Monday, August 19, 2013

GratisNOLA

Gratis NOLA is on a little hiatus right now. Keep loving New Orleans and loving life. I'll be back in a bit.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Happy Tuesday with Fresh Food, Cocktails on the Avenue, Great Music at Chickie's and More!

Happy Tuesday!

Farmer's Market and Fresh Food!
You can get your day started off right with a trip to the Farmer's Market!  Visit the Crescent City's Farmer's Market at University Square (200 Broadway) from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm for the freshest veggies, fruits and seafood.This month the Market welcomes Purloo to the Green Plate Special. Look forward to Creole tomato, goat cheese, and roasted vegetable quiche, arugula and cantaloupe salad with pickled watermelon rind, and an allspice vinaigrette, grilled summer corn with lime, cojita cheese & chiles, and refreshing watermelon and basil sodas.
*You can find Purloo this Friday night at the Creole Gardens Guest House and Inn (1415 Prytania) for an Alabama inspired dinner. For more details, click here - Yum!

Eat local and find more fresh veggies at the Hollygrove Market.   You can go by their location at 8301 Olive Street Monday  thru Friday 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sundays 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  They also have home delivery if you can't make it to the Market - Click here to find out how - http://www.hollygrovemarket.com/content/5669

In the "Box"!

-Organic Pecans (Inglewood Farms, Alexandria, LA)
-All-Natural Shiitake Mushrooms (MSNP, New Hebron, MS)
-Peaches (Cherry Creek Orchards, Pontotoc, MS)
-Apples (Cherry Creek Orchards, Ponotoc, MS)
-Red Potatoes (Frank Fekete Farms, Hungarian Settlement, LA)
-Okra (Frank Fekete Farms, Hungarian Settlement, LA)
-Squash Combo (Covey Rise Farms, Husser, LA)
-Green Bell Peppers (Covey Rise Farms, Husser, LA)
-Arugula (Covey Rise Farms, Husser, LA)
-All-Natural Brown Jasmine Rice (Cajun Grain, Kinder, LA)

Come celebrate with Pearl Wine Bar (3700 Orleans) with an Ice Cream Social!  Get  FREE ice cream shooters topped with rum sauce and cherry bombs from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m. today, and visit Pearl Wine Co. for an amazing selection of your favorite vino!

Good Music Tonight!

Enjoy some fancy cocktails on the Avenue at the The Columns (3811 St. Charles Ave.) at 8:00 p.m. tonight!  Relax on this lovely Tuesday evening and enjoy the music of - The New Orleans Guitar Quartet (with Cranston Clements, Phil DeGruy, John Rankin, and Jimmy Robinson)!

Get your self to Mid-City and to Chickie Wah Wah (2828 Canal St.) for some funkified New Orleans tunes from Jon Cleary tonight at 8:00 p.m. plus the Irish Blues Band - Crow Black Chicken at 10:30 p.m. - they're described as the Irish ZZ Top - Don't miss out!

There's some fun on Frenchmen over at d.b.a. (618 Frenchmen) with the The Treme Brass Band at 10:00 pm - there's a $5 cover for the show - but you know you don't want to miss it!

Right down the street the Spotted Cat (623 Frenchmen) has a triple header with no cover - Andy Forest at 4:00 pm, Po'Boy Carmichael at 6:00 pm, and top off the evening with the Smokin' Time Jazz Club at 10:00 pm!

Top off the evewing over at the Maple Leaf Bar on Oak Street...with the REBIRTH Brass Band - they come on around 10:30ish - there's a cover, but you'll be glad you paid and stayed up late!! 

Have a wonderful Tuesday and for more fun shows and events going on click on the WWOZ Livewire - http://www.wwoz.org/new-orleans-community/music-calendar!



www.gratisnola.com

Monday, August 5, 2013

Happy Monday with The Honeypots, Irish Fun and Music All Around Town!

Happy Monday!

Reality Show Time!

The Honeypots!
Come out and show your support for New Orleans' own - The Honeypots as they perform at 7:00 p.m. tonight at The Howlin' Wolf (907 S. Peters) as part of a band competition where the lovely ladies are in the running for $15,000 with bands from all over the country. The event is being filmed for reality series too. Please come out to support and show them some love NOLA love!

Monday Night Music!

