Episode 306

April 24, 2025

01:13:22

TMP306 JOE DARENSBOURG GOES WAY BACK

Hosted by

Manny Chevrolet René Coman
TMP306 JOE DARENSBOURG GOES WAY BACK
Troubled Men Podcast
TMP306 JOE DARENSBOURG GOES WAY BACK

Apr 24 2025 | 01:13:22

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Show Notes

The singer and musician with Les Cenelles Creole Ensemble, early music group Musica da Camera, and rock band Shot Down in Equador Jr. has recently completed the "Musique(s)!” project (w/ Louis Michot, Leyla McCalla, Sweet Crude, and Sunpie Barnes) for the American Folklife Center resulting in an album, book, film, and exhibition documenting French and Creole music in Louisiana. An antique bookbinder by trade and an esoterica fan by inclination, Joe has a deep appreciation for history and connecting the dots. Tonight he puts himself in a bind with the Troubled Men.
 
Topics include French Quarter Fest, Greg Schatz, a shooting, a Passover Seder, matza, "Chad Gadya," Ladino, Gardenia Moon's "Dead Flowers," a death sentence, political violence, a motorcycle accident, Boston, Treme, Riverbend, Spectrum, Hurricane Betsy, the Fertel family, NOCCA, the Grosses, St. Augustine H. S., a Kinko's job, Bill Davis, Kelly Keller, Nicky Sanzenbach, Peter Strauss, Mary Tyler Moore, Chuck Gwartney, ethnomusicology, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Code Noir, Kouri Vini, Corey Ledet, Leidenheimer Bakery, Milton Scheuermann, George Reinecke, Melinda Pendelton, Karen Barenco, Berlin Blixa Bargeld, and much more. 

Intro music: "Just Keeps Raining" by Styler/Coman

Break Music: "Teeth" by Shot Down in Equador Jr.

Outro Music: "Kaneis Edo Den Tragouda" by Panorama Jazz Band feat. Joe Darensbourg

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Chapters

  • (00:00:16) - Troubled Men
  • (00:02:05) - How Does the French Court Festival Make Money?
  • (00:03:59) - Gun Violence at Festivals
  • (00:06:31) - When You Don't Have Any Friends
  • (00:07:24) - How Do You Eat Passover?
  • (00:09:15) - Passover
  • (00:10:49) - Gardenia Moon's New Album
  • (00:11:54) - Trump rips Elon Musk and his Tesla
  • (00:13:00) - The Great American Question
  • (00:13:28) - Gardenia Moon's Record "Dead Flowers"
  • (00:15:32) - Los Tremolo Kings
  • (00:16:36) - Joe Daredevil on Riding A Motorcycle
  • (00:19:14) - Meet Les Lel and the Lesson
  • (00:20:07) - Bookbinder Joe Darensberg
  • (00:24:14) - Books for Students: Are they charging more?
  • (00:25:28) - Croatian kid on Hurricane Katrina and the Spectrum program
  • (00:28:39) - How Ruth Foretelled Her Son
  • (00:29:06) - Marcellus on Playing Music in High School
  • (00:32:49) - How Kinko's Made Me Sing
  • (00:36:36) - Troubled Men: Chuck Courtney on the Show
  • (00:40:20) - Johnny J on Playing With Old
  • (00:42:51) - The Troubled Men Podcast: Money Needed
  • (00:44:29) - Joe Darensberg on Playing in New Orleans
  • (00:49:33) - What is Francophone New Orleans?
  • (00:51:57) - Cajun French on Corey Vinnie's Album
  • (00:55:58) - Do You Like Subtitles in Movies?
  • (00:58:35) - Les Enel
  • (01:01:20) - The Lost New Orleans German Creoles
  • (01:04:48) - Biker Talk
  • (01:07:39) - What's On the Other Side of the Wailing Wall?
  • (01:09:02) - Trouble Man: Never Stop Fighting
View Full Transcript

