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Backstage at the New Orleans Jazz Museum during French Quarter Fest, we caught up with Cyril Neville, his son Omari Neville, guitarist Jake Eckert, and his son River — the teenage keyboard player who rounded out the lineup of the Legacy Coalition, a band built entirely from the sons and daughters of New Orleans music royalty.
The conversation moves through what it means to inherit a sound rather than learn it — from sleeping on drum risers at Tipitina's as a kid, to stepping onstage next to your own father and realizing the torch has already passed. Cyril talks about the "osmosis" of growing up around the music. Omari opens up about his debut album, out now with a release party at the Louisiana Music Factory. And the whole crew previews their upcoming set at High Sierra Music Festival.
Only In The Green Room goes backstage with the artists carrying jam, funk, roots, and Americana music forward.
Creators and Guests
Host
What is Only In The Green Room?
Welcome to Only In The Green Room - Backstage conversations from popular music venues around the country curated by Mount Tam Media.
Buckle up and listen in, as host Dennis Strazulo and Mount Tam Media founder, Tami Larson, dig up conversations with artists - before and after shows - in the exclusive confines of the green room. Barriers are down with stories abound!
Welcome to Only in the Green Room.
Welcome to Only in the Green Room.
Wow.
Yeah.
Yeah.
This is, this- I'm excited.
Yeah, this is super exciting.
And there, we have a couple of
veterans of our show here, and that
would be Jake and River Eckert, who
had been, visited with us last year.
I think it was at the
Broadside at the Crawfish Fest.
So welcome back to you guys.
Thanks for having us.
But Ari and Cyril Neville, welcome.
We're the rookies, huh?
Man, yeah, you guys are
the rookies, you know?
So we, here we are at the Jazz Museum
at the New Orleans- Oh, 100% … the
first day of the French Quarter Fest.
I mean, second day of
the French Quarter Fest.
We just saw the Legacy Coalition play on
the Loyola Esplanade In the Shade stage.
Yeah.
Which is not easy to say.
Yes.
And it was amazing to watch the
generational pass down, so to speak.
But what we got today, not only
to watch that, Ari and River,
but you guys sat in, Cyril.
That was amazing.
What was that like sitting
next to your son with his band?
Man, I tell you, that I
told him, it's like heaven.
It- stage with him.
And I told him when he was like
maybe three or four years old that
one day, "Dude, you gonna be bad.
You gonna be way badder than me." "You
gonna do way more than I'm doing."
So, man, I'm just… I, I can't…
There's no words for how proud I am.
I don't, you know, it's like
any, any picture anybody took
of me out there gonna have this.
There are a
lot of smiles over there.
I know.
And so in translation, dream come true.
Yeah, nirvana.
That band is the past, the present,
and the future all rolled into one.
Amazing.
Yeah.
You know?
I mean, in fact, we're gonna talk later
to, uh, Mark and Mike Mullins separately.
Yeah.
Mullins.
And, uh, so we're gonna
get that aspect of it.
But how about for you, Omari?
Your dad coming up there, this band.
You had your, your record.
T- promote the record while you're at it.
Yeah, please.
Yeah.
It's, um, like he said, it's a dream.
Like, it's all I ever wanted to do.
I didn't… As a kid, when
everybody was in class saying
they wanna be firemen and… I
used to say, "I'ma be a magician."
They's like, "Oh, you do magic?" It's
like, "No, I'ma do music." And they's
like, "Oh, you mean a musician." So
this is always what I wanted to do.
Like, my dream was to play drums for the
Neville Brothers and stuff like that.
So like, to me, this is, like what
he said, it's a dream come true.
So to see the rest of the guys doing the
same thing with their fathers and stuff
like that, and we're making it a band.
And we're up there having fun.
Like, it's no pressure.
Everybody's bringing their own
swag, their own, like, energy to
it, and just making like this one
big musical gumbo, and that's, you
know, that's what it's all about.
And I love that, no pressure.
'Cause you would think it might
be pressure- Yeah … uh, River
and, uh, and Omari pl- you
know, looking up to your dads-
and trying to keep up with them.
