New Orleans Street Musicians

When I was 19 I hitchhiked from Maine to New Orleans and spent some time there living at the Metro Hotel. The Metro was a “Working Man’s” Hotel which I was informed of when I showed up at the front desk wearing a backpack and carrying a guitar. In other words, the desk clerk was just letting me know that most guys who stayed at the Metro worked all day and were there to sleep for cheap not listen to music. I took the hint and decided not to play music in my room.

So, in an effort to stay out of trouble back at the Hotel, I went to the French Quarter and tried playing my guitar on the street. I played a little with a washtub bass player named Mustapha Muhaud Humarabi. I happened to meet Slewfoot, a New Orleans Street singer whom I met again a few years later in Durham. I wound up playing music with Slewfoot at bars and small festivals around NC.