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dinners to
sell for $5 a plate. The
entertainment, on the
other hand, was free to
all that stopped in.
Close to $500 was raised through the concert.
When asked if this was
an event that OBH would
like to see become a
yearly happening, Ms.
Katherine Martin
expressed her
enthusiasm, “Yes, I
would love to make this
into an annual event. It
was a complete success
and something that
everyone really seemed
to enjoy. Next year
we’ll sell tee-shirts!"
Around 250 people attended the event that lasted
most of the afternoon.
The crowd included a
majority of the OBH
residents, OBH alum, and
Baton Rouge locals. The
crowd seemed to have a
wonderful time
throughout the concert.
Plenty of them were
singing with the
artists, and even more
were dancing to the
vibrating music.
Billy Callaway, lead singer for Zenbilly (pictured
above),
said, “It was a
wonderful time. I
remember seeing two
little girls dancing
around smiling and just
acting silly and I
couldn’t help but smile
and laugh also.”
Each of the bands played a half-hour of their
original music. The
crowd was delighted with
the variety of genres
that performed at the
event. There was
certainly something for
everyone’s taste. The
Lagniappe Dulcimers
kicked off the event
with their earthy
peaceful sounds. It made
it hard to look around
and not be thankful for
your surroundings on
such a beautiful day.
Automatic Funk Machine
followed with more of a
funky sound when they
began their performance
with their own rendition
of ‘The Pink Panther.’
It was a version unique
to their style of funk.
Next, The Blues Runners,
a Lafayette band, took
the stage and gave the
crowd a serving of
blues. Their
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performance is easily
described as straight
from the soul. Betsy
Braud, with her piano
and flute, followed with
“healing” jazz music.
She had the crowd
chanting when she
shouted the question,
“Do you want to be
healed?” It is easy to
see how she has come to
be known as the Jazz
Nurse.
A Cup of Tea took the
stage next with their
unique mix of blues and
rock. They had the
entire audience clapping
in rhythm to their
music. Smithfield Fair
followed with their folk
music. The group has
already released eight
CDs. This band’s sound
was unlike any other. It
was reminiscent of
Scottish and Irish folk
music. Torn and Frayed
delighted the crowd next
with their performance.
They brought more of a
70’s style rock sound to
the concert.
Next up was legendary
blues band, Henry Gray
and the Cats.
Henry Gray, New Orleans
local, is a master of
the blues. This
band’s performance had
the parking lot filled
as the concert continued
on. Gray had the
audience dancing and
shouting along with his
lyrics. This band’s
performance was the high
point of the day for
many. Callaway agreed,
“This had to have been
the peak performance. It
was, simply put,
inspiring and soulful.”
The Black Box’s funky tunes followed. The sound
of the trombone filled
the late afternoon air
with a jazzy musk.
This band had a
wonderfully distinctive
sound all their own that
left the crowd in a
dream-like daze rocking
their heads to the
music.
Zenbilly concluded the night with their musical
performance of poems
written by the O’Brien
House residents.
This was an uplifting
end to the concert.
Billy Callaway, the
vocalist for Zenbilly
explained that they
wanted to give something
back to the residents
that they could truly be
proud of. If you were so
unfortunate to have
missed this event, be on
look out for it next
fall. OBH hopes to make
it even bigger and
better. We look forward
to seeing you there. |