No pressure, right?
They don't do the pressure.
If it, if it's any pressure,
it's we put on ourselves.
Right.
I speak for myself.
I know I put a lot of pressure
on myself just because of the,
the giants that's in front of me.
So it's like you wanna make
sure you're doing it justice.
But I also wanna, like,
make my own lane as well.
You know what I mean?
So- Right.
Totally.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And River, River, we talked to you
about this last year, you know,
about hanging out with the, uh, what
we called the older people, and you
said, "Ah, I don't think anybody's
that old." I started naming the ages.
But, uh, how about playing,
uh, with all these other folks?
And you're… Did you play
today with, go up on stage?
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
So tell- Maybe somebody could, like,
talk about how this whole legacy-
Yeah … how, how this got started.
I mean, we can read about it-
We will … from your own, yeah.
Yeah, we'll
get, we'll get to that.
Um, for me, you know- I'm just
happy to see that there's a young
generation of, like, more people
within this generation that I'm in
keeping the New Orleans music alive.
And for me, you know, back
to, like, are we comfortable?
Like, yeah, we're just having fun 'cause
when us musicians from New Orleans
and when we see new other, other New
Orleans musicians born and raised
here into the tradition of music, you
know, it's almost like we're family.
Like- Yeah … even though we
haven't known each other our whole
lives, it's almost like we do.
Like, like people of the family groove.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's, it's working.
And Jake, man- Yeah … a dream
for you to do today as well?
Absolutely.
You know,
I have y- you know, these
cats are my heroes, too.
You know?
Of course Cyril is a friend and
a hero as well, and for s- Your
music is beautiful,
man.
C- Yes … Cyril speaks for himself.
You know, he's- Yeah.
Yeah … we all grew up, you know, uh,
here and, and everywhere else listening
to that sound, and that is the sound.
But the real truth of it is the young
people bringing that energy to it in the
same way when we were younger- Mm-hmm
bringing it when those sounds were fresh-
Mm-hmm.
Yeah
… when those sounds were new.
There's a feeling that
I can't put into words.
And Cyril, you know exactly
what I'm talking about.
Right.
When everything, all those sounds were new
and they were fresh, that's when that real
magic comes out, and that's what you hear.
W- what blew me away, and I was
with Cyril watching the first
couple times they played, they
got together and they all sang.
It might have been Fire on the
Bayou, I Love the One You're With,
or Tipitina, whatever it was.
And we all looked at each other
and went, "Oh, shit," because
it just makes sense to them-
Yeah.
Yeah
… hearing this
By osmosis Yes Does that make sense?
Absolutely.
It's school book, or it's not
by, uh, uh, an assignment.
Yeah.
It's by just presence.
Yeah.
And presence in your life.
Listening to the sounds
like we hear from outside.
Yeah.
There's no, uh, there's no
way to teach somebody that.
Right.
That's real.
That's it.
That's what happens.
Right.
And, and I, you know, was lucky
enough to listen to Cyril and
absorb absorb those sounds.
Right.
And I'm listening to them do it in a new
way, and I'm admiring, admiring them.
These are my heroes, just as
like he, he, he's my hero.
You know?
Yeah.
To really keep this alive and it
come from a real place, you know?
To- You know, you know, as
pa- just gonna let you- No,
no … as parents, you know, you
don't really know if your kids are
watching or listening and m- sometimes
you don't think about it, right?
So to your point, all of a sudden, oh
my God, they, they've got this, right?
And you didn't teach them
necessarily affirmatively, but
you were just being around you.
I mean, that, that's good.
Yeah.
And there's different permeations,
I mean, of this, I mean, the
music all started here, right?
I mean, it's like right the root of
this, jazz especially, and so you hear
all of these different iterations of it.
But are you talking about like, like,
feeling and hearing kind of that the,
like you said, the, the traditional-
Well, take Omari and River, for example.
A- any given Mardi Gras season that
he's in, they're hearing Big Chief.
Yes.
A
Pocky Way.
Yes.
Right.
Wha- whether you're- Yeah … you,
you're a Neville or, or my
son, you're hearing this.
