New Orleans may still be quiet, but the familiar sounds of the city live on, and tonight they will live on in downtown Baton Rouge.
The Tipitina’s Foundation will host “Music is a Healer,” a benefit concert for the New Orleans Artist Relief Fund on Thursday, Oct. 13 at 9 p.m. at Sogo Live. Tickets are $25.
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a New Orleans music group, and the five-time Grammy Award winning Robert Cray Band will perform.
Before Hurricane Katrina, the Tipitina’s Foundation helped the New Orleans music community through co-op and internship programs and benefit concerts, said Stacy Fortenberry, marketing director for Tipitina’s.
Things have changed since the storm – the focus is now on rebuilding the New Orleans music community with the Tipitina’s Foundation New Orleans Artist Relief Fund.
The New Orleans Artist Relief Fund is collecting donations and hosting benefit concerts nationwide to find hurricane-affected musicians gigs, instruments and places to live, Fortenberry said.
The bands were originally booked to play at Tipitina’s in New Orleans, but after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the show was moved to Baton Rouge, Fortenberry said.
“It’s now a benefit, not just a show,” Fortenberry said.
The money raised will go to the Tipitina’s Foundation, which will eventually open up Tipitina’s as a community music center, Fortenberry said.
“The Tipitina’s Foundation is helping to find artists and getting them their immediate needs,” Fortenberry said.
Roger Lewis, baritone and saxophone player for the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, which has worked with the Tipitina’s Foundation for years, said his friend, New Orleans cello player Ernest “Doc” Watson, has been missing since Hurricane Katrina.
“I can’t find him,” Lewis said. “No one can find him.”
Many New Orleans musicians are missing and many have lost their property and instruments in the storm, Lewis said.
“Some people lost their properties and some didn’t,” Lewis said. “I had four feet of water in my house.”
Lewis said he went to New Orleans a few weeks ago to look at his house.
“It was horrible – it’s like a war zone down there,” Lewis said. “But the city will come back.”
Lewis said that having fun is an important part of the healing process.
“We play party music because we like people to have a good time,” Lewis said. “We’ve got the world’s greatest party band.”
He said that music helps ease life’s pains.
“Music is like medicine,” Lewis said. “Music can change people’s lives.”
He said that the concert should be fun for everyone.
“It’s great music,” Lewis said. “We’ve got something for your mind, your body and your soul.”
Contact Julie Chance at [email protected]