Music for the Soul // Soul Project NOLA
by Ana Pizzolio, Features Editor New Orleans music is one of the jewels of the south. Inspired by the city’s rich cultural background, Soul Project NOLA has gathered great crowds everywhere they go. The group composed by six musicians has achieved its recognition playing a range of gigs, FROM THE STREETS OF NEW ORLEANS TO THE BIG STAGES OF MUSIC FESTIVALS. “Festivals are all about the interaction with people. It is the energy of New Orleans that drives the place,” key player Jeremy Habegger says. The band songs illustrate the rhythms of New Orleans in a mix of jazz, blues, soul, funk and gospel. “Actually, the gospel today itself has all of those elements. It has the blues. It has the funk. Very much like New Orleans that is not only a blues town,” Habegger explains. They established themselves in New Orleans’s competitive music scene through their songs, and have captivated a fan base with their soulful music. “People down here are truly interested on what kind of music statements you are making,” bass player Scott Jackson says. “We got a supportive crowd and an environment that is conducive to grow and produce new [music].” Soul Project is one of the regular bands to play at Café Negril on Frenchmen Street every Thursday night. “We play up and down Frenchmen street,” Habegger explains. “And we are pretty busy every weekend since we are the folk band of the street.” Soul Project’s festival appearances include the French Quarter Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and Jazz In the Park at Armstrong Park. “It is a very different thing doing music festival than to do a stage gig,” Saxophone Player Phil Morin says. “To play festivals in your home town is really nice, to go up there and create music without worrying about working the crowd right to get tips.” Other members of the band not featured in this story are guitarist and lead vocals Jon Cristian Duque, drummer Colin Davis and saxophone player David Ludman. It doesn’t have to be festival season to catch good South Louisiana music, just head to Frenchmen Street and have some fun.
Louisiana Artist Finds Inspiration in the Beauties of the South
by Ana Pizzolio, Features Editor THE RICH WILDLIFE AND UNIQUE SCENERY OF THE SOUTHERN COAST is the main theme in the paintings of Kelly Pierre, an artist native to Houma, Louisiana. Pierre is a 44-year-old artist who saw opportunity in Louisiana’s themed art to launch his career in fine arts painting. He showcased his paintings at the Voice of the Wetlands Festival, where he could be found at a vendor tent working on one his of paintings throughout the night. “The majority of my painting is about coastal wildlife and landscape of the south. This is my inspiration because I grew up in the Gulf of Mexico,” Pierre says. Coming from a family of shrimpers, Pierre started painting the scenes he saw along the gulf of Mexico since he was a child. His career as an artist, however, came much later in life. The artist explains he began to make a living out of his art after he found out about airbrushing. “At that time, becoming a full time painter was just a dream, but I continued working hard until I could afford to make the decision and take the risk going into fine art painting.” Pierre made a promise that he would be prepared to go into the fine arts business if the Saints won the Super Bowl in 2010. He believe the team would win and to help launch his career as an artist he painted a fleur de lis he called “The Black and Gold Dream.” “It was a dream to win the Super Bowl and what I am doing now was a dream to live out my artist career,” Pierre says. “I painted four fleur de lis and put them in an art gallery in New Orleans and after the Saints won I had 130 orders.” Nowadays, Pierre’s art studio is located in Destin Florida. He says that the he has added beach sceneries to his repertoire, but his paintings continue to be heavily influenced by the beauties of the south. He adds that he is a strong supporter of the efforts for the preservation of the wetlands. “I was born and raised in South Louisiana and coastal erosion is a big problem here. There is so much of wildlife and sealife that is born right there, so, as a fishermen, it is hard to see the whole culture disappearing,” Pierre explains. “So we do what we can to educate ourselves and other people to try to protect the barrier islands we have left.”
Music Pulls the Strings // A Vendor’s Booth
by Ana Pizzolio, Features Editor Music in Louisiana moves more than the tourism industry in the state – it is also the inspiration behind STRING THEORY: GUITAR STRING JEWELRY COMPANY. Amanda Wells is Houma native who created the line of designer jewelry. String Theory’s jewelry are one of a kind designer pieces handmade in Louisiana from guitar strings. Besides the exclusivity of each piece, Louisianians’ love for music made the company a instantaneous success. “Everybody loves music and guitar strings definitely pull at the heartstrings of people,” Wells says. String Theory is a recurrent vendor at the Voice of the Wetlands Festival. Their booth is also a guaranteed presence on several other festivals in the region. Designer pieces from the Louisiana Blues Collection jewelry, made with guitar strings from VOW founder and musician Tad Benoit, raised $700 for the preservation of the wetlands at the festival’s live auction. Wells, who is a former nurse, is married to a local musician Bob Wells and is mother to three musical talented daughters. Before her music-related jewelry line, she was the only one in her family who had no strings with music. Her designer jewelry line reflects a combination of her passion for music, talents and interests. “I decided I need to do something creative,” Wells says. “I was the only one that wasn’t musical, so I just went in the back door of music.” The idea of crafting string jewelry came on a saturday afternoon. Wells found one of her husband’s spare guitar string laying around in her house and, instead of putting it aside in a storage box, she decided to give the strings a new purpose. A couple of strings, some crystals and wire was all she needed to create what came to be the first piece of her jewelry company. After a very positive feedback from her daughters, Wells published a picture of the bracelet on social media. For her surprise, the jewelry was hit and she had dozens of people offering to purchase the piece on the first day. “It is beautiful jewelry that just happens to be made out of guitar strings,” Wells adds. The next step was to create more pieces and put it to the test at Wells’ sister’s gift shop. The jewelry sold quickly and attracted the interest of sales representatives. After that point, the guitar string jewelry rapidly grew from a hobby to a successful entrepreneurship. Currently, Wells’ jewelry is sold in more than 600 stores across the country. With the increasing demand for the handmade pieces, Wells’ middle daughter Hilary decided to join her mom in the pursue of the business venture. The mother-daughter duo are responsible for the design, creation and marketing of all the jewelry. Hillary, who graduated in Mass Communication from Nicholls State University, is also the Public Relations person for the company.