Right, right, right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Brass band music.
Right.
Mm-hmm.
Jazz music.
Yeah.
And it's kinda like tasting a
familiar dish that you- Yeah
are familiar eating that you grew up with.
It's not something that you
formulaically tried to put together.
Right.
A thing that was given and put
in front of you that- Yeah … in
a way that many people eat
sloppy joes on Tuesday at lunch.
That's right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know?
Yeah.
Yeah.
In, in, in Nebraska or something, right?
Yeah.
The sloppy joe.
When you see that sloppy joe,
you're gonna say, "Hey." Yeah.
See, you know, that, that River
just said, but you know, family.
Yeah.
You know, that's the magic part
about it, you know, being on stage,
Push, my uncle and my brothers.
Then my brothers and, you know, and
as transitions, we had other family
members being brought into it.
So to me, every one of those legacy
cats, you know, it's in their blood.
They were all born to do what they doing,
and obviously born to do it together
'Cause the only way you could possibly
get folk into that is to be born a Scoon.
You know, we, we see this,
uh, we're from the Bay Area.
You know, we watched about 15 years
ago, uh, Phil Lesh open up his, uh,
Terrapin Crossroads bar, uh, and his
son, uh, Graham kinda was, was coming
up and, you know, God rest Phil now,
and, uh, but, but what's happened
in that community, in fact, Ivan is,
uh, playing with those guys a lot.
I- i- it's amazing to… I, I think this
is happening not only in New Orleans, but,
you know- Yeah … across the music world.
It, it needs to happen more if it's not.
Um- Music is healing.
Music is a healing force.
Yeah.
And it's also something
that brings people together.
Yes.
You know?
And I'm talking about across
any boundaries, you know?
Like for instance, the first time we
played in Japan, and I'm looking at the
people in the audience singing our songs.
There were, we had a big sign
that nobody speaks English.
Mm. So it's the, it's that magic
that's in that music that binds people.
Yeah.
You know?
And we, we have a thing here,
uh, very funny story about Dr.
John and how he refused- That the city
decided to make a law that outlawed Black
and white musicians playing together?
Not just Mac, but a whole bunch of people.
Man, everybody.
Y'all with that.
We not with that.
And music was the catalyst.
Mm.
You know?
Yeah.
And so this is what's going on.
They … But a lot of it is about
our spouses though, because it, you
know, that's what New Orleans is, this
musical city, and you're gonna hear
it whether you want to hear it or not.
Yeah.
And like I said, they're born to do this.
That band is destiny.
Yeah.
Oh my
God.
Yeah.
How about that single?
You wanna talk about it?
Yes.
The single out right now, Brand New Day.
Yeah.
That's like the first, um, song that we
all writ as a collective together, and-
Yeah … I'm really proud of that song.
I love that song.
It's a great song.
Like, I consider, like- It's a
great song … it's, it's crazy
that it's on, like, Spotify
and, uh, streaming platforms, 'cause I
just go to my email and just stream it.
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
So I'm gonna have to s- I'm
gonna have to switch and go and
give- … give it some plays.
So yeah, Brand New Day is out right now.
That was, you know, our first single.
So y'all, we're doing it.
And
that was the first time
it was performed to- today
It wasn't the first time
it was performed, no.
One of the,
one of the first times.
No, second time.
Black Top, third.
All right.
Sounds great.
Third or fourth time.
I'll take it.
Yeah, like- There's a, a friend of
ours, you guys know Nick Burleson.
Uh, you may know Nick, and he was-
Yeah … on the side there, and his, uh,
daughter is, I think, nine years old.
And she was like, "When are
they gonna play that song?"
Wave shout
out, Nick.
"When are they gonna play
that song?" That's cute.
She knew all the words already.
Wow.
So it's working.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's amazing.
See, we're-
And that's- That's somebody could've took
a whole, a whole video
of that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's huge.
Do you want to ask about h- how did all
this begin, this, the idea that- Yeah
we, we know it had to happen.
So it had to happen, but how did it really
happen in terms of putting it together?
Yeah, I think it was, uh, an idea.
