Frenchmen Notes was created in 2020 under the MACCNO umbrella by musician/advocate Hannah Kreiger-Benson and writer/bartender/ archaeologist Laura DeFazio. Prior to their collaboration, the two had been working on separate Frenchmen Street projects: Laura’s work was ethnographical, and Hannah’s focused on cultural economy, zoning, and legal history. Frenchmen Notes brings all of these elements together and continues to grow, thanks to the indispensable work of Jessica Dauterive, Denise Frazier, Bryce Jenkins, and Faith Carr.
Want to connect, donate, learn about additional educational resources? Scroll down!
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From Hannah:
“I am a working musician (piano, voice, trumpet), music director, and head of programs/research for the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans. In 2011, I realized that information on the history and economy of Frenchmen Street was not yet compiled anywhere and began looking up the history of each building and examining how zoning laws and other city processes had interacted with the organic growth of the ecosystem. In May 2016, I counted all the gigs that occurred on Frenchmen and then again quarterly in 2018 with support from the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South. I also interviewed musicians anonymously about the economic realities of how Frenchmen figured into making a living in music and wrote about my findings, which you can find in the History and Numbers & Data sections of the site.”
From Laura:
“I used to work as a music journalist and radio show host, and people were always telling me beautiful, poignant, wild tales of times they’d had on Frenchmen. By early 2019, I was feeling discouraged by the changes to the cultural landscape and decided to start recording these stories, and new ones. I sought old radio show guests out at their jobs, asked random passerby about their favorite Frenchmen memories, recorded stories I heard in local bars, etc. The vision was a sort of oral history collage of Frenchmen across the decades narrated by musicians, bartenders, music lovers, business owners, artists, hustlers, drinkers, cooks, shopkeepers, miscellaneous miscreants, people living at the “Old Folks’ Home” on the corner … anyone with anything heartfelt to say. The hope is that in sharing these stories, we can celebrate them for their own sakes while also helping to cultivate whatever spirit of them remains.”
Connect with Frenchmen Notes:
In addition to using the Community Input Portal to submit your own stories and memories, please send questions, comments, suggestions, and other feedback to research@maccno.com or laurajdefazio@gmail.com.
Donate:
If you’d like to donate to Frenchmen Notes, all funds go through the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans 501(c)3, towards future interview stipends, transcription costs, and other research expenses. You can support this project by visiting MACCNO’s donation page here and writing “Frenchmen Notes” in the note box.
Additional Resources:
Here are a few of our favorite outside sources of information about Frenchmen Street and/or New Orleans music….
Wavelength – Wavelength New Orleans Music Magazine was founded by Connie Zeanah Atkinson and Patrick Berry in November 1980. View their rich archival trove via ScholarWorks UNO.
Memories of Cafe Brasil facebook group – Tons of old pictures to peruse, plus funny memories and anecdotes.
Frenchmen St. Live – A great site promoting the music and culture of the street.
A Closer Walk NOLA – Interactive map of NO music history– learn and explore!
Jonathan Freilich’s interviews with New Orleans musicians!
Valid Music Schedule – send an email to Benjamin Lyons (interview forthcoming) join his weekly excellent newsletter detailing interesting local gigs: validrecords@yahoo.com
FrenchmenSt.com site/blog – Rob Snow’s site. Includes lots of great musician videos clips
Bourbon Street: A History, by Richard Campanella – Check out this fantastic book by geographer extraordinaire Campanella! Bourbon Street gets a lot of flak these days, but reading this may change your views.