{"id":4154,"date":"2026-03-10T18:39:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T18:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frenchmennotes.com\/?p=4154"},"modified":"2026-05-12T19:37:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T19:37:18","slug":"frenchmen-since-2016-sierra-green-reflects-on-weekly-residencies-covid-hurdles-and-her-bandleading-philosophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frenchmennotes.com\/?p=4154","title":{"rendered":"Sierra Green reflects on Frenchmen since 2016\u2014Covid hurdles, weekly gigs, and her bandleading philosophy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

***Thank you to the Threadhead Foundation for supporting our editorial work in 2026!***<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soul vocalist Sierra Green\u2019s musical projects include Sierra Green & the Giants, Sierra Green & the Soul Machine, and the Sierra Leone Experience. Her exuberant and highly danceable performances–full of horns and funky basslines–have become a huge hit with Frenchmen audiences in recent years, earning her the nickname \u201cthe Queen of Frenchmen Street.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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[Photo courtesy of Sierra Green]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sierra’s musical origins<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sierra Green<\/strong>, 4\/19\/2021:<\/strong> I\u2019m born and raised [New Orleans]. Downtown area. I started playing on Frenchmen around 2016; my first gig was at BMC. I was \u2018Sierra Leone Experience.\u2019 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: When you were younger, what did you know about Frenchmen? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: Nothing at all! <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t know anything about Frenchmen \u2018til I started working it. Yeah, my mom was a very protective mom\u2026 So we couldn\u2019t go too many places, and I was one of those kids that obeyed and listened. I didn\u2019t sneak out, stuff like that. I still loved music: I was singing at Christmas parties at home, I sang at Church a lot– that\u2019s the foundation of my singing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Katrina, I went to Oklahoma for nine years, and that\u2019s when I started really getting the [music\/performance] bug. I\u2019m 35; I was 18, 17 when Katrina hit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: So you were a \u201cyoung adult\u201d…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: I was a baby<\/em>. Trust me. [laughter]<\/em> It\u2019s amazing how when you\u2019re 18, you really think you\u2019re an adult, but you\u2019re really still a freakin\u2019 kid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026They did a lot of country music in Oklahoma, which I wasn\u2019t fond of at the time. But I grew to love the stories, and I started singing those songs. But then the venues– they didn\u2019t have venues to go to. So, I was only singing at libraries and at one festival they have every year. I started saying, \u201cMan, I could go home and make some money\u2026.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I went home. I started on the corner of Frenchmen Street, just singing for people. I would stop people and ask them could I sing for them. A couple musicians heard me on the corner singing–I started meeting musicians, and they started letting me sit in. Like, \u201cCome here Wednesday, I\u2019ll let you sit in\u2026\u201d \u201cYou come here Thursday\u2026.\u201d I started going to people\u2019s jazz shows, singing with the piano. And my \u2018lil name got out, and they was like, \u201cYou should start a band!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whaaaat? I thought I was gonna come out there and sing with people; I never thought I\u2019d have my own band. And that was it: when I got my own band, I took off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Frenchmen compares to other music locales<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: I\u2019d say Frenchmen is different because of all the many clubs that are down there. You can literally hear six to ten different new bands on Frenchmen when you feel like that. Walk out the next door and come into the other door. And [musicians are] literally like, [whispering, mimes waving\/gesturing]<\/em> \u201cCome sit in. Come on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: Yeah, you see somebody you haven\u2019t seen in forever and you\u2019re like, \u201cOh yeah! They are a really good bass player, I gotta call them\u201d or whatever. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: For real. Oh, I\u2019ll tap on the glass and let them know I\u2019m there [pantomimes]<\/em>: \u201cHey, call me!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From my experience, people come to Frenchmen [when] they actually want to enjoy the live music. Versus Bourbon: they\u2019re drunk and want to hear loud music. Which is why I don\u2019t play Bourbon. I want to be heard, I don\u2019t just want to be the background. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And being where it\u2019s at– I think Frenchmen is the perfect street in the perfect area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noise complaints<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG: <\/strong>Frenchmen Street has been there way before us, and people still move there and complain [about noise], which I don\u2019t understand. I don\u2019t understand how you move into this area and complain about the music like\u2026 Did you research what area you were buying your house in? Did they not tell you your house was right next to a row of clubs? [laughter]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changes on Frenchmen?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LD<\/em><\/strong>: You said you started playing on Frenchmen in 2016 or something. Has the street changed a lot in the time you\u2019ve been playing there? [Not including the pandemic].<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: No. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LD: <\/em><\/strong>Huh, yeah, I guess that makes sense. \u2018Cause it changed before then, but it\u2019s been kind of the same since. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Venues (& movie stilts)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LD<\/em><\/strong>: Do you have a favorite venue to play on Frenchmen?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: I like Spotted Cat<\/a> and Caf\u00e9 Negril<\/a>. Whole lotta energy, be so live in them two clubs right there. Bamboula\u2019s too, I\u2019ll put them all on the list. I love the energy in Bamboula\u2019s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: Do you have a least favorite that you\u2019ll play at but you don\u2019t love it?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: I had a least favorite and I won\u2019t play at it anymore: [redacted!]. That should be all I need to say!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: Unfortunately, that\u2019s not surprising. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: That club used to bring me embarrassment from clients. The bathrooms, the food– I didn\u2019t even use the bathroom there. I would have to tell my band to play instrumentals so I could go across the street and use the restroom. It was that bad. I stopped working with them maybe just a year before COVID. So I did 6 years with them too, on and off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Rock actually came in there one time while I was singing on stage. Him and his wife– they looked around, and they left. In my head the whole time I was like, \u201cWhy did I have to be at [redacted] tonight?!\u201d I would have done the same damn thing with my wife. I would\u2019ve walked her ass right outta there! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[laughter]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was [during] Essence Fest– all the stars were out that night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what I noticed about Chris Rock is that he\u2019s really short! He\u2019s so short! They make him look so tall, I would\u2019ve thought Chris Rock would be as tall as they make it, but we were about eye-to-eye, girl, and I\u2019m 5\u20193. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: Wow, there\u2019s a lot of male celebrities that- in movies or whatever–<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: Make \u2018em look tall!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: Yeah! <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: Mhm. They real shorties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: Tom Cruise, I think, is 5\u20195 or something.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: WHAT?! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: Something like that, yeah. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: I would\u2019ve thought he\u2019d be 6 ft something. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: I think it\u2019s all tall shoes or\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LD<\/em><\/strong>: They have him on stilts.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: That damn camera just be lying to us, huh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: We know that\u2019s true. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other (more successful) comedian appearances<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG:<\/strong> I used to do Apple Barrel every Sunday, the late show, from 10 to 2. A comedian came in– I don\u2019t know if y’all are familiar with a movie called Juwanna Mann<\/em> –he\u2019s the main character. I suck with names, but he\u2019s a funny comedian who also does movies. [Guessing this refers to either <\/em>Miguel A. N\u00fa\u00f1ez Jr. or Tommy Davidson.]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was in the gig the entire time. I sang one song and he just stood up and made the club clap for me– he just made them do everything. He came up to my microphone, and he said, \u201cYou\u2019re gonna be a star one day. You got this, just keep doing what you\u2019re doing.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[See the previously published \u201c<\/em><\/strong>Sierra Green: Manifesting Cedric<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u201d for her account of having Cedric the Entertainer in the audience!]<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frenchmen through the week & seasons (plus an adorable interloper)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: My son trying to get a cameo in here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB & LD<\/em><\/strong>: Hiiiiiiiii.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LD<\/em><\/strong>: How are you? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: He\u2019s also a little drummer and guitar player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB:<\/em><\/strong> Oh my god, musical family!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: The first [post-shutdown, presumably] night I had a private event, I found out my son had COVID so I had to cancel. It was like, \u201cUghhhhhh.\u201d So, that\u2019s why we all quarantined right now. If I have it, I\u2019m asymptomatic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But before COVID, I was working seven nights a week, sometimes doubles and triples all weekend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: [jaw drops*] All of them on Frenchmen?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*this one was a video recording<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: Mhmm. [Unless] I had private events or if we traveled to go to festivals, I was on Frenchmen. For seven years, seven nights a week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LD<\/em><\/strong>: Which venues made up your –<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: All of them. I played every club at a different time of the night, every different day. Except Tuesdays– Tuesday was the only day off. Monday was the slowest night we played; Tuesday was the slowest night actually ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: What are your thoughts about the different seasons of the year, like festival season, or when it\u2019s hot and there\u2019s fewer tourists. What are the best months of the year, what\u2019s the flow?