Our, uh, the lead, like Michael,
the trombone player, and Brad,
the guitar player, who they play
in a band called Seated together.
Mm-hmm.
And I think it was their idea
that they've had for a couple
years, but it's just taken them
some time to find the right guys.
And, uh, I think- About a year and a
half ago, uh, they called everybody
and said, "We're gonna do this show
at the Maple Leaf Bar," and, uh-
Oh, that's how they pitched it to you?
Yeah.
Okay.
See what you- I got like a, I got
like a text, like, from the start.
It's like a Legacy Coalition.
It's gonna be me, River, you- Yeah
and with Dot.
Now I'm like, "Dude, I'm in." I'm in.
Like, I'm in.
Like, say no more, I'm in.
So- Yeah … that was how that happened.
Like, but this how it was for real.
My musician, he got this,
this, like, marketing thing.
He put like the Big 8 Box.
He made like a flyer for
our, like, first show.
Yeah.
It was like Big 8 Box.
It was like all of us on.
Like, for some reason when I saw
it, I was like, "Oh yeah, this
shit about to be something." Yeah.
Like-
Yeah.
When I saw it on paper as a flyer and
that, like, original front of Big 8
Box- … so New Orleans, by the way.
You know what I mean?
Right.
So I'm like, "Yeah, yeah,
this is gonna be fire."
Yeah.
Then when I showed up to rehearse
and seen like all of us just
sitting there just, like, smiling.
Like, we joke a lot.
Like, River might be the most
one that's… I'm probably the
most childish one in the band.
Like, I… Like, River's the old soul.
You know what I mean?
Like, it's, it's- The old
soul … yeah, dude, like…
And I just think that that energy
that brought us together, like, as
far as, like, the respect level of
everybody- Yes … musicianship.
Yeah.
That's what made- Yes … the
Legacy Boys really, like, take off.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
And it, it shows in the music.
Yeah.
It's not surprising that it happened,
but I mean, it's not a guarantee, right?
I mean- I mean, I mean- … you're
all different musicians
and different backgrounds.
But
man- I think it's rare, though.
I mean- Huh?
… kind of ra- I mean, and
especially f- New Orleans music.
Yeah.
And so, yeah.
So what, what's, what's coming up?
What's going on?
What's, what do you wanna tell us?
What do you wanna tell everybody?
'Cause we're gonna promote
the heck out of this.
Uh, well, with the Legacy band, we're
gonna be at the, uh, Funk Fest This year.
And, uh, I think with that
we're gonna have all the dads
come up on stage with us.
Oh.
Nice.
So it's gonna be like a huge party.
He'll be up.
Awesome.
Cyril will be up.
Y'all just
got exclusive by the way too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm not sure if we can even- They
got you exclusive … I'm not sure
if we can actually share this or not.
Uh- Oh.
That's what, that's what
this, like, that's what these
platforms- Yeah, no worries.
No, no, it's good.
Y'all got the first drop.
First
exclusive.
But so far, so far we're good on the, the-
Yeah.
So far we're good.
Yeah, yeah.
Big Jules.
We haven't
had any issues.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
No issues.
Yeah, it's all good.
All right,
man.
Yeah, but the Legacy, uh, the New
Orleans Legacy Coalition will be at
the NOLA Funk Fest, uh, in October.
So that's what's coming up.
Oh.
Okay.
That will be, uh, w-
with Omari's set on Jazz
Fest.
The Jazz Fest.
Next week.
That it comes out on New Day, our single.
So- Sneaking that in.
I know you … we, I think we submitted
our, um, Jazz Fest application too late,
so I was like, "Just come on my set and
let's do Brand New Day and-" Good plan.
You know how.
That's-
I've been watching my dad and
my uncles and them do that stuff
like that whole career, bringing
up people and stuff like that.
So I'm just trying to
keep that tradition going.
Yeah.
One, one thing we like to do
is bring a co-host in once in
a while of, uh, some stature.
Yeah.
And I'm not … Oh, and also we have
another guy here that we might bring in.
It's funny.
He's got jokes.
This guy got jokes.