If you're looking for some great Irish food and tunes - head on over to The Irish House (1432 St. Charles Ave.).  They've got an amazing happy hour from 3:00 to 6:00 pm and stay on for the Comhaltas Irish Music Session at 7:00 p.m. - All are welcome to sit in and play, dance, sing or just enjoy!
Go get your happy hour on at the Circle Bar (1032 St. Charles Ave.) with some potent drinks and fun music from Missy Meatlocker!!

There's good times and great music over in Mid-City at Chickie Wah Wah (2828 Canal). Come out for an evening with Alexis & the Samurai  at 8:00 pm!

Lots of fun around Frenchmen Street!

There's some great music over at d.b.a. (618 Frenchmen) - Come hear the Shannon Powell Quarter for their Monday night gig through the month of August.  The band kicks up at 10:00 pm!

Be sure to make a stop by the Spotted Cat (623 Frenchmen) early for this great line-up of music...Sarah McCoy and the Oopsie Daisies at 4:00 pm, Dominick Grillo and The Frenchmen Street All Stars at 6:00 pm and be sure to stay on for the KJazz Vipers at 10:00 pm!

Charmaine
And pass by Snug Harbor (626 Frenchmen) for one of the longest running performers in NOLA - It's Monday night with the Charmaine Neville Band at 8:00 pm - Yes, there's a cover, but Charmaine is worth every penny!  While you're there get a Monsoon (watch out their dangerous) and one of the best burgers in town!

Jon Cleary
To top off you're evening....you gotta go Uptown and over to the Maple Leaf (8316 Oak) for the funky tunes of Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentleman at 10:00 pm!

Have a great one...and for more musical fun check out WWOZ Livewire - http://www.wwoz.org/new-orleans-community/music-calendar...until tomorrow!



www.gratisnola.com

Friday, August 2, 2013

Hooray for the Weekend with a Speakeasy, Seafood Cook-Off, White Linen, Satchmo Fest and a Rouses Block Party!

Hooray for Friday!!

Friday Fun!

FRIDAY NIGHTS AT NOMA: SPEAKEASY - Shhh... The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) located at One Collins C. Diboll Circle in beautiful City Park is turning into a speakeasy for the night! Join the fun from 5 p.m. to midnight as NOMA celebrates the last Friday of the exhibition Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World's Fairs, 1851-1939. Dress in your 1920's best and join us for the prohibition-era inspired programming for the whole family to enjoy!
Here's a sample of the events scheduled:


  • 5-8 p.m.: Music by Jayna Morgan & the Sazerac Sunshine Jazz Band
  • 5-11 p.m.: Art Activity
  • 5:30 p.m.: Gallery Talk with Jason T. Busch, co-curator, Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at World's Fairs, 1851-1939
  • 6 p.m.: "Art You Can Eat" with Chef Haley Bittermann: "Southern Spin on English Pasties"
  • 7 p.m.: Lecture with Don Vappie, "Over The Waves:The Influence of Latin Music on Early Jazz"
  • 7:30 p.m.: Gallery Talk with Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs, Lisa Rotondo McCord, Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts of the World's Fairs, 1851-1939
  • 8 p.m.: NOLA Fashion Council Announces "1920s Best Dressed" Winners
  • 8-10 p.m.: Baker Maid will be serving samples of their goods
  • 8:30-11:30 p.m.: Music by Gal Holiday & the Honky Tonk Revue
  • 8:30 p.m.: Lecture with cocktail historian, Elizabeth Pearce: "History in a Glass: The Story of New Orleans in the Sazerac"
  • 9 p.m.: Comedy Tour with The New Movement
  • 9:30 p.m.: Film: CHICAGO
  • 11 p.m.: Comedy Tour with The New Movement
Saturday Fun!

Looking for some air conditioned fun?  Then get yourself over to the New Orleans Convention Center in Hall J for the Great American Seafood Cook-Off!!  The cooking begins at 11:00 am and goes on all day and winners will be announced at 4:30 pm!  Guests of the cook-off will enjoy some seafood sampling, complimentary water, snacks from sponsors.  Tickets are only $5 in advance at Whole Food locations and $10 at the door - so come celebrate with some great seafood!  For more info click on the above link.

