As Mardi Gras Rages, New Orleans' Music Scene Struggles to Recover

In February 2006, just six months after Hurricane Katrina decimated New Orleans, Mardi Gras marched on. The storm and its devastating aftermath crippled but didn't kill off the city's rich culture: musicians trickled back in, Krewes — the groups that put on lavish parades — threw slightly smaller roving parties. Right now, the fourth Carnival since the storm is in full swing (check out the sights from this year's event), but the music scene — so central to New Orleans' history and identity — is far from fully recovered.

Anxiety about what will become of New Orleans is still a part of the city's discussion. With zoning law enforcement limiting live music venues, grudging police support for second lines and Mardi Gras Indian parades as well as dispersed neighborhoods, the street-based culture that shapes the city's music is in danger. Fortunately, some people are working to keep musicians at home and employed.

In December, "Musicians Bringing Musicians Home IV," a benefit for the non-profit Sweet Home New Orleans (SHNO) brought Will Oldham, Nicole Atkins, Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Hank Shocklee of the Bomb Squad and Fleet Foxes' J. Tillman, among others, to famed venue Tipitina's; prior to the gig, they toured the city to talk to local rockers and gain perspective. "Enjoy the evening, and enjoy rebuilding this mightiest of mighty cities," Oldham said at the start of a short set that ended with Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make it Through the Night." Participants in previous activism retreats include Tom Morello, Kimya Dawson, My Morning Jacket's Patrick Hallahan and Jim James, who found a similar experience in New Orleans moving. "I gained a greater understanding of the gospel truth: living beings are all the same at the end of the day, regardless of race, creed, location, or economic standing," he says. "Everyone needs to be loved and taken care of, and to have the means to take care of themselves."

The history of musicians dealing with the storm's aftermath has been a mixed one. In the year after Katrina, benefits around the country helped musicians get home, get instruments, and get back to work. Then again, at Voodoo 2006, Duran Duran's Simon LeBon fretted from the stage over the devastation he saw on the drive from the airport — a corridor that looked more or less as it had pre-storm — and Wayne Coyne stopped the Flaming Lips' set to instruct New Orleanians on the importance of helping each other, perhaps mowing each others' lawns. Then and now, unmown lawns have been the least of the city's worries.