Oh.
Anyway, I just wanna jump in.
My name's Jonathan McCue.
I've known Cyril for, I
don't know, 45 years maybe.
Jake Ecker for 20-something years, and
these boys since they were very young.
I'm very excited 'cause I'm directing
a, a film about the 50th anniversary of
Tipitinas, which anniversary is next year.
Cyril's already been in the
film and I gotta get these
n- next young gentlemen in.
Uh, but Cyril, you know, watching
you watching them, as you talked
about in the beginning, there's
no way when they play that song
Tipitina you cannot get up on stage.
You're smiling ear to ear.
Cyril,
come
on, man.
I understand that, bro.
I understand that.
But just in general for all of y'all,
what does Tipitina as the place and
Tipitina as the song mean to you?
Starting with you, Cyril.
Well I used to live there, literally.
Yeah.
Timatinas, that balcony stuff,
you know, that's fairly new.
Uh, the first maybe 10, 15 years of
that place, it was apartments there.
And I lived in the apartment
that is now the dressing room
and all of that kind of stuff.
And that's also the home of the,
the, that was the first WWLZ radio.
They bored a hole in the floor,
dropped a microphone down,
and went on air, you know?
So, uh, and me and my brothers did
at least about 10, uh, benefits for
Ti- Timatinas for different reasons.
For, for air conditioners, getting
the air conditioners in there,
'cause it used to be so hot.
And I think we raised that money,
like, three times before they
actually bought the air conditioners.
Yeah, literally, I interviewed Cyril
in the green room, and he goes, "This
is like home." I go, "Yeah, yeah,
everybody says." He goes, "No, no, no.
I actually lived in this room." And
I was like, "What the fuck are you
talking about?" And I was like- He
slept there … no, he li- it was
an apartment, and he lived there.
Yeah.
And there was a band called Satisfaction,
I guess, lived down the hall, right?
Satisfaction lived down on third
floor.
So it's just incredible, the whole
thing.
When the Third Ward boys got together,
they came here, and they were supposed
to be here for, like, six months.
They were here for three years.
Staying upstairs with Ti.
Right.
So, Omari, what's your first
memory ever going into Timatinas?
Sleeping on the riser on, um, Willie
Green's drum riser and just, I don't know.
That's a lot of drum risers.
Yeah, that's what they used to be like.
Man, something must be happening
for this dude to be able to sleep
on that thing, you know what I mean?
How old do you think you
were?
Man, at six years old, he was in
a band called Death Generation,
which was all of my nephews.
I tried to do the same thing my uncle
did with us with my nephews, okay?
So they, the, they were the
first band to ever merge brass
band and hip hop together.
There's a song called "Running
With the Devil," and that is the
first time that ever happened.
And he, matter of fact, was on this
early morning news show on Channel 4.
Oh, Lord.
And he was on drums.
You know?
Oh, man.
Yeah, no, he did.
I fell off the fucking drums, man.
Man, he said he
fell
o- he, he was so into it.
Oh, God.
He fell off and bounced.
I was
like, "Did I freaking fail?" Like, I had,
like- He never missed a beat … D.T.R.,
D Timatinas D, like, I'm like, "E."
Like, that's one of my biggest fears is
falling off the drums 'cause of that shit.
And they just love bringing that
up.
Yeah.
You know what I'm saying.
He, he, my, it's like the bounce back
that the, never missed a beat, right?
So, like, from birth
You know, a witness to this,
Idris Muhammad came to my house.
That's my friend from when I was a
kid, when he was with Leo Morris.
You know, he said, "Man,
let me, let me show you."
And whatever he was about
to show him, he didn't.
He was six years old.
And, uh, Idris stood back and
said, "Man, everybody gonna have
to show him nothing, bro. He came
here with everything he need."
Mm.
So, you know, that from, from the
horse's mouth, Idris Muhammad said that.
And, uh, like I didn't, I didn't
really try to force anything on him.
At all.
I, I put the drums there.
He got, got into that, but everything
else that he's doing now, leading the
band, the, the general on stage and
everything, he got all
of that from watching the
neighborhood, watching Papa Funk.
