Brendan McLeod

What I’m Doing - New Orleans Weekend

A couple of weeks ago, I was on my way to a Saturday evening get-together when I happened to hear a captivating young singer on the radio. Her name was Sarah Jarosz, a folk/bluegrass singer, songwriter, and “multi-instrumentalist.” She was playing live for a radio show before going to a festival in Austin that same evening. Seeing as I already had plans for that Saturday, I wasn’t able to hear her that same day, but I resolved to see if she had any more tour dates.

Sure enough, it turned out she had a May 5 show at the New Orleans. New Orleans was a bit of a drive, but I didn’t have any other plans, and I was eager for an adventure. Plus, none of her other tour dates for the rest of the year would bring her anywhere close to my part of the country. I decided to make a weekend of it!

The drive is a long one - a 9-hour trip going or coming, and a total of 1050 miles from my driveway to the street where my hotel was, and back. It gave me another chance to take in the expanses of East Texas and Louisiana, although cruising through Houston is an experience that I could probably could’ve missed.

I stayed at the Renaissance Arts Hotel New Orleans, directly adjacent to the French Quarter. Considering how close it was to my destinations (10 minutes to the venue, and 5 minutes the other direction to a restaurant I intended to visit), it was well worth splurging for a night’s stay. The hotel itself was quite nice - I think that the experiences of having stayed in $30/night hotels and business-trip accommodations has given me a keen sense of what’s most appreciable about hotel rooms. A comfortable bed, a nice bathroom, a working set of curtains, and thick walls - and this room had them.

I valet’d my car, got changed, and headed to Cochon Butcher - a mere five minutes’ walk down the same road that my hotel was on. I had visited its sibling-restaraunt, Cochon, during my trip to Austin a month ago on recommendation from a New Orleans native. Cochon was terrific, serving incredible Louisiana Cajun-style food in a classy atmosphere. Butcher is more informal, with high tops, a bar, and a meat shop all built into a snug little hole in the wall. It was no less sumptuous than its more formal neighbor. I had a Cochon Muffaletta sandwich with assorted meats alongside homemade potato chips. Sadly, the sandwich didn’t survive its life on the plate long enough to get a picture. I did snap a shot of my “Pink Moustache,” a sweet cocktail including limeade, Creole Shrubb liqueur, strawberries, black pepper, and pisco (a grape brandy - I had to look it up.)

Following dinner, I immediately trotted down to the French Quarter, which was busier than normal (or so I’m told) because it was Jazz Fest weekend. The House of Blues’ taproom was a small venue for a small show, and it was Standing Room Only by the time Miss Jarosz and her accompanying bandmates - cellist Nathaniel Smith and fiddler Alex Hargreaves, both of whom I believe attend school in Boston with Sarah J. Both gentlemen were masters of their craft, but Sarah had full command of the stage. She was right at home behind the microphone, whether strumming an acoustic guitar, banjo, or - mandolin? I think it was a mandolin.

They performed two sets, both including hits from both of Sarah’s two albums (which I’d heard before, but picked up while I was there). Some of the best included “Run Away,” “Annabelle Lee,” inspired by the works of Poe, a cover of Dylan’s “Ring Them Bells,” and a surprise encore covering - believe it or not, “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley. None of those links are video of the performance that I attended, but a couple feature her bandmates from the Orleans show.

I hoped to shake her hand and thank her for such a terrific performance, but didn’t have the chance. It was late, and I had more driving to do in the opposite direction the next day, so I called it a night.

The next morning was a lazy one. Check out wasn’t until noon, giving me time to simply laze around at the rooftop pool (where I snapped the accompanying picture) as well as the steam room (which was okay, but not terrific, although it might have been because I was in a rush.) After wrapping up my business at the front desk, I picked up a pork belly and cucumber sandwich to go at the Butcher and headed down the road, with my newly purchased CDs ready and waiting in the stereo.

It was a long ways to go for a relatively small amount of fun, but I think it was the first of many such impromptu adventures to come.