When songwriting, I write using various instruments: piano, organ, guitar, bass or voice. Each instrument brings something different out of me.

It's fun exploring songs live. They have to live and breathe every time. We can't just play them by rote. The search to find new ways to make them fresh each and every night is a reward in itself.

I try to take the social and cultural legacy of our local New Orleans tradition on the road with me, every place I go. To demonstrate through songcraft: this is who we are, this is what we do, this is why we do it.

https://youtu.be/TSHWFYV-95s

You can't escape it here. Birthday parties. Funerals. Family gatherings. Mardi Gras. You name it, there's always music circling around whatever we're doing in New Orleans.

One of my favorite performers is Toots Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals. I spent a week playing in Jamaica and came home singing a reggae bass melody for a week. I figured I better make a song out of it before I forgot it. So I did. “Why’d Ya Do It?” on the album...

It is a lot of fun playing my music with guys who are into what I'm doing. They want to contribute to it. They want to be a part of it. They're not just doing it to punch a clock.

I’m doing the best I can to play as many cities as financially possible. The struggle is real. The good news is, I’m in it for the long haul. Which means, I’ll get there eventually.

How has New Orleans music saved my soul? It's given me a purpose. There's such a tradition of New Orleans music. I'm just carrying on and trying to uphold this legendary, historic tradition that changed the world. Louis Armstrong changed the world with his trumpet and...

Music is not a job, it's a lifestyle.