And now I, I'm on stage and I'm
feeling that Papa Funk is still there.
Which he is, you know?
And Tipitina's is like the
Rucker.
Like basketball, you know the Rucker?
It's like you ain't played
until you play the Rucker.
I always felt like Tipitina's was that.
Like that was another, like that was
type of, like that was my dreams.
Like, "I'm gonna play Tipitina's one
day." Like, you know what I mean?
So that's how much Tipitina's
meant and still means.
Like it's, it's a big nostalgia
trip when you go there.
Like- Yeah,
you spent your whole, literally your
whole life playing there- Yeah, bro, like
because you go and see him
and then you play on your own.
Jake, what's your first memory
of taking River to Tipitina's?
Um- Uh, River, River was in
Tipitina's before he can remember.
That, that's-
That's why I'm asking you
… that- That's why I'm asking you
first
… you know, I couldn't probably tell you.
You know, River was probably in Tipitina's
first, like Omari, because- Yeah
we had our children with us
that we couldn't just leave
them at home, you know?
Right, right.
So it's, "Just sit there while
we're doing this," you know?
And, uh, it was at, with the Dirty
Dozen in those years, you know?
Um- Right.
It was your early
Dirty
Dozen, right?
I was with the Dirty Dozen,
and that was my first time
playing at Tipitina's, I think.
I couldn't tell you the
first time I played.
I can't remember.
Right.
But it was with Dirty Dozen Brass Band.
Yeah.
Uh, uh, you know, 20
years, whatever it was.
I can't remember how many years, but
that was a, you know, that was a rite
of passage, uh, uh, when you get a,
kinda like, like, like Omari said,
when you are at Tipitina's, that's,
that's sacred ground, you know?
Chet Cyril lived upstairs, man.
That's right.
He, he put hoodoo on that room.
I mean, that's a, that's a sacred place.
Yeah.
It is.
And, and it, Tipitina's, you know,
the Maple Leaf, all these places, you
feel those spirits live in the wood.
They live in the walls.
They live in, in, in, in,
in everything, you know?
And New Orleans is like that.
It holds its energy.
That's why people love it.
You feel that with Tip's.
But to, to get back to the first
time River played, I mean, uh, was in
Tipitina's, I would probably say he was,
he was, uh, before he could walk or talk.
Wow.
Uh, but- And R- and River, what
would be your first memory-
What was your first memory?
of actually watching
your dad play at Tip's?
Yeah, I remember being in Tip's when
I was really, I don't know what age,
but probably, uh, definitely in like-
lower, like first grade, kindergarten,
watching my dad do sound checks and stuff.
And, uh, the first, but f- for me,
Tipitina's, it goes back to keeping
things alive because it, from what
I've heard, it opened up to provide
a steady gig for Professor Longhair.
And, uh, that's just the first,
see, that's the first thing with
Tipitina's that ever happened.
Keep the thing going with, with Fess.
But, uh, and my first experience with
Tipitina's playing there was, uh, given
to me by George Porter Jr. He put me on
one of their annual, uh, tribute shows.
It was, that year it was Fats
Domino and Huey Piano Smith.
And, um, that was my first experience
being in front of, like, a big crowd,
being, playing Tipitina's again.
I got to play with him and, like,
Stanton Moore and a bunch of other,
uh, guys I really look up to.
So Tipitina's is definitely a
sacred place, and definitely
has got some voodoo in it.
And
back to Fe- and back to Fess, like, what
was it your attraction to that music, and
how did you, besides your dad, obviously,
you found it on your, you know, you got
into it yourself, and you emulated and
played and built and, you know, now you
have this incredible sound of yours, and,
and the world seems to be responding well.
So talk about Fess and you.
Yeah, so, well, my first introductions
to music was my dad with the Dirty Dozen.
Those are, like, Blackbird
Special was one of the first
songs that I probably ever heard.
And, uh, 'cause I was backstage
in the womb, you know?
But, um, the piano was always
an instrument in the front
of our house available to me.
I could go plunk on the keys anytime
I wanted to and pick out melodies that
were in my head from the Dozen concerts.
