I’m psyched to once again be hosting Musicians, Mentors, and Barroom Heroes on WHIV 102.3 FM! I started the show in 2016 and it ran for about two years—two years of live mayhem, original songwriting, bar stories and inane chatter from various New Orleans characters—until I took a job digging holes in a forest and went on hiatus for a while. As of a couple months ago, we’re back! I thought about changing the name (it’s so damn long), but eh.

Due to current covid restrictions at the station, we’ve been recording the new incarnation of MMBRH at various breezy locations around the neighborhood. (“We” being myself, my right-hand man Dick Deluxe, the one-and-only Pizza Mike, and the various other musicians, bartenders, deejays, authors, and miscellaneous miscreants who make the show the glorious mess that it is.) It’s a lot of audio editing afterwards, but it’s been fun, and I feel so lucky to get to hear so much live original songwriting again.

I’ve decided to suspend new recordings til after the holidays, by which time the plague will have hopefully simmered down a little, but in the meantime, I’ll be working on posting the shows here.

We’ve done four of them; this is the 2nd. (I want to make some changes to the pilot so you’ll probably be getting that one last.) We recorded it at the St. Roch Tavern the day before it reopened, so we had the place to ourselves. Big thanks to my dear friend John there for having us, as well as to everyone else who’s graciously hosted, assisted with audio, etc. over the past couple months!

This show featured our old St. Roch trivia gang including myself, Pizza Mike, and Meredith Lee; the dudes of Blakkkash Studios including Reynard Green, Doc Williams, and Kid Merv; and performances by songwriters Ted Hefko, Jim Smith, Kate Baxter, Bob Worth, Patrick Cooper, Paris Achenbach, Dick Deluxe, Tracey Holland, and Roslyn De Roos. What’s more, we were graced by the Flaming Arrows Mardi Gras Indians led by Big Chief Kevin Goodman, with a special appearance by Big Chief Kenny Young of the Black Seminoles. Boy howdy! What a night.

Anyways, enjoy! I divided it into segments for you. Excuse the sometimes-shitty audio quality – our podcast mic is hit or miss, and editing is a learning curve for yours truly. (We actually had folks come back to Dick’s house later in the week to get better quality recordings for the songs, and then I Frankensteined it all together.)

P.S. Thank you Reynard Green, Paris Achenbach, & Jenny Cobb for all the photos and vids!

Pt 1: Intro, Flaming Arrows perform “Handa Wanda” (you’ll hear more from them at the end of the show), misc. chit-chat. Not the best quality from the podcast mic here, but check out the video of these guys performing; it’s at the end of this post!
Pt 2: Ted Hefko performs originals (“Hurtin’ Too,” “Down Below”)
Pt 3: Jim Smith performs originals (“Unbreakable Heart,” feat. Kate Baxter, and “Two Left Feet”), Pizza Mike discusses Poland Ave.
Pt 4: Patrick Cooper performs originals (“Docudrama” and “Bonvillains,” the latter feat. Bob Worth)
Pt 5: Bob Worth and Kate Baxter perform originals (“Covid Blues,” “Hand-Me-Down Furniture,” “John Prine Love Song”), intro’d prolongedly by Dick Deluxe, Meredith Lee discusses King’s Cabaret, and more
Pt 6: Paris Achenbach performs “Yoohoo,” an original Frankensteined in from an earlier episode because her lovely piano playing at the St. Roch didn’t record properly, followed by “I’m Pretending” (Dick Deluxe feat. Tracey Holland vocals, Roslyn De Roos clarinet, Ted Hefko clarinet), “Cracklure” (same lineup), “Memphis Is A Hard Way To Go” (Dick feat. Roslyn vocals and clarinet, Ted guitar)
Pt 7: Big Chief Kevin Goodman of the Flaming Arrows tells Doc Williams and me about Indian masking, followed by group performance of “We Are the Flaming Arrows”
Pt 8: Bloopers, tidbits, “Candy Man Says” sing-a-long
Ted Hefko
Bob Worth and Kate Baxter
Flaming Arrows