When the NOLA Zydeco Fest team asked me to create this year's official festival poster, I knew it had to feel like a homecoming. For our community, this festival is more than music and food. It's where families come together and where young people learn where they come from. Honoring two culture bearers From the very beginning, the festival and I knew we wanted to honor two people who carry Creole culture everywhere they go: Robin Barnes and Rusty Metoyer. Rusty picked up the accordion at 14,...

Twenty Years Later: The Blocked Punt, a Grocery Store Friendship, and the Night Hope Came Home Twenty years ago this week, Steve Gleason blocked a punt in the Superdome, and a whole city found its voice again. Most people remember where they were that night. I remember exactly where I was, because I was sitting with his family. Before he was a symbol of rebirth for New Orleans, Steve was one of my favorite customers at Whole Foods. He'd come through my line all the time, a laid-back,...

Top Ten thats not bad...out of all the WEDDING PAINTERS of the world! Some honors sneak up on you. This is one of them. I was recently named #8 on Feedspot's Top 45 Live Wedding Painter Influencers list for 2026 — a worldwide ranking of the live wedding painters making the biggest impact on Instagram right now. Out of an entire global field of working live wedding painters, landing in the top ten still feels a little unreal to say out loud. What This List Actually Measures Feedspot's...