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 Tipitina's Is a New Orleans-Styled Answer To What Ails
New Orleans
always has held fast to its slow-moving, Southern ways. From the
Bourbon Street balconies to strong-willed Jazz beats, both similarly
molded over hundreds of years, New Orleans seems conceived out of sweat
and emotion. Music spills out of every pub and cross street, with the
nonexistent open container laws and the lack of closing hour — it is
every bar owner’s fantasy. But with all the competition, originality
and longevity in New Orleans are not always the products of creative
marketing. More often, it is history and magic that make a place
noteworthy.
Established as a small juke joint by a group of
self-described hippies (The Fabulous Fo’teen) in 1977, Tipitina’s was a
gift of gratitude for the infamous musician Professor Longhair — a
place for him to spend his last three years of life, banging the ivory
with his seemingly possessed fingers and Rock, Gospel rhythm.
Henry
Roeland Byrd, nicknamed Professor Longhair for his unkempt tresses, was
a pianist, singer and composer of more than 15 albums in his lifetime.
When the Professor passed on in 1980, the venue — called Tipitina’s
after one of his songs — still had a history yet to write.
From the
height of Disco clubs proffering Electronic sound in the late ‘70s to
the advent of Heavy Metal in the mid-’80s to the Seattle Grunge of the
‘90s — none of it ever mattered to the following which continued to
grow — drinking, dancing and worshiping music inside of Tipitina’s.
Contained in this building on the corner of Napoleon and Tchoupitoulas
in the Uptown section of New Orleans today is the pulse of music,
mayhem and even the catalyst for renewal after Katrina. At 28 years
old, Tipitina’s has a history to its hallowed walls so saturated that
if they began to talk, it might be the only time any band would refuse
to play there.
Deep Roots and Strong Sounds 
Tipitina’s has survived and
thrived on the warmth of family built around love and music. Becoming
so much more than just a bar and a stage, music fans wax nostalgic
about the venue’s late night shows during Jazz Fest and Mardi Gras,
about watching fingers slide down frets or dance across ivory to create
music history. Names of legends such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dr. John,
Parliament Funkadelic, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy and James Brown all have
earned their dues on the stage inside the 175-year-old building.
“Some of the Neville Brothers even lived above the club,” Marketing Director Stacy Fortenberry says.
In 1980, New Orleanians heard the first broadcasts of the fledgling
radio station WWOZ from the upstairs offices. It was true Tipitina’s —
a microphone was lowered through a hole cut in the floor to capture the
live sound from the stage, there was no air-conditioning and the only
running water upstairs came from a neighbor’s garden hose hung through
the window. Today, the listener-supported, volunteer-operated WWOZ
(located in Louis Armstrong Park) can be heard in cities across the
country.
In 2006, Tipitina’s serves a 1,000-person capacity. The décor is still
sparse, the music’s still hot and a long-gone Professor Longhair
watches over it all from a mural above the stage.
Cultivating Musical Culture
Always with an air of gratitude and simplicity, the establishment has
continued to expand in the realms of musical and cultural devotion.
Three years ago, The Tipitina’s Foundation was created to put
instruments in the arms of school children citywide. Several times
during the year, General Manager and Talent Buyer Adam Shipley says,
“we get all the bands to play for free, and the money goes directly to
buying instruments for schools. In the past four years, we have bought
$300,000 worth of instruments for 11 New Orleans school bands.”
Promotions such as “Instruments A’ Comin’ — which in April of 2002
raised $22,000 for two high school bands — and Tipitina’s Internship
Program (TIP) — which teaches kids all aspects of music from
composition to managing and recording — have made Tipitina’s a
community blessing. The stage has become so coveted, many musicians are
happy to forgo a paycheck
in honor of the house and the cause.
“When we did Willie Nelson and Arlo Guthrie,” Shipley says, “that is
probably, hands down one of my favorite shows. And, that is a show they
did completely for free.”
Comin’ Back Stronger
When Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 29th of 2005, millions
of Americans watched horrified as the floodwaters began to rise.
Dragged into the stark light of day in the following months was the
fact that so many of the musicians, who had brought America joy by
night, were now left homeless. Music is an industry which offers no
health insurance, no life insurance and for many, only a hand-to-mouth
— or mouth-to-microphone — existence.
When Tipitina’s opened again for the first show back in late October,
it was no surprise to watch the whole establishment dive in to save the
music.
“Basically, our mission expanded,” says Bill Taylor, director of The
Tipitina’s Foundation. “Before we did three programs, and we did them
effectively. Now, we have added this whole aspect of artist relief.”
In a shocking move that fused a bar and a totally philanthropic notion
completely for one of the first times in history, Tipitina’s, under the
request of current owner Roland Von Kurnatowski, became a 501(c)3
charity. Or, in other words, it became completely non-profit.
“The club is now like an arm of the foundation,” Fortenberry says. The
upstairs rooms once known as the hot, stuffy quarters of WWOZ and the
Neville’s sleeping arrangements are now the Tipitina’s Music Office
Co-Op, providing artists with high-speed Internet, phones and fax lines
free of charge.
The offices, Fortenberry says, “act as a place where people can come
and get resources on grants, loans, housing, healthcare. Every Friday,
there is a group of lawyers from Tulane who come and talk about legal
topics from copywriting to contract work to licensing.”
Downstairs, musicians can walk in and enjoy hot soul food at discount
prices, network with one another during the day and find support and
comfort in a difficult time.
Beyond the Bar Tabs
Today,
Shipley says, “80 percent of the city is still in bad shape.” Yet,
Tipitina’s has become a silver lining in it all.
“More people are out to see live music now,” he says. “All of your
local and regional bands have developed a much better stage show
because once the storm hit they were forced out on the road.” In need
of help or lending a hand, musicians converge these days inside of
Tipitina’s to mend the broken areas of artistry.
“Fats Domino is putting out a new CD under our foundation,” Fortenberry
says. “A good part of the proceeds are going back. He is a good cat. He
lost everything in the 9th Ward where he was living, and it is amazing
how we can connect and do something with him at that level.”
Tipitina’s has had its fair share of challenges beyond the initial
damage to the roof, as well. “Yes, we cut back,” Shipley says. “We had
to let go of four management positions that Stacy and I are now dealing
with. But, 60 to 70 percent of the staff came back. We find that to be
loyalty and dedication to Tip’s, because we are so much more than just
a nightclub. We are doing as much promotion for the foundation as we
can, and on the nights that we are open, we are finding business is
better than ever.
“The industry,” he says, “as a whole wants to
encourage people to come down here. That helps
everything. It was the worst natural disaster that has ever hit the
U.S.A. We were at the center, and it still could not blow us away. We
are bruised. We are beaten. But, we are still here. Musicians I know that were given everything they could
possibly want in Texas or Colorado still left and came back to
nothing.”
While operators out there may be skeptical of how a non-profit bar may
endure forever, Taylor attributes the ongoing long lines and high bar
tabs to Tipitina’s ability to serve the peoples’ needs beyond a cold
beer on a hot night.
“Bars are not just places that people go to have a
drink,” he says. “They are like community centers. People have such a
sense of ‘we are in this together.’ Bars are the places
where people go to celebrate that. The feeling inside this club has
been more powerful than ever since
we
reopened.” NCB
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