Episode Transcript

[00:00:16] Speaker A: Greetings, troubled listeners. Welcome back to the Troubled Men podcast. [00:00:21] Speaker B: All right. [00:00:21] Speaker A: I am Renee Coleman, sitting once again in Snake and Jake's Christmas Club lounge, deep in the heart of the Clempire with my co host, the original troubled man for troubled times and future mayor of New Orleans, Mr. Manny Chevrolet. Welcome, Manny. [00:00:37] Speaker B: Hey, how are you? What's going on here? Oh man, this is craft work playing. [00:00:42] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You just saw craft work. [00:00:44] Speaker B: Fabulous. One of the greatest bands ever in the history of music. [00:00:48] Speaker A: Sorry I didn't get to see that. [00:00:50] Speaker B: Bands. Yeah, my top five. [00:00:52] Speaker A: Okay. Nice, nice, nice. Running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Manny. It's, you know, we had got through French Quarter Festival with, with French Quarter with no, no snags, you know. [00:01:07] Speaker B: Now where is that? The French Quarter Festival? Where do they have that? [00:01:11] Speaker A: You know, somewhere in town here. [00:01:13] Speaker B: I hear there was lots of murder this year. [00:01:15] Speaker A: Well, well, not, not on any stages that I was on. But, but it is besides festival season. It does seem to be. [00:01:22] Speaker B: You did die on stage a couple of times. [00:01:24] Speaker A: No, no, that's the way that went. No. Hit all my marks, set all my lines. It all came off great. Now shout out to Greg Schatz, the guy who books all the acts and coordinates all that and hires all these people and his fantastic staff and crews. Couldn't have been better. Everyone was so helpful and friendly and competent and really couldn't, couldn't have made all those, those sets that I played without, without all those people chipping in. So, so shout out to the great Greg Schatz and everybody over there. [00:02:05] Speaker B: How does that festival make money if it's free? [00:02:08] Speaker A: Well, it's. So it's has a lot of corporate sponsorship. So each, each band, how are they. [00:02:15] Speaker B: Making money, the corporate sponsors? [00:02:17] Speaker A: Well, it's, it's a form of advertisement. So you know, they, they, it's a way to get their name out there. Like my friend John Redmond, who I think you've met before. You know, Jeff Traffinger's brother in law, he's an attorney and he sponsored several stages. Different people on different stages. And so you go around and you know your name is there on the poster saying, you know, sponsored by Redmond Law. [00:02:42] Speaker B: Do they give out their card there? [00:02:43] Speaker A: Well then as a sponsor you get to get up and introduce the band in front of the crowd. And no, you're not passing out your cards, but I don't know, maybe there's some signage somewhere that identifies the sponsors, but you know, it's. And then they also have, they Sell rights to the vendors there. You know, people that. That have restaurants or catering businesses or, you know, set up a bar. And so they have to pay money to. To have access to that. So they generate money like that, and they get a cut of all that revenue. The French Court Festival, I'm saying, so that subsidizes all the. The sound crews, the. All the backline equipment. [00:03:24] Speaker B: They must charge them a lot then, because you've got to get paid, too, right? [00:03:27] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, sure, sure. Musicians have to get paid. We can't. Can't pay the only ones. The only ones not making money. It's a great opportunity for, you know, people that might not normally go to see bands or see your band in particular, to stroll by and go, oh, look, somebody I never saw before. And I love this group, you know, and so it's. It's a great showcase. That's the word I was looking. [00:03:52] Speaker B: I don't know, Whatever. [00:03:53] Speaker A: Right, right, right, right. But. But you're right, Manny. It's. It's at the end there. Well, at the same time this weekend, they had Strawberry Festival down in Ponchatoula. They had two different shootings associated with Ponchatoula. I mean, with the Strawberry Festival. And then they had. [00:04:10] Speaker B: Now Strawberry. [00:04:12] Speaker A: Well, I guess a couple of them. A couple of bad strawberries. [00:04:15] Speaker B: But I heard the city said this was their line after the shooting at the French Quarter Fest. [00:04:21] Speaker A: Well, it wasn't at the French Quarter Festival. It was in the French Quarter after the French Quarter Festival. [00:04:26] Speaker B: How come the city defended itself, saying, and this is the stupidest thing I've ever heard, we do. We cannot tolerate shootings at festivals. Well, you shouldn't tolerate any shootings. [00:04:36] Speaker A: Sure. And again, it was not at a festival. It was, you know, the same day of the festival in the French Quarter, but not in front of a stage or not anywhere where they had a stage. Well, you know, they have. They have all the streets blocked off or certain streets blocked off in the French Quarter. So, you know, you can't. You can't drive a car down there. You can still carry a gun around. [00:04:59] Speaker B: Yeah, you can still carry. [00:05:00] Speaker A: Shoot it off at will, you know. Well, we're always. We're always. [00:05:04] Speaker B: They want the super bowl security for every festival now, you know, you're not going to stop someone who wants to kill. [00:05:11] Speaker A: No, no, no, no, no. It's. And that. [00:05:14] Speaker B: That's not somebody killing in the name of religion. [00:05:16] Speaker A: That's not somebody. No, that's. That's. That's just some guys, I think had a Beef from the neighborhood or something, you know, that was people that knew each other or some kind of argument. I don't know. That was. Not again, not festival. [00:05:28] Speaker B: Because you're a gun owner, right? [00:05:30] Speaker A: I am a gun owner. [00:05:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:05:31] Speaker A: But I don't ever take it out and. And start shooting it off willy nilly. [00:05:36] Speaker B: Oh, okay. [00:05:37] Speaker A: You know, I. I have them for really peace of mind, you know, that's what it comes down to. It's that if you're in your house. [00:05:45] Speaker B: And you hear your wife piss you off just enough. [00:05:48] Speaker A: Well. Or if I piss her off just enough. [00:05:50] Speaker B: Oh, she has the key to the gun, too. [00:05:53] Speaker A: Key? [00:05:54] Speaker B: Combination lock. Or you just keep it under the pillow. [00:05:57] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got to work too hard to shoot is no good, man. You know, you gotta. And like, these people at that say, oh, well, you know, I thought the gun was unloaded, so it was safe to point it at somebody and pull a trigger. Don't ever think a gun is unloaded. At my house, I only have loaded guns. The unloaded guns don't do you any good at all, you know, it's like. That's why when I. Anytime I see somebody holding the gun, they're pointing at somebody. It's like, don't do that, man. That's a bad habit to get into. I mean, unless you mean to shoot somebody. Anyway. Anyway, how was your week? Did you get out to any French Quarter festival? [00:06:36] Speaker B: Hell, no, I'm not going there. [00:06:38] Speaker A: Sure, sure. I didn't expect to see you, but saw lots of our mutual friends down there. [00:06:43] Speaker B: I don't have any friends. How can they be mutual? [00:06:46] Speaker A: All right, well, people that we both know. I should say, okay, people that know. [00:06:49] Speaker B: You, because more and more people want to be my friend. It's like, I don't want to be. [00:06:54] Speaker A: Oh, I know what you mean. Yeah. You don't have time for the friends. You actually have to maintain those relationships. [00:07:00] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't have time for my friends. You know, I could barely do this one hour a week. Right, right, right. So, yeah, I don't. I don't need it. Some people want to be my friend. It's like, I. I don't need you. I don't need. I don't. [00:07:12] Speaker A: Well, and they don't know you that well yet, so. [00:07:15] Speaker B: Yeah, well, they learn fast. [00:07:17] Speaker A: Right. [00:07:18] Speaker B: Well, you know, perhaps they do, you know, but anyway, what else is going on? [00:07:23] Speaker A: What else is going on? So then the last thing that I did is on. Well, we had Passover started over the weekend, so we played my. My traditional second Seder. Musical Seder at my synagogue. [00:07:37] Speaker B: Now what a seder? [00:07:38] Speaker A: Well, seder is like the, the meal that starts the, the Passover, the first two days of Passover. You'll have. [00:07:45] Speaker B: Do you have kreplak soup? [00:07:46] Speaker A: No. No. You have matzo ball soup. [00:07:49] Speaker B: I like creplak soup. [00:07:50] Speaker A: I don't know what that is. [00:07:51] Speaker B: It's. It's at Cantor's Deli. [00:07:53] Speaker A: Okay. [00:07:54] Speaker B: I've had it for years when I growing up in la. [00:07:57] Speaker A: No, I believe you. I just don't know. It's not. Not something I've. [00:08:00] Speaker B: I've had creplak soup. Okay, you don't have that, but you have matzo ball. [00:08:04] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, it's like a ritual meal where you tell the story, retell the story of the exodus from Egypt, you know, Moses. Now what are those people? Crackers that they have matzah. [00:08:16] Speaker B: Matzah crackers? [00:08:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:08:17] Speaker B: So bland. [00:08:18] Speaker A: Well, yeah, they, I mean you have. [00:08:20] Speaker B: To put a lot of on them to make them taste good. [00:08:22] Speaker A: Well, you know, we refer to that as the bread of affliction. It's the bread of slavery. You know, it's the. You didn't have time to let it rise and it's, it's not very tasty. Well. [00:08:33] Speaker B: Unless you put a lot of stuff on it. [00:08:35] Speaker A: Well, you know, you the. [00:08:36] Speaker B: That now that's why my friends used to bring it. My roommate, I had a roommate who was Jewish and he was go visit his family and come home with a lot of that. That cracker, that matzah. And he put a lot of cafelta fish on it. [00:08:48] Speaker A: Sure. [00:08:49] Speaker B: Butter and jam. [00:08:50] Speaker A: Sure. [00:08:51] Speaker B: And. [00:08:52] Speaker A: Well, I was bringing peanut butter and jelly on matzah sandwich to French Quarter Fest to eat on Sunday there, which I refer to as my. [00:09:02] Speaker B: It falls apart very fast. [00:09:04] Speaker A: I remember it falls apart on my line. Well, it does. It's. It's. It's a cracker, so it does crumble. But you know, if you have a bunch of peanut butter and jelly that kind of holds it together, you know. Anyway, we're a few days in here. Got a, it's a eight day stretch here, so we're kind of right in the middle of it, so. Yes. [00:09:25] Speaker B: So do you have to fast? [00:09:26] Speaker A: No, no, there's no fasting involved with Passover. [00:09:29] Speaker B: Now when do you fast? [00:09:30] Speaker A: Well, there's several fast days. [00:09:32] Speaker B: But like before a colonoscopy you have to. [00:09:35] Speaker