Men, suck in your gut and comb your sideburns: The lovely SuperDee is here. Our favorite female rock writer brought NOLA’s Rotary Downs to town last weekend, and she wants you to set your radio dial so you can hear them this weekend.
The city is built
To music, therefore never built at all,
And therefore built forever.
~Alfred Lord Tennyson
Can a rock ‘n roll band save a sunken city? Hurricane Katrina and her aftermath seized many souls from the beloved city of New Orleans. Its denizens have been spread all over the country, if they survived the storm.
Those who stayed behind or returned home after mandatory evacuation were faced with the daunting task of rebuilding a city below sea level. They not only have to construct physical homes and infrastructure, but they have to rejuvenate the unique spirit of this place that so many hold close to their hearts.
We all know how powerful music can be in its ability to affect social change and expedite healing. The history of New Orleans is so deeply rooted in its music that it only makes sense the rebuilding would start with the artists. Habitat for Humanity acknowledges this with its Musicians’ Village project to build houses for displaced musicians: Bring the music back, bring New Orleans back.
But it’s not only the sound of brass and blues that are bubbling back up in this aftermath. An unlikely sound from the Crescent City is emerging to do its part to revitalize the city’s music scene — indie rock. Rotary Downs is a band that is rising to this challenge. Read on about the band that just turned New York heads…
