Newsletter - March 04

Welcome to the website, friends! I want to start off by wishing my deepest sympathies to my music friend, Joel Cooper, whose mother passed away on Feb. 21st. I know most of our Baton Rouge music community showed up to support Joel, and I’m sure that he felt - as I do - lucky to have so many good friends in this business. When you get the chance, go see The Joel Cooper Rock Show or Amos Moses and give him some love. Plus, he’s just flat out rock and roll!

Here’s another bit of news: Last month, I was promoting the fact that Hip Boot Joe has a new CD out. Though I do have several good friends in this group, my good friend Rhett Anthony has left that band and has begun a CD project of his own. He’ll be jamming with the Cam Pyle Band most of the time, and going back to playing solo acoustic gigs. Plus you can catch him many Monday nights at the Caterie, with the Monday Night Band. Rhett was just at my house, demo recording two newly penned tunes, and they are fantastic! Glad to have you back, buddy. Good luck to Brian Brignac and Gram Rea in HBJ, too.

So, my lazy month is over. March is pretty much a regular schedule of 4 or 5 gigs a week. It’s my month at the Bulldog, too, so come on down for that one. I’ve had a couple of BR friends make that trek recently, and I hope they enjoyed it as much as I do. Oh, you can have a great day on March 13th at the Bulldog, as the New Orleans St. Patrick’s Day Parade passes right in front of the bar. It’s right in the heart of the Irish Channel. Love the Bulldog!

My once-a-month appearance at Superior Grill is a different show. Matt Doran, Chad Braud, and Dan Bourgeois jam with me, and they are pretty adept at coming up with tunes to try and ad lib. Matt Doran’s ability to pull songs out of his ass is amazing. I wish I knew all the lyrics to the great tunes he starts playing. But, we always have a good time there. The food is consistently great and I highly recommend it. I have one show at the Vineyard and one at the Station this month, along with the usual stops at Spanky’s in P’ville, Seafood Ya Ya, and On the Half Shell. By the way, the expansion at the Shell is almost complete! There will be a separate oyster bar just for oysters and beer and sitting, ala Acme Oyster House. There will be a little more room for the musicians, and the dining area will be twice its present size. I’m so happy I got into this place from the start. Ms. Terri, Jenny, Dirty Deanna, and Liz treat me like gold and are beyond sweet and kind to me. Everyone that goes there feels at home and seems to have a good time. It’s just a damn good restaurant/bar with a neighborhood feeling.

I had a decent ride in the Southdowns krewe this year, but found it a little lacking. I think I’m ready for a different Mardi Gras experience, and possibly a new krewe to ride with. Anyone want to invite me to join their Spanish Town krewe? And I had a blast on Bacchus Sunday! To all who joined us, thank you. It was just a great day and night. That was all of my Mardi Gras this year. The weather and recovery kinda kept me in the rest of the time.

In case you need prompting, let me tell you about some cool festivals and stuff coming up:

-St. Patrick’s Day parades are on Mar. 13th in NO and BR and there is another St. Pat’s Day parade in NO on the 17th.

-The French Quarter Festival is Apr. 16th – 18th. Did that for the first time last year and found it quite fun.

-Jazz Fest schedules are out! It’s Apr. 23rd – 25th and Apr.29th - May 2nd. Go for an afternoon to the fairgrounds – bring a chair and get beer – walk around and people watch – dig the music from all over the US and the world – the big star stages are packed, so be in the mood to mingle and watch from afar. It’s a great time! I recommend sun block and water.

-Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival is Apr. 30th - May 2nd. This is a great time too, with such a down home feeling. Ya gotta two-step or waltz, though. Come on, I can step on your toes!

I’ve been trying to update my song list some, with a few recent hits and songs, as well as learning many old tunes that I’ve always loved. I hope I’ll see you out soon. It’s the best time of year, in my opinion, with so much going on. Thanks for all the support. Go enjoy the springtime. If you are boiling crawfish, give me a call!

Kirk