad-boy rocker opposite Barbra Streisand in “A Star Is Born” 30 years ago. Their kids know him best as Whistler, the grizzled mentor to vampire Wesley Snipes in the “Blade” trilogy. Those are notable bookends for […]

GROWING A NATION: New Orleans was the centerpiece of the Louisiana Purchase

Ah, New Orleans — such a curious, exotic place. The streets are bad, the music good. Mosquitoes are an unceasing aggravation, drainage a constant challenge. The locals have a strange way of talking and don’t work too hard, but they do like to have their fun. Two years after the turn of the century, even […]