And of course Saturday night is the night for breaking out your fanciest white linen suit or dress for Whitney White Linen night.  Cruise up and down Julia Street from 6:00 to 9:00 pm...and there's an art viewing and after party at the CAC (900 Camp St.) from 6:00 to 11:00 pm admission is $10 and free for CAC members - DJ Matty will be spinning some funky records, and they'll be food available from Warehouse District favorites.  Click here for all the White Linen night fun and all the amazing art and music going on this evening.

Weekend Events!

Satchmo SummerFest is here! This weekend festival dedicated to the memory of Louis Armstrong presents an extensive roster of performances by contemporary New Orleans musicians from many genres, paying homage to the musical and cultural legend. Bands coming to play read like a who's who of traditional and contermporary jazz, brass bands and children's programming. They include Leroy Jones, Jeremy Davenport, Connie Jones' Crescent City Jazz Band, Yoshio Toyama and the Dixie Saints, The Palmetto Bug Stompers, Shamarr Allen, Rebirth Brass Band, Tim Laughlin, Soul Rebels, Treme Brass Band, Leah Chase, James Andrews, Lars Edegran's New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra, New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park programming for kids, and more.
Seminars and tasty food, too. The two main stages are located at the Old US Mint, 400 Esplanade Avenue.
**For all the weekend fun - click here - Satchmo!



It's a Block Party at Rouses on Carrollton - And get your Mango Freeze at Rouses Starting August 3rd! New Orleans’ local big-time grocery chain, Rouses, will be 'OZ-ifying three of their stores, starting with the Mid-City location at 400 N. Carrollton. The cafĂ© area will be transformed with WWOZ banners and posters, and best of all, the real-deal authentic WWOZ Mango Freeze (like you get at Jazz Fest) will be served up daily.

And the music will be happening all weekend at Rouses!
*Friday - New Wave Brass Band from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
*Saturday - Red Wolf Brass Band from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and Treme Brass Band & Dancing Man 504 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
*Sunday - Topsy Chapman & Solid Harmony 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Alrighty, well that should keep you busy this weekend...If you're looking for more fun stuff to do...check out the WWOZ Livewire -  http://www.wwoz.org/new-orleans-community/music-calendar and tune in today (Friday!) from 11-2 pm for the Louisiana Music Party with my hubby Bill deTurk!!



www.gratisnola.com

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Happy Thursday with a Garden Concert, Gal Holiday at the "O" and Shaggy Fest!

Happy Thursday!

Julio and Cesar
It's a great night to hang out at City Park and enjoy Julio and Cesar for the Twilight Garden Concert Series! Originally from Guatemala, Julio and Cesar Herrera have been in New Orleans for over 30 years.  They describe their music as constantly evolving, attributing this, in part, to their exposure from an early age to many cultures. The gates open up at 5:00 pm and the performance starts at 6:00 pm in the City Park Botanical Garden Pavilion of the Two Sisters...There is an admission charge, but hey, it's helping the Park out...$10 for adults and $3 for children.

Gal Holiday
Need a little art, culture and music? You gotta go to the show at the Ogden Southern Museum of Art (925 Camp St.) - better known as Ogden after Hours. Tonight the Ogden has Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Review. Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue is a country swing band from New Orleans that incorporates original material with the best of country, rockabilly and western swing classics. Singer, Vanessa Newman's vocal range glides seamlessly from a dreamy Patsy Cline to a gritty, hard-edged Johnny Cash, with a twang of country reverence for Merle Haggard and Bob Wills.
*Be sure to head on over to the bar for this month's signature drink - Summer Cooler -- A rejuvenating blend of vodka, apricot nectar, basil-infused simple syrup, lemon juice and soda water.. And remember with your Ogden membership all of these excellent concerts are FREE!

And you can't forget it's SHAGGY'S BIRTHDAY BASH at d.b.a. on Frenchmen Street tonight at 9:00...Come celebrate with Shaggy and friends - Jon Cleary, Walter Wolfman Washington, Ivan Neville, Nikki Glaspie, John Gros, John Fohl, Billy Iuso, Casandra Faulconer, Corey Henry, Joe Lawlor, Jermal Watson, Colin Lake, West Bank Mike Doussan, Pete Murano, The UPSTARTS, Jimmy Carpenter, Irene Sage, Andrew Block and many more!!!




For more fun stuff to do and more music...check out the WWOZ Livewire - http://www.wwoz.org/new-orleans-community/music-calendar!


www.gratisnola.com