A: Right, right, right, right, right. [00:09:36] Speaker B: But, but, but you know, I got my colonoscopy just recently and. [00:09:42] Speaker A: Not your first one. [00:09:43] Speaker B: No. And they said we'll see you in 10 years. I said, fuck that. You're not gonna see me in 10 years. I'm done. [00:09:51] Speaker A: Yeah, you know, you think that's your last colonoscopy? Just gonna play out this hand. [00:09:57] Speaker B: Yeah, we're not going up there again. [00:10:01] Speaker A: Oh, well, you know. [00:10:02] Speaker B: You know, unless you're a hooker. [00:10:05] Speaker A: Okay. [00:10:05] Speaker B: You know. You ever been with a hooker? Yeah, you can talk in the. [00:10:23] Speaker A: All right, all right. [00:10:24] Speaker C: I can sing it in Spanish, Ladino, Hebrew. [00:10:28] Speaker B: And did you sing it at French Quarter Fest? [00:10:32] Speaker C: No, no. Oh, no, no, no, no. [00:10:34] Speaker A: Medina is a very esoteric. It's like the. [00:10:37] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a Kabbalah language. It's. [00:10:39] Speaker A: Well, it's like the Spanish version of Yiddish, basically. So, anyway, spoken by the. [00:10:46] Speaker C: To all our Seder friends. [00:10:48] Speaker A: Yes. Shout out to the nation. [00:10:49] Speaker B: All right, well, what else is going on? [00:10:51] Speaker A: What else is going on? Well, let's see. You know our woman that we've mentioned before on the show, I think she first showed up as a Tic Tac girl, but actual name, Gardenia Moon. [00:11:03] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:11:03] Speaker A: Turns out she's a terrific songwriter and recording artist, and she really. I played on a couple of songs of this thing that former guest Andre Boy Warren produced at Tom Stearns Blue Velvet Studio, and it just came out. And, man, Gardenia Moon's a legit artist, man. She's. She's got a point of view. She's got a lovely voice. She's a good songwriter. And Andre did a great job on the. On the production. [00:11:30] Speaker B: Did you buy her new album? [00:11:32] Speaker A: Well, I. I mean, I heard it. I played on it. That's what I'm saying. [00:11:37] Speaker B: A new record out. [00:11:38] Speaker A: Yeah, she's got. So shout out to Gardenia Moon. [00:11:41] Speaker B: What's it called? Tic Tac of Life. [00:11:43] Speaker A: It's. No, I can't or. [00:11:45] Speaker B: I like the orange ones only. [00:11:47] Speaker A: I think she's off the Tic Tacs these days, but. [00:11:49] Speaker B: Really. [00:11:50] Speaker A: But yeah, we can figure. [00:11:51] Speaker B: She's off, all right. I'll tell you that. [00:11:53] Speaker A: Oh, she's a sweet girl. [00:11:54] Speaker B: You know what? Our government, you know, is going. Getting so out of control. This. This guy Trump. Out of control. [00:12:02] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:12:03] Speaker B: And he's got a lot of henchmen with him and, you know, who are cracking down on stuff, you know, like Elon Musk and that whole Hedge Cif or whatever that guy's name is. [00:12:14] Speaker A: Right, right. [00:12:15] Speaker B: Apparently. I heard, just today, no, yesterday, I heard that some guy was in a parking lot with his car and he was. Went in reverse and he bumped into a Tesla and Dented it a little bit, just like a very little minor dinger. And he was sentenced to death for doing that. [00:12:35] Speaker A: Wait, where is this? In the United States? [00:12:38] Speaker B: Yeah, it was here in the United. [00:12:40] Speaker C: States that was sentenced by little Elon. [00:12:42] Speaker A: Holy line. [00:12:44] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. He's a bad guy. Both of them are bad guys, you know? Yeah, but they sentenced this guy to death for bumping into a Tesla. [00:12:52] Speaker A: That seems. [00:12:52] Speaker B: That's crazy. Going nuts. Don't you think? [00:12:55] Speaker A: It is? [00:12:55] Speaker B: Yeah, but that's what our government's coming. That's what our country's coming to. [00:12:59] Speaker A: It's rough. [00:13:00] Speaker B: I want to ask our guest, do you think this country was ever great? Because I don't think so. Well, I think it's had problems. [00:13:06] Speaker C: You're talking to the wrong person. [00:13:08] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay. Well, then why are you here? [00:13:11] Speaker C: Good question. I was here last week, actually. [00:13:14] Speaker B: Oh. Yeah. [00:13:14] Speaker C: So I just found myself here again. [00:13:16] Speaker B: Oh, okay. You stay. You slept here all week? [00:13:19] Speaker C: No. [00:13:19] Speaker B: Two shows nightly. Sure. Is that what you're doing? [00:13:22] Speaker A: He'll be here all week. [00:13:23] Speaker B: Yeah. Tip your waitress well? [00:13:25] Speaker C: Oh, yes, I will. [00:13:26] Speaker B: If you had a waitress. [00:13:28] Speaker A: So it turns out Gardenia Moon's record is called Dead Flowers. [00:13:32] Speaker B: Oh. [00:13:33] Speaker A: Look for it by name. [00:13:35] Speaker B: I don't think so. I'm not gonna be. [00:13:37] Speaker A: Well, I mean, to the. To. To the interest. [00:13:39] Speaker B: Is that her real name, Gardenia Moon? [00:13:41] Speaker A: You know, I don't know. I haven't seen her birth certificate, but, you know. You know, or. Or a driver's license. [00:13:47] Speaker B: Now, is she in a bikini on her album cover? [00:13:50] Speaker A: No, no, it's kind of a illustration of her. [00:13:53] Speaker B: She's got a really good rack. Well, she wants to sell records, she should throw that rack, you know. Sex sells, baby. [00:14:00] Speaker A: She's a very sweet girl, you know. [00:14:02] Speaker B: Sex sells. What the hell kind of name is Gardenia? [00:14:05] Speaker A: It's a flower. It's nice flower. You know, Daisy or. [00:14:08] Speaker B: So she's a flower Moon. [00:14:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:14:10] Speaker B: So she's part of the indigenous people. Oh, she's under the flower moon. Is that it? Oh, that was. [00:14:17] Speaker A: That was. That movie. [00:14:18] Speaker B: That was. You know. Anyway, so she's got a record out. You played on it. Who cares? [00:14:24] Speaker A: Anyway, we were moving on, but we were. I was reaching back for that. Yeah, well. Yeah. The political violence continues. You know, the trend. That's. That was started some time ago. I had a guy on. Second night of Passover went and firebombed the. The governor of Pennsylvania's mansion. Oh, Governor Shapiro. [00:14:43] Speaker B: And his. His reason, they caught him and I heard his reason was, I don't like Him. [00:14:49] Speaker A: Seems obvious. [00:14:50] Speaker B: Okay, that's a good defense. I don't like him. [00:14:53] Speaker A: Lots of people you don't like. [00:14:55] Speaker B: I forgot arson was a crime. [00:14:56] Speaker A: Firebomb their houses. [00:14:58] Speaker B: Yeah, that's. That's. He's a great excuse. Great defense. [00:15:01] Speaker A: Yeah. But again, you know, the political violence, it's. It's. Once it starts creeping in, man, it's. It's hard to. You know, you cheer it on when it's your side, or some people do. But be careful what you wish for. [00:15:13] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:14] Speaker A: Never. It never ends well. [00:15:16] Speaker B: That's why I don't try to. I don't leave the house much. [00:15:18] Speaker A: There you go. There you go. Playing it. [00:15:20] Speaker B: So I don't need friends, but I have lots of enemies, so. That's the thing. [00:15:25] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:26] Speaker B: And you got to keep your enemies. [00:15:27] Speaker A: Close, but not that close, you know. [00:15:30] Speaker B: Not too close anyway, so. [00:15:32] Speaker A: Well, I don't have anything else, really. You know, we are in the thick of festival season, so there'll be lots more dates coming up, and I have a little bit of a breather this week, but. But I have to get up at 5 o'clock in morning tomorrow and. And play on WWL television, the morning show, with my band, Los Tremolo Kings. Little chicha cumbia band, with usually featuring Margie Perez, but Margie has had to leave. [00:16:00] Speaker B: If you see Alexandra Cranford, will you tell her I said hi? [00:16:04] Speaker A: Okay. [00:16:04] Speaker B: Cuz I got a thing for her. [00:16:06] Speaker A: All right. [00:16:06] Speaker B: She just had a kid, so. She's glowing right now. [00:16:09] Speaker A: Okay, that's. [00:16:11] Speaker B: Just had a kid. You know, those women glow. [00:16:14] Speaker A: Sure. [00:16:15] Speaker B: You have any kids? No. You can speak. [00:16:18] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Audio only. [00:16:21] Speaker C: No kids that I know of. Yeah, sure. [00:16:23] Speaker B: We're not on the mime channel. [00:16:25] Speaker C: Okay, well, you know, everybody else is on the show and they just butt in and I didn't know when it was time. [00:16:29] Speaker A: Well, when Manny asked you a question. That's a good time. Yeah. [00:16:35] Speaker C: I'm so sorry. [00:16:36] Speaker B: Yeah. All right, well, let's introduce this. [00:16:38] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm new at this podcast thing. [00:16:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:40] Speaker B: He's got a motorcycle. [00:16:42] Speaker C: Yes. [00:16:43] Speaker B: That was from Japan, you said. [00:16:45] Speaker C: I did. It's a Vulcan now. [00:16:47] Speaker B: How much tariffs did you have to pay on that? [00:16:49] Speaker C: It's old. So. [00:16:51] Speaker B: It's old. [00:16:51] Speaker C: Yeah. So ain't no tariffs on that. [00:16:53] Speaker B: Oh, okay. [00:16:54] Speaker C: Predates. [00:16:55] Speaker B: Now, what is it called again? [00:16:56] Speaker C: A Kawasaki Vulcan. [00:16:58] Speaker B: Oh. [00:16:59] Speaker C: But his name is Daredevil. [00:17:01] Speaker A: Okay. It's a substantial looking motorcycle. It's not like one of those. You know, I think there's a racist term that people would use That I won't use now, but, you know, I. [00:17:13] Speaker C: Didn'T grow up with that. [00:17:14] Speaker A: You know, one of those highways that way it looks more like a. Like a Harley or something. [00:17:21] Speaker C: It looks. That's the idea. Built like that, it gets you where you need. [00:17:24] Speaker A: Right, right. [00:17:25] Speaker C: And what you need. [00:17:26] Speaker B: And that's your only means of transportation? [00:17:28] Speaker C: That has been my only means all my life. I have never driven a car in my life. [00:17:33] Speaker A: Really? [00:17:33] Speaker C: So. So I've only had a motorcycle all my life. And my dad, he was a rider. Wow. [00:17:38] Speaker A: Aren't you scared of just only having a motorcycle in New Orleans? [00:17:42] Speaker C: Never? Oh, no, no, no. It's like a video game, but you die. [00:17:46] Speaker A: Do you feel like you can see the trouble coming up and avoid it? [00:17:51] Speaker C: You have to be semi psychic. And my nickname was Intuitive Joe, I have to say. [00:17:56] Speaker A: But you've had to lay the bike down, huh? [00:17:58] Speaker C: No, someone laid me down on the bike when they hit me and broke my collarbone, but I was still on the bike, so they technically didn't get me down. [00:18:10] Speaker A: Okay. [00:18:11] Speaker C: They broke my collarbone