Strollin’ on Royal Street
A BMT Mixtape
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There are a handful of writers in Mediumland who have encouraged me during my tenure here. It’s flattering when anyone appreciates my writing, but it’s particularly so when someone far more talented than I does.
Kay Bolden has buoyed my writing over the years. Gratefully (and somewhat shockingly), I’ve gotten the impression she’s understood my Bonnie idiosyncracies. I’m a quirky bird so that’s not something I take for granted. Thank you!
This mixtape has been biding its time. It pulled me in several directions over a few weeks but eventually, I finally figured out where it was trying to take me.
It wanted to go about an hour away from where I live now. To “the city” as the local Bay St. Louis folks refer to it. To NOLA as most of the locals abbreviate it. The Big Easy. N’awlins.
In the Quarter, I’m partial to, yep, Royal Street. A little classier than some of its neighboring streets but plenty of character and characters to entertain, amuse, and delight.
My latest mixtape is dedicated to a talented writer, faithful editor of P.S. I Love You, and one cool human. Let’s take a stroll, shall we?
Espen Just rights a wrong: Jerry Lee Lewis should have made his own version of Chuck Berry’s rollickin’ “You Never Can Tell.” This is pretty darn close!
Ronnie Lane and Emmylou Harris create perfectly serviceable covers, but my ear wants THIS.
Exuberant, careening, epic, off-kilter, bombastic, in-your-face. This sucker tumbles along for a few seconds, then kicks in and is unrelenting till the end.
There’s a spontaneity to it that reminds me of an impromptu street parade you come across while wandering through the Quarter.