And, um, once I got older and matured
a little bit, I became more aware
of the piano tradition here in New
Orleans and guys like Professor
Longhair and Dr. John and James Booker.
And, um, let's see.
The first song I learned was a Huey
Piano Smith song called Rockin'
Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu.
And from there, I started listening
to the piano music, and that's when
I learned Tipitina and, and Big
Chief and a couple other songs too.
But, um, Professor Longhair for me
is really just probably my like base
level foundation of my New Orleans
playing, New Orleans piano playing
Well, it's great stuff, man.
Uh, I'm good.
You got more for these guys?
I got-
Go ahead.
You can't get no more correct than that.
That's a fact.
You can't get no more correct
than, than, than he just said.
Like, uh, I had the experience of
wanting to do something
special for my dad's special.
So I had a piano player in mind,
I ain't gonna call no names to
start it off, to tease for me.
And I told him my idea, and he
looked at me, he said, "Dad, look,
that's a good idea to have somebody
do that, but not that guy. You
need to get Brook." Look it up.
And that's what I did.
I got Suge keep calling me, you know?
And then I stepped out the way, and
then he got me, he said, "Don't worry
about it. When you s- when you hear
from me, then I'll have him showing up."
He, we got to that part of that show
where he came out I had no s- I didn't
know what you was about to do Yeah,
' cause I didn't tell him about your
ending I know So, uh, it's risky
for Jess, it's just like- I was-
we general, we can, we
can handle it Yeah, I was
nailed to the floor, man.
But I, I mean, it's like I'm
hearing vocal, I'm hearing fest,
you know, I'm, I'm, I'm hearing art.
I'm, you know, and then I'm hearing him
because he delivered that all of a sudden.
He got to the part where he's
playing with the vocals in the
back, and the band and shit- Yeah
you know?
That's, yeah, okay.
Yeah.
That's, that's the real shit, yeah.
We going boppity, da, da,
da, da, da, da, da, da- Yeah
… but he don't know when to
end it, so he's like…
I'm telling you, bro, I was like- I
was, I was crying … so, that gave
me so much joy that, you know, okay,
this is what your city is about.
If you, if you see something that
is worthy, push that up, you know?
So thank you for putting
me on the real shit.
Yeah, thank you.
Next
generation coming up.
That, that is beautiful.
Awesome.
Yeah.
You know?
And, uh,
oh,
what do you want?
I'm, I'm glad y'all are seated.
You were just talking about- Oh,
yeah … a lot of new albums coming out.
Is that- Yeah.
Okay, let's talk about
that, super important.
Well, we got the one we know.
Oh, yeah, and back to Tipatina's about
the Keeping Things Alive Tip Record
Club helped me out with my album.
Nice.
And they put it on as their add-on
with the vinyl for this month.
But yeah, my, my debut album comes
out next Wednesday, the 22nd.
And, um, yeah, we got that album
release show on May 4th at the Maple
Leaf, and a very special guest.
I, I won't say
his name
though.
We're gonna, we're gonna- That's
the exclusive part I will say
George Porter is playing after me.
Oh,
okay.
All right.
That's all I'll say.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I wanna say, here's the last thing.
We're gonna see you at the High
Sierra Music Festival this year.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Have you heard, how did
you get in on that one?
Did you just word of mouth or-
Uh, yeah … who booked you?
He's
best
friends
with Harry Styles.
Yeah, Pete Hard-
Hartley.
Yeah.
You know, John McHugh,
they came, came over.
They, we ran into Dave a year ago, and
he said, "You know, I want y'all to play
at High Sierra." I played at High Sierra
many times over the years with Pride Rock
as well- Mm-hmm … in the old place.
And then McHugh and, and Dave
came over, and we were hanging,
and, and we got it all All we're,
y'all are friends out there.
Nice.
I think soon enough, as long as
it keeps going on, that we'll ha-
we'll all be out there together.
Nice.
You know?
And, uh, I'm sure we can make that happen.
But,
Yeah.
But, uh- Nice … Icy Hot's a special
place, and, um, we'll have a lot
of friends with us playing with us.