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: I guess I was always blessed in this area because we just flowed. I had a year booked up before I could get to it, that\u2019s how busy we were even with Frenchmen Street seven nights a week, then I would have to cancel my normal– I had residencies. I had 7… I had over 8 residencies. [unclear whether simultaneously or at different times].<\/em> And when festivals would call, I would have to cancel a residency to go travel. Or if I got a private event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the only time I didn\u2019t care for Frenchmen [was] when it was cold. I don\u2019t mind the heat, I don\u2019t mind the heat at festivals. Me, personally, I don\u2019t like freezing. My throat gets tight, I have to keep my warm tea, I\u2019m complaining trying to tell the owners to close the door\u2026 Which is fine, but I don\u2019t like the cold seasons. That\u2019s when I make the least money, because people just wanna be cozy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making a living \/ Bandleading philosophy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG: <\/strong>I was told by this old musician, used to be a jazz musician, named Al: \u201cIf you ever wanna keep your musicians, pay \u2018em.\u201d And I was always blessed to get the best musicians, because I paid them. It\u2019s not about me, even though it\u2019s my band. It\u2019s about us and the team. And as long as I hire great musicians and pay them, we have a great show and we make good money. So that\u2019s my strategy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: What was a normal night for how much money you would make? What was the level of \u2018Oh, that was a good night\u2019, what was the level of \u2018Oh, that was terrible\u2019?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: When you walk in, you can sense what you\u2019re gonna make, really. Depending on the day and crowd and if they tippin\u2019. You can sense it when you do it enough. I\u2019ve been very blessed, I usually travel with a five-to-seven piece band. And on a normal night for us, we makin\u2019 220-300 a man. My goal was the least we would make would be 150, maybe 2[00] a man. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out on Frenchmen I did five pieces–if I brought in two (more) pieces, it was to help other musicians who asked me could they work with me. I\u2019m all about my musicians. I put my musicians before me. They like my babies, I call them my grown-man babies. And I take care of each and every one of them, everywhere we go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monday night would\u2019ve been our slowest night. When I say slow, we\u2019d probably only make $80 to a man, 80 to 100 dollars a man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tips, guarantees, & management<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG: <\/strong>I would keep tallies of my tips and my guarantees of our money. Sometimes I would make more money in tips than we were actually getting from the bars.  \u2026I think for me, a tip was a tip. The club should not be basing our money off of what we\u2019re gonna be making in tips. Those are frickin\u2019 tips. And I feel like it\u2019s a slap in the face. Don\u2019t worry about our tips, just pay us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t stress enough about the clubs need to pay us more money. At least pay your band a $100 per man, off the bat. At least that. If you got a 5 piece, give them $500. They can afford it. It\u2019s not like a lot of bands about to bring ten people on and say, \u201cHere\u2019s my band, give me $1,000.\u201d The highest band you have is about a seven or an eight-piece with a piano. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: And a lot of band leaders are pretty aware and also recognize that they- on a Tuesday- might have a smaller version of the band. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: Right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 See, again, I wouldn\u2019t know [about the pre-2016 changes to Frenchmen]– I just know it\u2019s still the same since I started. And I think it needs to change again. They not paying musicians enough money to be out there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the flipside of it. [Some of these clubs] want us to work our backs to the bones but they don\u2019t wanna pay us; they only want to pay us depending on us making tips, which pisses me off. Which is why I went and got a manager, and why I want guarantees if I\u2019m going to play. I look at it like this: If you want quality, you gon\u2019 pay for it. And I\u2019m a quality band. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: So you were able to get guarantees from some of the clubs?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: I was. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: That\u2019s amazing. That is definitely not true for everybody<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG: <\/strong>I feel the best way to get what you want as a musician on Frenchmen or Bourbon is to legitimize your band, get a business LLC, and try to get management. Or deem somebody in your group that\u2019s the best talker and you can [in air quotes] say they\u2019re \u201cmanagement,\u201d and you get your guarantees like that. Don\u2019t let them tell you what they wanna give you; you ask for what you want. That\u2019s my best way of thinking about that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Covid blues<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB: <\/em><\/strong>One of the things we\u2019re trying to figure out is how the city can–or the community even can– help other music spots grow. You know, Frenchmen has been changing over the years and it\u2019s still so important, but how do we make sure there\u2019s always a place in town where somebody can make their whole living?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: I would say the city needs to get behind their musicians a lot more better than what they do.  