and a couple ribs, and I got up and. Long story, but it worked out. I'm still alive. [00:18:18] Speaker B: Was that hit and run? [00:18:19] Speaker C: Only till. Well, I wanted to be hit, but I rammed right into him because I wasn't letting him go. It was a great story, but, you know, a long time ago, and. And somebody said, oh, you could have died. And I said, you know, I never really thought about that. [00:18:34] Speaker A: Well, you don't think. [00:18:35] Speaker B: Were you on drugs at the time? [00:18:37] Speaker C: No, no, no. [00:18:38] Speaker B: No. Drinking and driving? [00:18:39] Speaker C: No, no, no, no. [00:18:40] Speaker B: You didn't take a Flocker? [00:18:43] Speaker C: I wish I had some. No. And actually, is that still around? [00:18:47] Speaker B: Can you get some. [00:18:48] Speaker C: I don't know about that drug. There's quite an assortment of drugs, but I'm sure they're. [00:18:53] Speaker A: It's like that. [00:18:54] Speaker B: We'll talk after this. [00:18:55] Speaker C: Yeah, we'll talk after the show. Because motorcycle people. [00:18:58] Speaker B: Because I'm always into Flocka. [00:19:00] Speaker C: Easy ride. [00:19:00] Speaker B: Looking for a new dealer. [00:19:02] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, they got it. Motorcycle clubs have a lot of side hustles with the. Oh, crystal meth and all that. [00:19:08] Speaker C: Oh, I didn't know that. Wow. [00:19:10] Speaker A: That's what they say. That's what I hear. [00:19:12] Speaker B: That's a good defense. [00:19:13] Speaker C: Okay, fair enough. [00:19:14] Speaker A: Well, let me introduce. [00:19:14] Speaker C: I didn't like them. [00:19:15] Speaker A: Let me. Let me introduce the guest. He's a terrific singer, violinist, percussionist, plays with several musical groups. One early music ensemble in New Orleans, Musica de Camera. And another. Now, how do you pronounce this? [00:19:33] Speaker C: Les Lel. [00:19:35] Speaker A: Okay, less The Lessonl ensemble as well as he. I know him first from the 1980s rock band shot down in Ecuador. Junior. [00:19:45] Speaker C: Speaking of shot. [00:19:46] Speaker A: And he's also. He's also an experience. Yeah, Actually an experienced bookbinder and a researcher of New Orleans Creole history and culture. And his family's been here in New Orleans longer than mine. Like 80 years longer than mine. Crazy. Got here in 1720. All right, we're going to get into all that and more. But without further ado, the great Mr. Joe Darensberg. Welcome, Joe. [00:20:11] Speaker C: Thank you, sir. [00:20:13] Speaker B: What is bookbinder? What is that? [00:20:15] Speaker C: Somebody who like, repair shoes, but you repair books for people who have money that would not throw a book away because it's not plastic Nikes or, you. [00:20:26] Speaker A: Know, you must deal with some rare volumes, first editions, that sort of thing. [00:20:32] Speaker C: Some magical things. Yeah. I'm in two guilds, one in New York and one in Boston. And we don't have unions. We got guilds. [00:20:41] Speaker A: Sure. So it's old school. Real old school. [00:20:43] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:20:44] Speaker A: Now, when does the Bookbinders guild date back to Gutenberg? [00:20:49] Speaker C: That's a good question. Well, in Boston, I think it's like 8, like 19th century. But the earliest, I mean, obviously Gutenberg movable press is 15 something right before that, we call it incunabula. That means a cradle. [00:21:07] Speaker A: And what does that refer to? The. [00:21:09] Speaker C: The book itself, before the movable press. So books had to be handwritten. When you say manuscript, it means. Manny scripted it. Yeah, right on. [00:21:19] Speaker A: Okay. Now you learn all these esoteric terms and bookbinding. Now, did you apprentice with someone? I would say school, but I'm sure didn't have a school kind of thing actually. Huh. [00:21:32] Speaker C: In 2000, I moved away to Boston and I worked for an antique bookstore in the French Quarter. And the guy who owned the store had two stores in Boston and two in Florida. And I had an opportunity to go up there and manage an antique bookstore, scholarly bookstore. So I walked into this hundred year old bindery and I looked around, I said, man, I want to work here. And the guy says, all right, we'll go look around. And 13 years later, I became a master bookbinder and box and portfolio maker and preservationist of fine documents that now I have clearances to a lot of libraries. I would never be able to even walk up to the front door. [00:22:18] Speaker B: Now, are glues involved with binding rabbit. [00:22:20] Speaker C: Hide Glue is our secret. Oh, yeah. [00:22:25] Speaker B: Because I'm in the book business too. [00:22:27] Speaker C: I knew that, but I had to learn. They told me right away, don't say You're a bookmaker. And I didn't know what that was. And they said, yeah, don't say that like a bookie. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I had to learn fast not to be part of that, but yeah, you know, I mean, it's a beautiful art and I'm very lucky I was able to learn it. And I did further studies at a place called the North Bennett Street School, which is the sort of little Italian part of Boston. [00:22:57] Speaker B: In Boston. [00:22:57] Speaker C: In Boston. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:22:59] Speaker B: So I went to Boston once. Oh, they stopped me at customs. Yeah. [00:23:05] Speaker C: I don't know why, but yeah, I've. [00:23:07] Speaker B: Been in the book business 20 years and I haven't picked up a book in about 15. [00:23:11] Speaker C: Really? [00:23:12] Speaker B: Well, I can't bless you, actually. [00:23:14] Speaker C: I hate it to read. [00:23:16] Speaker B: Yeah, I hate reading. [00:23:16] Speaker C: I hate it to read. [00:23:17] Speaker B: Yeah. I'd rather watch tv. [00:23:19] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. I listen to books, so at least. [00:23:23] Speaker A: I'm willing to cuts on tape. [00:23:24] Speaker C: Books on. Well, dude, that's like, you know, books on podcasts now, right? [00:23:29] Speaker A: Sure. Well, sure. [00:23:30] Speaker B: Well, like a first edition of a book. Can you. Can you get an audio of it? Let's say Weathering Heights, if somebody reads it. [00:23:37] Speaker C: So you can get somebody to read Wuthering Heights. Easy. That's a. Easy. Yeah. [00:23:41] Speaker A: I think they. There's even like public. [00:23:43] Speaker B: Why do they keep coming out with more editions of a book? What's the difference? [00:23:49] Speaker C: The difference between more editions of a book? Well, if it's popular, then by popular demand they have run out and they need more. [00:23:57] Speaker B: I know, but. And then they charge more. [00:23:59] Speaker C: No, not necessarily. Oh, you mean the older books, they'll charge more for the first edition of something? [00:24:03] Speaker B: No, no, but I mean, what's the difference? I mean, they raise the price. Let's say a first edition comes out, then a second edition, a third edition, fourth edition. The fourth edition is exactly like the first edition. So why are they charging more? [00:24:15] Speaker C: Oh, no, no, no, no, contraire. Your first edition was probably handled really well and thought out and read by all these special people. And the fourth edition is like, nobody cares. They just want the money. And it's by maybe subsidiary of some other company that has bought it because they're interested. [00:24:33] Speaker B: Because you can't get the first because. [00:24:34] Speaker C: You'Re like Elon, and you want to buy up everything and you own everything and you want to blow up on the moon and all that stuff. [00:24:41] Speaker A: Right, well, you have inflation, so, you know. [00:24:43] Speaker C: Right, Exactly. Yeah, yeah. [00:24:44] Speaker A: The dollar has less value all the time. [00:24:47] Speaker B: I don't care. I don't read Books? [00:24:49] Speaker C: Yeah, sure. Well, don't. I don't recommend it. [00:24:51] Speaker A: Well, you know, Joe, I always like to. You see, I always use these composition books because they're sewn. [00:24:56] Speaker C: I do the same. [00:24:57] Speaker A: And you know, you can. These things, you can like run over them with a truck. [00:25:01] Speaker C: They are really great. [00:25:03] Speaker A: They still don't come apart, you know. [00:25:04] Speaker C: Yeah, we had an 80 year old guy that used to put the lines on the. On the. He had a machine and he would put the lines on those books and he would also take like $50 paper from Italy and he'd put his hot pot on it and just kind of. [00:25:18] Speaker B: You know, he didn't know the lines on mirrors too. [00:25:22] Speaker C: I know. He was. He wasn't fun. He wasn't fun. He was just a crab. [00:25:27] Speaker B: Crabby old Joe. [00:25:28] Speaker A: Let's, let's. Let's go back a little bit. [00:25:30] Speaker C: Let's go back. [00:25:30] Speaker A: And so I know you are from New Orleans. Orleans. [00:25:34] Speaker C: I am. [00:25:35] Speaker A: Your family's been here for a long time. So I think you were born in Treme, but you didn't grow up in Treme, huh? [00:25:42] Speaker C: Well, my grandparents house. My uncle still lives in it. So every weekend you were there all the time? Every weekend, yeah. So I spent still more time in Treme than ever and I. At 4, we moved to Carrollton. The Riverbend area. Down the street to be exact. [00:25:59] Speaker A: Right here in this neighborhood? [00:26:00] Speaker C: Right in this neighborhood. My paper route was the building in the next block, which I wasn't a paper boy. I was like. It was a sort of cosplay for a holiday at one point. But yeah, so I, I grew up in this neighborhood in the Riverbend area. Carrollton. [00:26:16] Speaker A: Okay. So where'd you go to school around here? [00:26:19] Speaker C: Well, here I went to Mata Dela Rosa up on Carrollton. [00:26:23] Speaker A: Carrollton, right. [00:26:23] Speaker C: That's where that was. Well, part. It was like Mezzi. Mezzi. We did okay, James Weldon Johnson first and then Monte do La Rosa. And then I went to McMahon and Spectrum. [00:26:35] Speaker A: Okay. [00:26:35] Speaker C: With all the kids who got kicked out of Franklin. So all your buddies who got kicked out of Franklin came to me. [00:26:42] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. We've had a couple of Spectrum graduates on this, on this program before. Can't remember exactly who, but I've definitely. I know about the Spectrum program. I think Reese Walker had a. Had a brother that went to Spectrum as well. I can't remember what that, that fell. [00:26:57] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, he went to. [00:26:58] Speaker A: No, Gavin. Yeah, he went to Noka kid. I remember he could walk up the stairs on his hands. [00:27:02] Speaker C: Oh yeah. Gavin was Great. Their whole house. They were. They lived on Exposition. [00:27:07] Speaker A: Yeah. It was an amazing house. [00:27:08] Speaker C: One of them would, like all the clothes in their house smell like patchouli because somebody washed their clothes and it was funny. [00:27:16] Speaker A: So. Right, right. So. So going to McMahain. So you knew a lot of people like Nicole Pavi from. She was going to McMahain for a minute or something before she went to Franklin and. [00:27:25] Speaker