Today, in New Orleans’ Jackson Square, Taylor Swift, Dave Matthews and others are performing on a giant stage in front of hundreds of thousands of Saints fans and untold numbers of TV viewers. Tomorrow, on Friday September 10th, just steps away, three musical giants of New Orleans will be celebrated in the Cabildo in front of a much smaller crowd but with no less fanfare.
Chrome-domed rockabilly punk Deke Dickerson is a longtime Stomp backing bandleader and accomplished musician and music writer in his own right. Two guitar slingers go head to head, as he chats with legendary King of Twang and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Duane Eddy.
Renegade punk-blues guitar stylist Kid Congo Powers – of the Cramps, the Gun Club and Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds – joins Rock and Roll Hall of Fame VP of Education and Public Programs Lauren Onkey in this discussion with original bassist Jimi Espinoza of Thee Midniters, who ignited Chicano rock in 60’s East L.A. with cruising anthems like “Whittier Blvd.”
Los Angeles Times senior pop critic discusses with Gloria Jones what is truly a life in rock – from her influential soul cuts like “Tainted Love” to her life on the glam-rock scene with Marc Bolan.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s Dr. Lauren Onkey chats with the legendary Ronnie Spector – the diminutive, high-haired wild child whose commitment to rock n’roll started in Spanish Harlem, survived Phil Spector, influenced the Rolling Stones and the Ramones and still burns bright today.
Award-winning author, journalist and Western wear expert Holly George-Warren talks with Ian Dunlop, original bassist for Gram Parsons’ pre-Burrito outfit the International Submarine Band.
The Trashmen, the wild 60’s Minnesotans behind the bird share the word with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame director of education Jason Hanley.
2:45 – 3:45 p.m.
Sugarboy Crawford with Rick Coleman
Award-winning Fats Domino biographer Rick Coleman talks with New Orleans R&B legend James “Sugarboy” Crawford, whose 1953 Chess-cut version of “Jock-A-Mo” remains one of the most popular updates of the traditional Mardi Gras Indian chant.
Two legends come together in this conversation. British-born author John Broven remains the definitive authority on South Louisiana swamp pop, Cajun music and R&B, with his groundbreaking texts “South to Louisiana” (1983) “Rhythm & Blues in New Orleans” (1974) and “Record Makers and Breakers.”(2009)His longtime associate Floyd Soileau cut the records Broven wrote the books on, founding seminal labels like Jin, Swallow, Vee Pee and Big Mamou to put out artists like Clifton Chenier and Rod Bernard.
Grammy-nominated Los Angeles-based writer and DJ Chris Morris, the 60’s bluesman turned 70’s “party record”-making comedian. The Atlanta-based bluesman has held down legend status for over half a century, playing, hanging and entertaining with artists from T-Bone Walker to Tina Turner.
Award-winning author Holly George-Warren leads the Stomp Conference’s second installent of the “Here Come The Girls” panel, which she originally moderated at the first conference in 2008. Cult Stax singer Wendy Rene of “BBQ” fame, girl group legend Lala Brooks, and left-handed Gulf Coat guitar empress Barbara Lynn share their stories of the vagaries of the music business for black women in the prefeminist era.
Without the talents of producer, arranger, bandleader, talent scout and trumpeter Dave Bartholomew, the world would never have heard of a piano player named Fats – and that’s only scratching the edge of the tip of the iceberg for Dave Bartholomew, New Orleans’ premier architect of rock n’roll. With Stomp founder Dr. Ike and chronicler John Broven, Bartholomew shares his firsthand account of the dawn of the American rock and R&B sound.
South Louisiana music authority John Broven and frequent MOJO contributor and musician Michael Hurtt talk with Cajun guitar legends Leroy Martin and Johnnie Allan. Look for a possible appearance by their longtime co-conspirator and legendary Ville Platte record man Floyd Soileau!
Ponderosa Stomp secret weapon Lil Buck Sinegal has led the band for Stomp events for the event’s entire history. With running buddy Dr. Ike, he finally discloses his story of life as South Louisiana’s crack guitar slinger, from Clifton Chenier’s band to hundreds of Excello sessions to “Monkey in a Sack” and “Cat Scream.”
Texas wild man Roy Head can still do the alligator, offer marital advice, whip a roadhouse into a soul frenzy and probably fry an egg all at the same time. The irrepressible soul man behind “Treat Her Right” chats with New York Rocker founder and longtime music journalist Andy Schwartz.
*** 15 to 30 minutes between sessions is allowed for the audience of each discussion to change over at a comfortable pace. Please be respectful of our schedule, and join the speakers and moderators in the courtyard or the second floor gallery record fair following their session for refreshments, further conversation and memorabilia signing. ***
The Ponderosa Stomp Foundation thanks Dr. Lauren Onkey and Jason Hanley of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for hosting this year’s Music History Conference.
The Ponderosa Stomp-curated exhibit “Unsung Heroes: The Secret History of Louisiana Rock n’Roll” is on view on floor 2A of the Cabildo during the Ponderosa Stomp Music History Conference. Admission to the Conference allows you to entrance to the exhibit, as well.
“Unsung Heroes: The Secret History of Louisiana Rock n’Roll” is a much-belated celebration of the state’s formidable contribution to American music. The exhibit showcases, for the first time, the rich – and largely unknown – musical history of Louisiana’s blues, R&B, soul, rockabilly, swamp pop and garage artists, who played a significant role in shaping popular music and culture for the last 60 years.
The exhibit takes a close look at the Louisiana’s post-war geographic music capitals- Shreveport, Lake Charles, Crowley, Baton Rouge, Lafayette and of course, New Orleans. With profiles on the entrepreneurial studio owners, the A&R men; and the key musicians, arrangers and producers who made the classic recordings.
The Unsung Heroes exhibit at the New Orleans Jazzfest is displayed in the grandstands during the festival and is an abbreviated version of the full exhibit now showing at the Louisiana State Museum Cabildo in the French Quarter.
“That hillbilly music was so slow. It was music that was putting me to sleep. I had no clue what rockabilly was. It was just something that I felt, so that’s what I did.” – C.J. Cheramie, a.k.a. Joe Clay
Dr. Ike and I visited rockabilly wild man Joe Clay, a Rockabilly Hall of Famer and Ponderosa Stomp regular, at his home on New Orleans’ West Bank in the spring of 2007. In the hour-long interview below, listen to him discuss his anticlimactic pre-Elvis turn on the Ed Sullivan show, how he changed his name, and why Marrero’s Gay Paree nightclub was the hot spot for the New Orleans country and rockabilly scene in the 50′s.
William Bell performs at the Ponderosa Stomp at Lincoln Center\'s Midsummer Night Swing, 7/16/09.
Even after William Bell brought the Stax label one of its first hits, 1961′s “You Don’t Miss Your Water” – a song that would largely set the tone for the label’s signature Southern soul sound – he still remained on the fence about whether or not to ditch the recording business and go to medical school. At least, that’s what he told me during our live interview this past August at the Cutting Edge Music Business Conference.
Luckily, he didn’t (though our own Dr. Ike proves that medicine and rock n’roll aren’t mutually exclusive.) We’ve posted the audio from that interview below so you can hear one of the Stomp’s most popular returning performers discuss the rise and fall of Stax, the intense creative and political climate of Memphis in the 60′s, and how he happened to come to New Orleans to get a new sound.