We, we're g- kinda mash up everything
out there, 'cause they got Dumpster
Funk, and they got, uh, uh, uh- Rumble
Rumble, and they got, uh, Stan's
got- Stan's there, yep … um-
Porter
… Porter.
Yeah, Porter's out there.
He's out there as a guest.
He's gonna … Well, I don't
wanna- Yeah … spoil anything.
Sorry to spoil it.
It's actually nothing exciting going on.
Make sure you
saw the new location we're out there.
Yeah.
Don't miss it.
We w- We just, we were just there to
the new location and scouted it out.
We'll be there backstage, so yeah.
I think I played at that spot
w- at the Strawberry Festival.
I think it was the same, there was a music
festival called the Strawberry Festival.
The Suspects had played a few times, and
I think that's the same- It could be,
yeah … location in, in Grass Valley.
Yeah.
Grass Valley.
But yeah.
No, uh, Dave
Martinez would be okay
if you said anything
about it to promote it,
don't you worry.
Suspects, Suspects have another
album, our sixth album coming.
Nice.
Um, Omari, don't you have an album coming?
Yeah.
My debut album, Omari Never In
The Field, Voodoo, comes out.
We got vinyls, everything.
And, um, as far as hard copies, it's
gonna, we're gonna be doing a live, um,
show at the Louisiana Music Factory.
All right.
What's
that?
Fourth?
May 4th.
Fourth.
May 4th.
May 4th.
So we'll be at the
Louisiana Music Factory.
We'll be there.
Nice.
Running our mouths.
Debuting the new album.
Yeah.
So that's gonna be cool, man.
I'm real excited for y'all to hear this.
I've been sitting on it for a minute, so.
So May 4th, everybody at the Factory, all
right?
Yes, sir. It's, it's a party.
Yeah.
And Cyril, you have a new record?
No.
Yeah.
And it's coming out on the
same day his is coming out.
May 4th.
And I'm at that store,
in store right after him.
Yep.
Yeah.
There we go.
And
so, yeah, we, uh, the, the name of
my album is Don't Wait Till I'm Gone.
Mm-hmm.
And it, that's the song that was
written- I'm with my brother Aaron,
and he's actually the singer though
That was his last song with him.
That's the song he recorded
That's the last time he put his voice on
something that is going out to the public.
You know, so that's, that's May the 4th.
Both of them coming out at the same
time So, so what time, what
time do you play the 4th?
Um, like 4:30,
wasn't it?
I might be at 5:30.
Um,
bro, I got to- I'm at
5:30. You're at 6:30
… I gotta get that with y'all.
5:30, 6:30, 8:00 all on May 4th.
There
we go.
Oh,
yeah, yeah.
Is that right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
See
you all there.
It's May, it's May 4th.
It's a Monday.
The whole May the 4th.
Oh, it's Monday.
Yeah.
Yeah, May 4th, May the 4th thing we
do.
May the 4th.
Oh, and that night, I'm gonna be at,
um, Chicky Wawa with Bone-A-Rama.
They're actually having the,
um, vinyl release party.
Oh, yeah.
And I'm on that record too, so- Wow
um, I'm gonna be there with them.
I'm
also on that record.
Yeah.
I'm gonna be there.
You on that record, too.
Uh-huh.
I probably gonna be there, too.
Anybody that's not in New Orleans now
ought to be getting here real quick.
Yeah.
To see all this, yeah.
Well, guys, I mean, part of the
Legacy Coalition right here.
Just a part of it.
We're gonna see some of you
others later this week, but- Oh,
yeah … man, this was amazing.
It was amazing to hear the band.
Amazing to get you guys together.
Thank you for coming in here.
Thank you, Jonathan, for
wrangling these guys.
Yeah, thank you for having us.
Thank y'all for having us.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
All right.
Hi, this is Tammy from
Only in the Green Room.
If you enjoyed this episode, be
sure to listen to part two with
more legacy members Michael Mullins
and Bradford Lewis, recorded a
week later at Bayou Rendezvous
at the Broadside in New Orleans.
Enjoy