C: And hardcore punk days. [00:27:27] Speaker A: Right, right, right. Yes, you were. You were. And now what year were you born? You're maybe a year or two. [00:27:32] Speaker C: I was born the week of Hurricane Betsy. [00:27:35] Speaker A: Okay, so you're two years younger than us, so 65. [00:27:38] Speaker C: I was born in 65, the week of Hurricane Betsy. [00:27:41] Speaker A: All right. [00:27:42] Speaker C: Where there was no CNN or Internet to tell you that Katrina was the one Norman Rockwell forgot to paint. [00:27:49] Speaker A: I was just turning two. We left our house in a. In a motorboat from. I was living in the 8th Ward at that time, right off of. Between North Merrow and Galvis. [00:27:59] Speaker C: Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah. Well, the Fertelles were really cool. So when I was born, they had Ruth Chris Steakhouse, and instead of letting all the food go to waste, they cooked all the steaks and fed all my family. [00:28:14] Speaker A: Oh, from the. From the Ruth Chris on Broad Street. [00:28:17] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So all the very cool Croatian community saved us. [00:28:22] Speaker A: Right on, right on. [00:28:24] Speaker B: And now that's a. A2. A Fertel. That's like a clinic. A Fertel clinic. [00:28:29] Speaker C: Well, it's part of the philanthropy foundation. [00:28:32] Speaker B: I think it's actually open. I think they opened it, like, year. A few years back, and I don't. I think there's just weeds growing around it now. [00:28:39] Speaker C: I. I go by it all the time, but I'm. I'm not sure what. But I. The Randy foretell her son. My dad knew Ruth really well, and he actually got a Fertel Award for what he was up to. And then Randy just wrote a new book. That's really cool. And he's a son of Ruth, so. And they have a nephew who teaches at Uno. A lot of historians in that family. [00:29:05] Speaker A: Right on. [00:29:06] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:29:06] Speaker A: Well, so were you already playing music when you were in. In high school or just listening in. [00:29:14] Speaker C: Monte de la Rosa? I was in the band with Delfio Marcellus. We're the same age. And. And, well, that was. [00:29:23] Speaker A: The Mata dela Rosa was the Marcellus Church. That's where they were. [00:29:27] Speaker C: That's my church first. Thank you. Because we were here first. They're from Mississippi. They're not from New Orleans. [00:29:32] Speaker A: Well, The Marcellus were from Kenner, right? [00:29:34] Speaker C: Well, they were from probably Shrewsbury, but before that, Mississippi. Sure. [00:29:38] Speaker A: Okay. [00:29:39] Speaker C: So, yeah, so we were here first and that was our church. [00:29:42] Speaker A: Okay. [00:29:42] Speaker C: Well, no, anyway, I'm just joking. Just joking. But yeah, so Del was in like the better musicians level, but I played coronet because the music teacher said, let me see your teeth. He said, yeah, we're not letting you play clarinet because we don't want to mess up your teeth. [00:30:01] Speaker A: Oh, because you had. [00:30:01] Speaker C: That was really sweet. I have nice. Well, you know, it's just kind of nice. Somebody thought of me as a little kid. [00:30:07] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:30:07] Speaker C: And yeah, I don't want buck teeth. So I. I play coronet. Everybody starts out on coronet. That's. That's the thing we do in New Orleans. Yeah. [00:30:15] Speaker A: Or clarinet. [00:30:17] Speaker C: Well, yeah, so I played that. And then, you know, I studied art. I didn't study music. [00:30:25] Speaker A: Now you wound up going to Noka. [00:30:26] Speaker C: So at Noka, I studied visual art with the Grosses. And when it was uptown on Prairie. [00:30:31] Speaker A: You know, the Grosses, I was. I grew up around the Grosses because they were good friends with my aunt who taught art at Xavier. [00:30:39] Speaker C: Okay. [00:30:40] Speaker A: And so I remember the Grosses when they had the two kids with the. [00:30:43] Speaker C: Real long hair, Eric Gross and. Yeah, yeah. So anyway, they were my groovy teachers when I was a German couple or German American couple when I was in art school. And, you know, we used to have class in Audubon park. And it was kind of grooming me to go to Spectrum, where, you know, we call our teachers by the first name. And then by the time I. What do you call it? I applied for Saint Ogg, which was back in my Seventh Ward neighborhood, right. And I said. I mean, I got in and I was really proud when we got the letter. And I said, ma, save the money. I. I'm so different than those people now. When we left, I was Creole and no one understood, you know, that we were different than the uptown people. And then by the time, you know, so it was a good fit to go to Spectrum because all my teachers were cool. [00:31:37] Speaker A: And St Aug is a lot of regimentation. [00:31:39] Speaker C: Well, yeah. [00:31:41] Speaker A: When they were trying to do away with corporal punishment a few years ago, they had paddles. Our neighbors, the alumni, was screaming and hollering, don't let it. Don't get. Don't get rid of it. We need that. [00:31:54] Speaker C: That may. [00:31:55] Speaker B: That may inflate and some of the student body too. We're like, yeah, we wanted. It was. [00:32:00] Speaker C: It was fraternity and they had, like, paddles with holes in it and stuff. And these were my neighbors around the block. And I was like, man, you just reminded me that's probably a real good reason why. But, you know, the toothpaste was out of the tube, and I was like, calling my teachers by the first name. [00:32:14] Speaker A: Right, right, right. You were ruined. You were, you know, you weren't going to last a saying. [00:32:19] Speaker C: Oak Street. Working at Kinko. I was the youngest person they hired at Kinkos. [00:32:24] Speaker A: Right on. [00:32:25] Speaker C: And I was walking my husky. [00:32:27] Speaker B: You were six years old at the time. [00:32:30] Speaker C: Well, labor laws. No, no, no. [00:32:33] Speaker B: It wouldn't surprise me in New Orleans. [00:32:34] Speaker C: Well, hey. Well, anyway, I was walking my husky, and I'm getting film developed at Kinko on Carrollton. And they said, you want to work here? I'm like, why? I said, will you print my film for free? And they said, yeah. So they gave me a job. [00:32:48] Speaker A: Okay. [00:32:49] Speaker C: And they were great. And I worked there. [00:32:51] Speaker B: And I didn't know Kinko's did film developing. [00:32:53] Speaker C: Oh, dude, we did book binding. We did everything. Printing, everything. [00:32:57] Speaker B: I know. They did printing. [00:32:59] Speaker C: Well, they did film development, we did film developing. And what was that? [00:33:02] Speaker B: They have those Kodak little shacks around town. [00:33:04] Speaker C: Well, I worked in one of those. I, I, that's kind of like what Noka really kind of groomed me in the, you know, the arts of photography and drawing and, you know, all the disciplines in the arts. [00:33:19] Speaker A: Visual arts. Yeah. [00:33:20] Speaker C: Which brought me, you know, luckily to the bookbinding. I had all these skills to actually stay focused on the sort of art world, but tangible arts. [00:33:31] Speaker A: Right, Right. [00:33:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:33:32] Speaker A: Well, let's get to shot down in Ecuador, Junior. [00:33:35] Speaker C: So I'm working at Kinko's, and, like, all these people are working there, like Lenny Zenith and Kelly Keller and Bill Davis and Bill Conley. [00:33:43] Speaker B: Wow. [00:33:44] Speaker A: They were all working at Kinko's. [00:33:45] Speaker C: Oh, everybody was working at Kinko's. You know why? Because we had profit sharing, so we would get. We were rich. It was great. So they'd, like, give you a check like, like every month because, you know, they were doing their thing. All right. So we were, like, making good money, so somehow making friends with Kelly. Her boyfriend was in a band, and that was Bill, Bill Davis, a great. [00:34:07] Speaker A: Bill Davis from Dash Ripley, but he. [00:34:09] Speaker C: Was in a new wave band. And they take me to Baton Rouge to go see him. And, you know, that was fun. It was exciting. I started traveling a lot with Kelly and hanging out with her, and I wasn't a musician, but one day she hands me a tape, and I'M like, what's this? She says, yeah, they want you to sing. I said, sing what? What are you talking about? She said, don't worry about it. You got a big mouth. You know everybody, and you work at Kiko's and can get free flyers. So you're in this band. So Kelly Keller is the one that just made me in this band. [00:34:42] Speaker A: In a band with. With Bill Davis. [00:34:44] Speaker C: With. No, no. Conley. Gerald McCollum. Johnny McCollum. Nikki Sanzabach. Who else? Bruce Rayburn, the drummer and historian from the Jazz arcade. [00:34:57] Speaker A: Nicky Sons. About saxophone or. [00:34:59] Speaker C: No, he was on keyboards and stuff. And we rehearse at his house and make these long. [00:35:06] Speaker A: What was the name of that band? [00:35:08] Speaker C: Well, that was Shot Down. Shot Down. [00:35:11] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:35:11] Speaker C: So all these bands in New Orleans were called the Something. And I was like, oh, no, no, no. So when I said I got to name this band, and. And basically I was watching the Mary Tyler Moore show, and it was like Mary was going out with one of the guys from Rich Man, Poor man, and Rhoda, and she walk into this clothing store and she says, hey, Nick Nolte. No, no, no, no, no. [00:35:37] Speaker B: He was in Rich Man, Poor Man. [00:35:38] Speaker C: No, the other one. [00:35:39] Speaker B: It was the other guy. [00:35:40] Speaker C: Yeah, Shaw, something like that. Robert Shaw. [00:35:43] Speaker B: Robert Shaw from Jaws. [00:35:45] Speaker C: No, no, no, no, no. [00:35:47] Speaker A: Anyway. [00:35:47] Speaker B: No, almost Bernard Shaw. [00:35:49] Speaker C: No, no, no, no. Not all the literary people. But anyway, Rhoda says, hey, man, these clothes are not by your size. They're by your astrological sign. So Rhoda goes up to the girl at the cut, and she says, what's the name of this place? She says, shot down in Ecuador Junior. And I said, man, let me get a pen. I know she's gonna ask her again. She said, what? What's the name of this place? She said it again, and she said, what does that mean? And the girl said, you know. So anyway, I said, I want a band's name, long as the New Leviathan Oriental Foxtrot Orchestra, because I want to make you say it when you come see us. Okay, so that's where the name came from. [00:36:36] Speaker B: Right on. It was Peter Strauss. Not Shaw. [00:36:38] Speaker C: Peter Strauss. Thank you. He was the rich man that does that. Yeah, rich man. [00:36:43] Speaker B: And Nick Nolte was the poor man. [00:36:44] Speaker C: Yeah, but he was a young man on the Mary Tell Him More Show. So she was trying to impress him. [00:36:48] Speaker B: Right. [00:36:49] Speaker C: Which, you know, he didn't look that young compared to her, but our band name, band's name, came from that. And all these uptown guys that have either been on this show or died or had something to do with coming to the Troubled Men podcast. And I just thought, man, all right, you know, I give it a hurry up before. [00:37:11] Speaker A: What about me? [00:37:12] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, because we've killed a. [00:37:16] Speaker B: Lot of guests over the years. [00:37:17] Speaker C: Well, but I like Manny invited people. After you die, you could come on the show just as well. [00:37:22] Speaker A: Kind of a seance. [00:37:23] Speaker C: Yeah, well, listen. Listened to the last podcast with the. The Sassoni and. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I. I got two degrees of separation from everybody. [00:37:33] Speaker A: Sure, sure. [00:37:34] Speaker C: Joe Sasson and his wife. I inherited Sheena, the punk rocker. Oh, yeah, the dog that came from. [00:37:42] Speaker A: Okay. From the pharmacy. [00:37:44] Speaker C: No, from. No, from Kathy. Kathy Martin married Ryder Frame in Aztec Camera, so she couldn't bring Sheena over through customs. And Oie and Or Joe, one of them were moving to LA and all that, so they couldn't take Sheena. So I ended up this. This Samoid. Beautiful little dog. [00:38:04] Speaker A: Okay. [00:38:04] Speaker C: And they were like, give it to Joe. And I took care of this little Sheena, the punk rocker. [00:38:08] Speaker A: Now, now, in shot Dorn shot down in Ecuador. Junior at some point, you had Chuck Wortney in the band playing guitar. Chuck, my old sight singing partner from Loyola Music School. [00:38:20] Speaker C: Yeah, Chuck studied classical guitar. [00:38:21] Speaker A: Yes, he did. [00:38:22] Speaker C: With Stuart LeBlanc, who I worked at Streetcar Sandwiches with. [00:38:26] Speaker A: Well, I graduated from high school with Stuart LeBlanc. I'm not sure that. [00:38:29] Speaker C: Right. So it's very incestuous in this town. You know, everybody's related to somebody that knew somebody that. [00:38:35] Speaker A: Now, didn't Stewart play in. In the. [00:38:37] Speaker C: The early music group. [00:38:38] Speaker A: Early music group. [00:38:39] Speaker C: But we started out with a Sephardic group early called Tariq, and he was playing oud. And they. Again, they. I keep getting hired to sing. These people keep saying, hey, man, you got to record this. So we recorded a record over the river where you're from. Right. [00:38:57] Speaker A: And my parents lived over there for a time. [00:39:00] Speaker C: So anyway, somehow we do this recording. And then when I got back from Boston, I was able to join music at a camera. [00:39:06] Speaker A: Okay. [00:39:06] Speaker C: Because my father worked for the director, Milton Sherman at Dillard University, and Milton taught all architects school at Tulane. [00:39:15] Speaker A: Right. [00:39:15] Speaker B: Now, Chuck Courtney, though, man, that guy, he lives on the North Shore now. [00:39:19] Speaker C: Chuck came to visit where I live. My residency at Creole Gardens. [00:39:22] Speaker B: He's had a rough time. [00:39:25] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. He came by a few weeks ago wanting to kind of get along, and it turned. I had to go do something else, and it got political and I never heard back from him. [00:39:37] Speaker B: I'll tell you one, when I first Met Chuck. He invited me and my now wife over to his house. They live over in Fontainebleau at the time. [00:39:46] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:39:47] Speaker B: And he made one of the most delicious Indian meals I've ever had in my life. [00:39:52] Speaker C: Well, he's a man of many talents. Yeah, yeah, yeah, He's a great guy. [00:39:56] Speaker B: But yeah, he's a good guy. I hope he's all right. [00:39:59] Speaker C: Oh, he's doing okay. Yeah, he's getting a little shoulder stuff going on, but he looked great. I couldn't believe I was expecting like less hair and he was like amazing. [00:40:12] Speaker A: Good deal. [00:40:12] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:12] Speaker A: All right, so we had a nice. [00:40:15] Speaker C: Little visit of reunion, but his birthday is in September. He's a Virgo like me, like, so he, He. He said he you. [00:40:22] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:40:22] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. All right, well, that's why I'm here. So he said he wanted a birthday party and have a shot down reunion because, look, Tom Stern played guitar with us. Like everybody played with us. So we never broke. [00:40:35] Speaker B: Played with O L D. He played with olg. That's how I met him. [00:40:39] Speaker C: And we played at the Mermaid Lounge and they opened and I came in. They flew me in from Boston to play a reunion at Mermaid with old which was Johnny J, Chuck and whoever was drumming that night. [00:40:56] Speaker A: Right, right. [00:40:57] Speaker C: Could have been Joey Torres. Anybody. [00:40:58] Speaker B: It's probably what, what's his name? Suri. [00:41:03] Speaker C: Oh, great. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:41:05] Speaker A: Seems like a good time to take a little break though, huh, man? [00:41:08] Speaker B: Yeah, sure. We're gonna take a break. Everyone knows the drill. We'll be right back. [00:41:25] Speaker C: It. [00:41:28] Speaker A: All. [00:41:31] Speaker B: We wonder why. [00:42:51] Speaker A: And we're back. Back with Mr. Manny Chevrolet. I am Renee Coleman, back with our guest, Mr. Joe Darensberg. Now, Joe, I know you've listened to some of these shows, so you're well aware that this is a listener supported operation that we have going here. And we have PayPal and Venmo links right there in the show, notes of every show as well as the Facebook page. People that are enjoying the show, listening to it all the time, they support us, they buy us cocktails, help furnish us with all the notebooks we can fill. So we do appreciate them. We haven't had anyone reach out to us this week, but you know, you can't win them all. So hopefully someone's saving up their pennies to send in next week. Also we have the Patreon page and have a handful of patrons who are supporting us every week, week in and week out, just like we're doing these shows week in and week out. Also we have the link There for the. For the Patreon is right there underneath the. The Venmo and the Paypal. Also, we have the link for the Troubled Men podcast T shirts, which we just sold one of those recently, so don't be left out. Jump in there. Avail yourself of the troubled menswear. Also, follow us on Facebook, Instagram and rate, review and subscribe to the podcast wherever you're listening to it. Give us five stars. Helps us a lot. Cost you nothing. And you can find out all my future dates on my Renee Komen Facebook page, which is linked there in the show notes, as well as iguanas.com. all right, well, enough of that. Back to our guest, the great Joe Darensberg. Now, Joe, so you're. You're playing in Shot down in Ecuador Junior. It's a popular band here in New Orleans. You're headlining all the local clubs, but it's not really where you see your. Your. Your whole future going. So you wind up going to Boston. You become book binder study. Now you're there for 12 years. [00:44:51] Speaker C: She said 13. [00:44:52] Speaker A: 13 years. [00:44:53] Speaker C: The good luck number. [00:44:54] Speaker A: Okay, right on. [00:44:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:44:56] Speaker A: Now. Now what. What brings you back to New Orleans? [00:45:00] Speaker C: Let's see. [00:45:01] Speaker B: Racism in Boston. [00:45:04] Speaker C: Oh, they have a saying. Nobody likes Mondays is a euphemism for nobody likes certain people that are being harassed right now or dismissed or disappeared. [00:45:18] Speaker B: That big. [00:45:19] Speaker C: Oh, big time. Yeah. So that. I. I mean, I didn't. People were like, what are you? I said, I'm Creole. I said, oh, you're from Cape Verde? I said, no, Haiti? Brazil? I'm like, no, I'm Louisiana Creole. What are you talking about? I'm a German Creole, damn it. So anyway, long story, but yeah, so the music I was in shot down in Ecuador Junior, and we finally played with a group from Paris called Le Negresses Verte, which translates back to the Monday people. And I said, oh, I'm out of here, man. These frat boys. I am so done with all that stuff. So I started. My ex girlfriend was dancing flamenco and, you know, a bunch of, you know, so I was, you know, waiting after her classes and stuff, and I was like, ah, this music is kind of cool. So I started learning a little bit about some of that music and stuff. And, you know, when I got to Boston, I joined. I started studying ethnomusicology at Harvard and Tufts University. So I studied classical Arabic and classical Turkish music, and I did well with that. So professionally, I got to come home after. [00:46:34] Speaker A: Is that where you learned ladino and all that? [00:46:36] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, pretty much, but got professional with it as a singer and a cantor Hasan and all that stuff. But we did a workshop at Tufts with the Carolina Chocolate Drops. And I asked Rhiannon Giddens, like, what about Creole music? And she said, well, you got to tell that story. And I already done it with the bayou ballads. So when I came home, I didn't have anybody to play with. So I ended up joining New Orleans Music. And then somehow I got invited by Sunpai and Rachel Brunelin from the Neighborhood Story Project to create a group. So I named that group, too, and I named it Les Enel, which is a book from 1845 of Creoles of color from the neighborhood I came from that wrote a book dealing with Jim Crow type code Noir. Anti Monday, they were trying to erase the history, so these people wrote this beautiful French poetry. So there's only five copies of this book in existence that's left. And I'll be handling one at the Historic New Orleans Collection pretty soon as a professional, but. [00:47:51] Speaker A: But I have quite an amazing collection. [00:47:53] Speaker C: Oh, I mean, hey, New Orleans collection. Well, Dana Longson went to Franklin and she works there. She's going to be doing a. Some Mayhaw type. That's what Les Enel means in English, which was the rockabilly band I started with Chip Martinson and some of the Royal Pendletons and their kids and all. So anyway, more convoluted stories. So anyway, after Rhiannon told me, oh, you got to do that. So I came home dedicated to work on Creole music. So started this group, Les Enel, who just recorded for the Library of Congress a few weeks ago. So we have an album coming out with Bruce senpai Barnes, two Grammy winners, Louis Michaud, Layla McCalla, sweet, crude, and a little portion of Baby Dolls. And so we're luckily on vinyl. And the gala party at Historic New Orleans Collection, or BK. Kai's House is May 7th is a record release party. So that that album's coming out and it's history now. [00:49:02] Speaker A: It's right. Right here. We're right here at this. Perfect timing, huh? [00:49:05] Speaker C: Yeah, perfect. The new foundation is in Ous. Two young guys started this nonprofit and they pulled all these francophone groups together and made an album, and they brought it to the Library of Congress a few weeks ago for the Folklife program. And Layla and Louis set us up pretty. Because when we go later on, if there's a Library of Congress when we get there. Sure, but like I said, it's all. [00:49:33] Speaker B: God, tell