And support us a little bit more than they do, because we the life of this city, next to food and alcohol. And I feel like they support food and alcohol more than they support the musicians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LD<\/em><\/strong>: That\u2019s a really good point, yeah. Like, you look at COVID too, there was so much effort into developing outdoor dining and things like that–<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: Yeah. I felt–a lot of us musicians felt–very hurt by the city not standing up for us in that era when we couldn\u2019t work. A lot of us were doing very bad. I was blessed to own a band for seven years and be able to file on some these clubs and get the unemployment–there\u2019s a lot of people who don\u2019t own LLC rights, who couldn\u2019t get unemployment. See what I\u2019m saying?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was rough for a lot of musicians for a little bit. Still is now, but it\u2019s picked up a little bit. [smiles]<\/em> Very little. A lot of clubs are hesitant right now \u2018cause they trying to figure out the best way for them to open up in the new situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: And there\u2019s still some restrictions. I think it\u2019s still–if you\u2019ve got singing indoors–I think it\u2019s still only 25% [capacity].<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: Oh, you can sing in there now, you just– it can\u2019t be a lot of people in there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u2026 See now, the Jazz Museum*, they always support musicians. I did a couple of virtuals over there when they were doing virtuals outside on the balcony; I actually want to get another gig over there. I like it out there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[*The New Orleans Jazz Museum is located on Esplanade at the foot of Frenchmen Street, in the Old US Mint. They feature rotating exhibits about New Orleans music and culture, which will hopefully someday include, if we can ever get our act together, an exhibit on Frenchmen Street through the decades. While not a \u201cvenue\u201d per se, the museum hosts a variety of concerts and during the pandemic had a great series of local artists playing on the balcony.]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: Is there anything specific you feel like you want to express about how Frenchmen can come back from the pandemic and be at least as good, if not better?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: I think they need to start doing at least a $5 cover, until they feel different. And then you need to give the band a piece of that cover. I really feel like this would be a good time for them to at least charge $5 to people. You can tell them the $5 is to support the band and support the coming back of the club. Period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

See, a lot of [musicians] are so used to going out there playing because this is our heart, this is what we like to do. But then at the end of the night, we home and\u2026 Hey, I know this is what you love to do but no, this is not right. This is not, no. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HKB<\/em><\/strong>: And that\u2019s been the problem with the pandemic too, it\u2019s not just people not making a living. People\u2019s hearts are dying, not being able to express yourself and play. I was trying to explain this to somebody who wasn’t a musician. They were just talking about it from making a living like, \u201cOh it sucks people can\u2019t make a living.\u201d And I was like, no no no people\u2019s identities and people\u2019s\u2026 you know.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SG<\/strong>: I was depressed, I ain\u2019t gonna lie, for about five months after the shutdown. My last show was March 17. And I was depressed: I didn\u2019t want to be on social media, I didn\u2019t want to do virtual. It sucks! You don\u2019t have the energy from the crowd, it\u2019s basically singing to yourself. I tried it a couple of times, but it just wasn\u2019t\u2026 I couldn\u2019t get a vibe off of it like that. And then we don\u2019t have the right equipment, the phone sucks, you can\u2019t really hear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, it was depressing. But, I talked to God and I asked Him, was this a shifting for me? Did He want me to do something else? And He told me to hold on, so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also our previously published short, <\/strong>Sierra Green: Manifesting Cedric<\/strong><\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewed conducted by LD & HKB on 4\/19\/21 via Zoom recording<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transcribed by Tali Gorodetsky (Jazz Museum intern)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interview edited for clarity & concision by Laura DeFazio<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Posted to Frenchmen Notes on 3\/10\/2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you to the Threadhead Foundation for supporting our editorial work in 2026!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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***Thank you to the Threadhead Foundation for supporting our editorial work in 2026!*** Soul vocalist Sierra Green\u2019s musical projects include Sierra Green & the Giants, Sierra Green & the Soul Machine, and the Sierra Leone Experience. Her exuberant and highly danceable performances–full of horns and funky basslines–have become a huge hit with Frenchmen audiences in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,4,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-interviews","category-interviews","category-longform"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchmennotes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchmennotes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchmennotes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchmennotes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchmennotes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4154"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/frenchmennotes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4296,"href":"https:\/\/frenchmennotes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4154\/revisions\/4296"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchmennotes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchmennotes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchmennotes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchmennotes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}