I met Andrew Combs nearly ten years ago when we played JV soccer together in Dallas, TX.  He wasn’t a bad player… I remember Andrew having a silky touch and great vision.   However, I knew he didn’t have a future in soccer, and not because he wasn’t skillful enough,  but because his mind was [...]

Polly Payne Contributing Writer It was a warm summer night in Greenwich Village when I met with my soon-to-be-roommate to pay my first official rent check in New York City. There’s something about the Village’s artsy bohemian streets – once housing legends like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan – that just makes you [...]

BEN SHIELDS CONTRIBUTING WRITER It’s Cats in the Basement, you people out there, and they’re coming to town. March 22 in our fair New Orleans, location—TBA. But they’ll “A” soon, I swear. The singer/songwriter/guitarist wears shaggy hair and a reasonable mustache. He’s thin and bounces around. The drummer has fun and looks like a guy [...]

Greenberry Taylor Music Editor MoonPies, beads and elaborate paper mache floats are pieces of the puzzle that is New Orleans Mardi Gras, or Carnivale, but they aren’t the edge pieces. Over time these items, along with others, have become popular symbols of this holiday, forcing some of its core elements to take a back seat. [...]

BEN SHIELDS CONTRIBUTING WRITER   I’m a transplant, but I like New Orleans. I’m into the obvious things, food and culture. I like the statement of decay the city makes in its almost complete refusal to tear down a building. I don’t mind the busted streets and crooked politics. I like that it’s a strange [...]