the listeners what is Francophone Francophone. [00:49:37] Speaker C: You know them, Frank? Some people from France. Okay, France. Yeah. Francophone is like. Okay. So before anybody got here, New Orleans was called Buncha. And Buncha in the Mobilian jargon means place of many tongues, many languages. And some European people. [00:49:56] Speaker B: One of them is gibberish. [00:49:57] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, one. One European person came and they named this place after a king. But, you know, so I have early roots that are Native American Ishak attack nation. And you know, so my ancestors that were Germans that came here in 1720 and my African ancestors that were here that were also. They predate America. So French is not a foreign language in New Orleans and mainly Louisiana, but we just lost a lot of francophone tourism as a result of this new regime that's in right now. [00:50:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:50:37] Speaker C: But luckily we're smart because if we. [00:50:39] Speaker B: Don'T landry talking about land. [00:50:40] Speaker C: No, no, no, no, no. We don't have absinthe. We have Herb Saint. So I'm just saying, luckily, when you're multilingual, you're multi smart and you can cut like. Anyway, this book disguise things. Well, this book is named ironically Lesinel. And it. It was in defiance of. Of the people that were trying to suppress the fact that there were mixed people here who knew how to read and write and were more educated than a lot of the people that were trying to take over, who were what we call a Medicare. That just meant English speaking Medicare. America. [00:51:16] Speaker B: Oh, Americare a few years away from Medicare. [00:51:20] Speaker C: Hey, are you going to hang on. Are you going to hang on for the next colonoscopy? Yeah, I've only had one and they told me me 10 years. I kind of, you know, I guess I'm. Yeah, a little bit longer. I'm gonna try. [00:51:32] Speaker A: I'm gonna caution the. The. The troubled nation to don't shy away from the colonoscopies. Save your life. [00:51:39] Speaker B: No, by. In 10 years from now, they're not even going to need to do that procedure. [00:51:43] Speaker A: Yeah, that's possible, man. [00:51:44] Speaker B: You're gonna have just. Just take your blood, blood test, analyze it all your urine. [00:51:50] Speaker C: How about Walgreens has a little test, like pregnancy test. You just go in and you go away and there you go, you know. [00:51:57] Speaker B: So getting back to the francophone. [00:51:58] Speaker C: Francophone. [00:52:00] Speaker B: So what does that mean again? [00:52:01] Speaker C: French speakers. [00:52:02] Speaker B: It's French speakers. [00:52:04] Speaker C: French speakers. Phone means sound. So the sound of French. Oh, I phone like phone calls. Yeah. So there's a lot of my grandparents spoke French. They spoke a language called c Vini, which the enslaved Louisiana native created because they were from so many African countries, they had to be able to communicate. So they created a lingua franca, which later on turned out to be this language we kind of had to name Curi vini, which literally means curi means to go, and veni means to come. They had to distinguish that. [00:52:38] Speaker A: Now, not the first time Corey Vinnie has come up on the Troubleman podcast, believe it or not. So we had Corey Laday on a couple of years ago during the pandemic, and Corey, at the time, had just recorded his first record where he'd done about half of the songs. [00:52:54] Speaker C: And my cousin language. My cousin Jonathan Maier coached him on the language. [00:52:59] Speaker A: Okay. [00:52:59] Speaker C: So most of my family are still speaking this language, and my grandmother sang in this language, and basically that's what I got to record for Library of Congress evidence. [00:53:08] Speaker B: I hear a lot of African language. Language. [00:53:10] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:53:11] Speaker B: They say weird things like, no, that's another country. [00:53:16] Speaker C: It is. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Maria McKimba, she was part of. [00:53:20] Speaker B: So that's not Francophone. [00:53:22] Speaker C: They can be in Mali and some places that are Francophone. Oh, yeah, absolutely. [00:53:27] Speaker A: It's a big con. [00:53:28] Speaker C: Yeah. But, hey, hey, we can work with it. Yeah. It's all good, right? [00:53:32] Speaker B: Right. [00:53:33] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:53:33] Speaker B: So cool how those spelling bees work with that kind of language, which actually. [00:53:39] Speaker C: Like Yiddish. [00:53:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:53:41] Speaker A: The Asians are still winning them all. [00:53:43] Speaker C: Like Yiddish. All right. So cool. Yeah. Corey lay's album is called Medicament. That means medicine. Oh, so. [00:53:53] Speaker A: So that's so cool that, you know, it's not just one person is. Is working on. This is a renaissance. Well, yes. So. So you're saying you. You have a cousin who. Who speaks this pretty fluently. [00:54:04] Speaker C: I have a lot of cousins that actually are very fluent, and they're historians. In Point Capit, Louisiana. My cousin Brian Costello is like the. The, you know, basic historian there. [00:54:16] Speaker A: Okay. [00:54:16] Speaker C: So I have a lot of cousins. [00:54:17] Speaker A: To a great degree. It was dying out, right? [00:54:20] Speaker C: I mean, it was dying, but it was because it was suppressed because of the Americanization of people. A lot of black people that were francophone speakers left the country or some of the smaller parts of southwest Louisiana to come to the city for work. So they basically had to learn English to actually find work. Most of the people who were white that stayed out in the country were basically speaking cotevini rather than colonial French, which people call Cajun French. But colonial French is basically what people speak when they say Cajun French. But, you know, it's. It's a pretty serious melange of a lot of people speaking any so we say Francophone to relate to all the French inspired languages that people speak. Because there's Indian French too. A lot of native people lost their languages. My nation still has its own language called Ishaqui or Ishak. And a lot of the people in point of shin, they all speak French, but they have a lot of words. We have words that you know are native words like maringue, which is a city, and mariguen means mosquito. Shawi means raccoon. Plaquemin. Plaquemin is our word for persimmon. So everything is named after something that is native here. And like I said, bobancha, when you go to a place and most native people name the places of what you found when you went to the city. Chicago. It means stinky onions. [00:55:49] Speaker B: Yeah, stinky onions. [00:55:51] Speaker C: And that's what it. Oh yeah, there were wild onions growing. Then people were like, that's what we call that place. The word for trash, baga, like from the sugar cane. [00:55:58] Speaker B: Let me ask you a question. Do you like movies with subtitles? [00:56:02] Speaker C: I will. I'm willing to watch a movie if it's good for subtitles. Yeah, it's annoying, but if I know the language like I, I. When you get multilingual, you or a polygon a lot, you, you can kind of wing it a lot easier. But yeah, it is. The American that I am does not like. See, I relate to. I don't like to read and I don't like reading subtitles. [00:56:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:56:25] Speaker C: So I'm a lot of my American parts. [00:56:28] Speaker A: But you gotta say, I mean, I have to say hearing the actors real voices is way better. [00:56:34] Speaker C: Oh yeah, those dub voices are like too comical sometimes. [00:56:37] Speaker A: Well, even if they're done well, you know, you still like to hear the emotion. [00:56:41] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, I could never get into those porno films, European porno films that have the dubbed English stuff. Just, it wasn't real for me. [00:56:50] Speaker C: Well, a good friend of mine who lives in Berlin, she's. She went to Franklin and she is in a. She's a musician and she says, oh, you know, ooh, is the same in every language. So I love that sound. [00:57:06] Speaker B: Porno to me. [00:57:07] Speaker C: Yvonne Ducksworth. Yvonne Ducksworth. I brought her from Frankfurt to Berlin. No, she's a big rock star in Berlin, but she, she went to Ben. [00:57:15] Speaker B: Franklin uptown, her and David Hasselhoff, right? [00:57:18] Speaker C: Yeah, he's big in, in Germany, but. [00:57:20] Speaker A: Did not go to Ben Franklin. [00:57:22] Speaker C: Yeah, well, I don't know that Hasselhoff. [00:57:26] Speaker A: I know for sure he did. [00:57:27] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, you know, and, and I'm a German Creole, so. What that means is my sixth great grandfather came here and settled the German we call in French Court d'allemant in French. So down the river road where all the plantations are, my six great grandfather settled this area we call Carlstein. And me, my dad, my grandfather, my great grandfather all baked at Leidenheimer Bakery, which is like 1894. And I live about six blocks from the bakery. And they still make French bread. [00:57:59] Speaker A: Great French bread. [00:58:00] Speaker C: I've never seen anybody make French bread that was French. Germans and Sicilians. Only people that make French bread. [00:58:06] Speaker A: Oh, is that everybody who works at home? [00:58:08] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And my sister works at Bricado. So, like, you know, they studied Sicilian baking. So my mom was in the coffee and tea business. She worked for Louisiana Coffee. So my parents were both in the baker's union. My dad and my mom was in the coffee union. And there were no unions for bookbinders. So I joined two guilds. The guild for my. Yeah, more Harry Potter like stuff. [00:58:31] Speaker A: Right, right. You said it. Now. [00:58:35] Speaker C: Now people ask if we play at the Wren Fest when you're in a medieval music. [00:58:40] Speaker A: Sure, sure. Fair question. [00:58:41] Speaker C: Well, yeah, we don't cosplay. We're scholars. So, I mean, we're the oldest early music group in the Americas. And we have a radio program that's been on since the 70s called Continuum on WWNO and it's still archived of Milton, Sherman and Thais Saint Julien, our co director and director. He died last year and it was really. Yeah, Stuart. I had to hold Stuart because he was, you know, this. Our mentor. He was in his 90s. He was born on Mardi Gras Day and he was a magician, too. So they broke his wand. His. Hollywood is what the. The wands were made of Hollywood. So they broke the wand and they gave it to his wife. And that guild was started by Houdini, actually, so. [00:59:29] Speaker A: Oh, wow. [00:59:30] Speaker C: So every year we go to the Magician's ball. So once Milton was gone, he built most of the instruments. I play in the group. Yeah, man, the guy was a great guy. So, I mean, it was like, really such an honor to be able to be in a group like that here. [00:59:42] Speaker A: So what kind of instruments are you playing in the group? [00:59:44] Speaker C: Well, I sing and I play a Renaissance guitar. I play a North African drum called tambour. And we all play violin in our group. We're a string ensemble. And I insist on ensemble because you make more money. Because I. I said I was never going to be in a band again because you don't make. So I had to, like, you know, up, upgrade, you know, upsize my mission. Yeah, it really makes a difference. And we ended up going to Pittsburgh and we sold an original piece of music to the Carnegie Museum. So Les Enel has been really busy. We're playing in Houston in September in the Bayou. Buffalo Bayou Cisterns, which is really weird, but the only other cisterns I know are in Istanbul, like beneath the. One of the palaces. So we're doing a concert there in September, and we're headed out to go scope it out early because I got a buddy that's going to help me with some projection. He does projection for Sun Ra and for Luna Fet and some other things like that. Andrew Smith, and his mom was my art teacher. So, you know. You know, Stuart Smith, like that name is. They're my age, so they're a little younger than you. I can't say they have another older brother you'd probably know, but, you know. Yeah, man, this town. [01:01:11] Speaker B: Sydney Smith. [01:01:12] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh, hey. No. [01:01:15] Speaker A: Shout out to Sydney Smith. [01:01:16] Speaker C: Yeah. Shout out to. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. So any. The only other German Creoles I knew when I worked at Streetcar Sandwiches, these guys used to come in with jet black hair, and I was like, who are these people? And it was the Reinekes. So George Reinecke was one of the German Creoles? [01:01:35] Speaker A: Yes, he was. And dad, George. [01:01:38] Speaker C: George Senior was a professor. He was a francophone professor at uno, but had. [01:01:44] Speaker A: They had the German last name, but the. [01:01:45] Speaker C: But Heinecke. [01:01:46] Speaker A: He was. He was a. An expert on New Orleans culture. [01:01:51] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [01:01:52] Speaker A: And you know that. That little triangle across. Across from the original Whole Foods on esp? [01:02:00] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. [01:02:02] Speaker B: It's. [01:02:02] Speaker A: George said that used to belong to my family. We lost that triangle in the shuffle over. Over the years, you know? [01:02:10] Speaker C: Yeah. And I was supposed to gain his sitar the other day, and somebody ended up throwing it away. Yeah. [01:02:18] Speaker A: Now that's a guy. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get on the podcast. He was still alive while we had. While the podcast was going. But he was so out of his mind the last couple of years. You know, I wasn't. I. I didn't want to exploit him, you know, but still, once he was gone, the day he was gone, I was like, I should have gotten him on. [01:02:34] Speaker C: I should have. That is the biggest loss. Well, his girlfriend, Melinda, she worked with my mom at Superior Coffee, and we got her to sing at jazz festivals with us one time, and she's gone. [01:02:46] Speaker A: Melinda Pendleton. I played in a band with her. I was in her barnyard buddies. [01:02:51] Speaker C: Absolutely. No, that's what I'm saying is, like, all these great people, you know, that aren't around, and we all have musical relationships with them. And, you know, the first recording I did was punk rock record 45 with the disappointed Parents. And we did a song called Drugs, and it was a kind of when Reagan was around, and it was like, well, are these drugs for or are we against drugs? Like, say no to drugs. And it was just hilarious. So, I mean, I. And. And then I was in a production company of hardcore punk music called Null and Void with Karen Barenko and Lorraine Accardo. And Karen came in from LA a few weeks ago, and we sat here and I said, well, let me text Dave. This bar Snaker Jake ain't gonna be what you had 20 years ago. Sure enough, Dave answers the text because she thought she gave him a ticket to the Red Rockers last time. And Dave was so wasted, he thought he could just walk up to Tipitina's and they'd let him in. They didn't let him in. Karen gave him a ticket. So anyway, he showed up. We got blitzed here a couple of weeks ago, and I'm sitting in the same spot, and sure enough, she got Dave Clements here, and then we went to see Johnny J. We been seeing Jay over 40 years, so it's like, man, old homework. Maybe you'll be here for that colonoscopy. Who knows? [01:04:14] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't count yourself out. [01:04:16] Speaker B: Yeah, I have no idea what you're talking about. [01:04:18] Speaker C: Right. [01:04:19] Speaker A: Lost Manny a while ago. [01:04:20] Speaker C: It's okay. [01:04:22] Speaker A: Totally understand all the names, but Karen. Yeah. Yeah, I. I remember seeing Karen at the first Red Rockers reunion. Karen's always a. A, a welcome face to see, a friendly face from the old days. [01:04:33] Speaker C: But my other nickname was. Was Joe plus 20. And I know Manny requires nine, so I. I'm glad I listened to the last podcast to kind of know what was up. [01:04:43] Speaker A: Got a mind like a steel cage, Joe. [01:04:45] Speaker C: Got to. [01:04:46] Speaker A: I like it. I like it. [01:04:48] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:04:48] Speaker A: Well, we're kind of on the downslope of the podcast here, Joe, so there's lots of big things happening for you. [01:04:54] Speaker C: New albums, libraries. [01:04:56] Speaker A: It's exciting. [01:04:57] Speaker C: It's very exciting. [01:04:58] Speaker A: On tour, Going on tour. [01:05:00] Speaker C: Tour. [01:05:01] Speaker A: Driving your motorcycle around. [01:05:03] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:05:03] Speaker A: God be with you. [01:05:04] Speaker C: Yes. [01:05:05] Speaker A: Because, you know, I. I don't let anybody in my family ride a bicycle in New Orleans because. [01:05:11] Speaker C: Oh, too dangerous. Yeah. [01:05:13] Speaker A: You know, motorcycle is like a faster version of that to me, but I guess it's heavier and louder Some people tell me about motorcycles, like the motorcycle riders, and say, no, I want a loud motorcycle. [01:05:24] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:05:24] Speaker A: That's how people know I'm there. [01:05:26] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, my dad gave that to me when I was a kid. I was looking for my bicycle at Christmas, and I couldn't find my bike. My dad pulls up on a mini bike with training wheels. So I was like, the shit in my neighborhood then. And we had two Sears motorcycles. And I've been riding all my life, so I don't know any other way to get around. I ain't gonna wait for no damn bus. So I ride my bike, and I try to not drink too much, you know, and I try to be responsible, you know? [01:05:53] Speaker B: Where do you live here? [01:05:54] Speaker C: I live in Lower Garden District now. [01:05:56] Speaker B: Okay. [01:05:57] Speaker C: Yeah. At the Creole Gardens. Oh, yeah. [01:06:00] Speaker B: I don't know where that is, but yeah. Lower Garden. [01:06:03] Speaker C: Lower Garden District, Yeah. Not near The World War II Museum and Popeyes. [01:06:07] Speaker B: World War II Museum, yeah. That place is a scam. Oh, God. [01:06:12] Speaker A: It's pretty cool. [01:06:13] Speaker C: It's a beautiful. Well, you know why it's here? The Higgins boat. [01:06:17] Speaker A: That's right. [01:06:17] Speaker B: That saved Tom Hanks, you know? [01:06:21] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:06:22] Speaker B: I went there once. It's so dark. [01:06:24] Speaker C: Overwhelming. Well, you got to go at night and look in up. [01:06:27] Speaker B: It's so dark, you can't see any of the exhibits. They've got such low lighting on everything. [01:06:32] Speaker C: Yeah, I don't know what that's about. That's curatorial. [01:06:35] Speaker B: If you're an old veteran, you can't see that. [01:06:38] Speaker A: Sure, sure. [01:06:39] Speaker B: You're blind as a bat, man. You need to pump up the lighting. [01:06:42] Speaker C: I lived in Berlin at Checkpoint Charlie, and I was. Saw it up close, so I could tell you I was there at 84 to 85. More. [01:06:49] Speaker B: I was there right after the Wall went down. [01:06:52] Speaker C: Oh, well, this was before that it was happening. You had to go to the clubs, and they would look at the window to see if they let you in. In the clubs in Berlin. Then when. [01:07:01] Speaker A: When. When Blixa Bargell was still bartending. [01:07:05] Speaker C: Yeah, Blixer was there, actually. They're playing at the Jungle, and he was going out with diamond galas. And Malaria was there, but Malaria came here and moved here. So we got a lot more in common. Between Lydia Lunch and. And Glenn Styler. We got a lot of mutual. [01:07:26] Speaker B: Now, you always knew what was. [01:07:30] Speaker A: Kurt file. [01:07:31] Speaker C: What about the Wall? [01:07:32] Speaker B: The Wall. You always knew what was on the other side. [01:07:35] Speaker C: Yeah. Machine Gun. When I got there, Turkey was playing jerk. [01:07:39] Speaker B: What's on the other side of the Wailing Wall? Is what I want to know. You have that wailing wall, I think. [01:07:45] Speaker A: Temple foundation. [01:07:47] Speaker C: Yeah. Of prayers. Like you sticking. What do you call them now? [01:07:51] Speaker B: Why are they waiting at that wall to begin with? Why are they so angry? Are they angry? [01:07:56] Speaker C: No, they're sad. They're. They're showing their humility. [01:08:00] Speaker A: Well, it's sorrow for the destroyed temple. [01:08:04] Speaker C: For the destroyed temple? Yeah, cuz there was a temple there. [01:08:07] Speaker B: So what's on the other side of that wall, you think? [01:08:09] Speaker C: I don't know. I haven't been there, but I, I've never to get there. Cuz, you know, if you want a whale, I. [01:08:16] Speaker A: It's amazing. [01:08:17] Speaker B: You want a whale. [01:08:18] Speaker C: I, I at least know how to whale anything. [01:08:20] Speaker B: I saw some footage recently and there's these guys like banging their head on that wall. [01:08:24] Speaker C: They're banging their heads, nodding. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [01:08:29] Speaker B: They're nodding off or nodding out. I don't know. [01:08:33] Speaker A: Yeah, well, moving with, with spirit. [01:08:37] Speaker C: With spirit. [01:08:38] Speaker A: Jerusalem is incredible. You'll. You'll love it. [01:08:41] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:08:41] Speaker B: Ruka, you said next. [01:08:43] Speaker A: Next year. Next year in Jerusalem, Joe. [01:08:45] Speaker C: Next year, Next year. Inshallah. Inshallah. [01:08:48] Speaker A: All right, well, thank you so much, Joe, for coming on the podcast. This is terrific. [01:08:52] Speaker B: Joe, give him a stick. [01:08:54] Speaker A: Oh yeah, yeah. And the story, presentation of the stickers. All right, well, all right, Joe, as always on the Troubleman podcast, we like to say trouble never ends. [01:09:08] Speaker B: But Joe, it continues to struggle. [01:10:11] Speaker C: Jesus. [01:11:53] Speaker A: Sa. [01:12:19] Speaker C: Holy gag. The bully.

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