Frenchman Funk

Today is my birthday. And I am spending it with a hangover!! We had a great night last night on Frenchman Street in the French Quarter. I had too many vodka and oranges to the point of falling of a stool - not quickly but in one of those slow motion drunk backwards stumbling ways. (I got some ribbing about that today ...)

The point of going to Frenchman was to hear a great band that plays at "The Spotted Cat" (see photo) on Sunday night, called "Big Soul". They consist of drummer, electric guitar, electric bass, saxophone and lap steel guitar. They are fantastic and if you can you should check them out at 6.30pm on Sundays. The lap steel guitarist is amazing - I don't know how he does what he does but wow. His name is Dave Easley and you can visit his website here. Their bass player is also a member of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and his name is Dave Anderson and his nickname is "symphony boy". I found a cool link to a gig the two of them did at the kennedy center in Washington DC - you can watch and hear the gig online here.

If you get a chance to go to the "Apple Barrell" on Saturdays nights you can hear Dave Easley playing with another amazing N'awlins musician, Coco. He also has a webpage and its worth going to his bio and listening to the sound clip of him talking about how he found his guitar and his weird tuning that he uses. You can check that out here.