TC: I came back after Katrina as soon as I could, the beginning of October. …I came down back down not knowing what it would be like, if I would even be able to keep living here.
Luckily, my place wasn’t flooded. It had some roof damage, but it didn’t flood. There were cops driving around everywhere. I was worried about my livelihood—mostly playing on Frenchmen Street—about what was going to happen with all these bars.
After I cleaned up my own place, the first thing I did was drive around town, looking at all the devastation. On the news they had been saying, ‘New Orleans is destroyed. 80% of the city. It’s not going to come back.’ People were debating whether it should be allowed to come back. The talking heads on the national news. I thought, ‘Let me see what it’s like down at the old clubhouse.’ I cruised down Frenchmen, and everything was closed up.
Then I came by the Apple Barrel, and the bartender, Jimmy May, was there. He had the bleach, and he was mopping it out. He saw me, and he said, ‘Tom, we’ve gotta put a band together. We’re going to be open tomorrow night.’
[…] To see Jimmy May mopping up the Apple Barrel…wow. He said, “Go down to the park, Washington Square park, they have a soup kitchen set up.”
I drove down there, and the Red Cross had a big soup kitchen set up and the Jazz Vipers were playing in the park. Members of the Jazz Vipers, four of them or something. It was all these FEMA workers and National Guard people, and they’re eating red beans and rice in the park and listening to the Jazz Vipers.
I was just like—my soul was at ease. I felt this overwhelming reassurance that New Orleans wasn’t made up of these structures, all its infrastructure. New Orleans is the people, the spirit of the people. Just seeing that in the park that day, I said to myself, “Everything’s going to be okay. We’re going to rebuild this.”
It was beautiful. After that, I didn’t ever doubt whether we were going to come back. Eventually, the Musicians’ Village and all that came up. I was really excited about being a part of the rebuilding.
