Experience the Best in Southern Music at Ogden After Hours

Take three floors of Southern art, add the best in local and Southern music, mixed with beer, wine, and specialty cocktails, and you have the ingredients for one of my favorite activities in New Orleans, Ogden After Hours.

More than just a museum, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art celebrates all aspects of Southern culture. Part of this celebration includes a weekly opportunity to see the best in local and regional music, including blues, jazz, R&B, country, folk, Cajun, bluegrass, and rock. Now in its seventh year, Ogden After Hours takes place every Thursday (excluding holidays) from 6-8 PM. Past performers include Theresa Andersson, brothers James and Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, Sunpie Barnes, Jon Cleary, Jeremy Davenport, Little Freddie King, Ingrid Lucia, Ellis Marsalis, Jon Mooney, Stanton Moore, Ivan Neville, Anders Osborne, and Walter "Wolfman" Washington, just to name a few. I will never forget Theresa Andersson’s post-Katrina Ogden After Hours performance. Other personal favorites have been Fred LeBlanc, Linnzi Zaorski, Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm, DJ Jubilee, and Rebirth Brass Band with Cheeky Blakk.

An important component of Ogden After Hours is the interview. The artists are interviewed by local music writers; these interviews are a great way to learn about the musician’s influences. The interview typically begins around 6:30. If the interview is not your cup of tea, this is the ideal time to head to the rooftop and enjoy the Ogden’s spectacular view of the city, or wander through the three floors of art galleries.

Like any great New Orleans event, Ogden After Hours includes the O Bar, a full bar which features a specialty cocktail each month. Skip happy hour and head to the Ogden for cocktails and live music. Ogden After Hours isn’t just for the after-work crowd, however. Ogden After Hours provides fun for the whole family. There is a kid’s activity table (located on the third floor), with a new craft project each week.

This month there are three great concerts that illustrate the diversity of the musical offerings at Ogden After Hours: legendary blues artist Chris Thomas King on October 14; critically-acclaimed jazz drummer and vibraphone player Jason Marsalis on October 21; and offBEAT Magazine’s 2009 Best Emerging Artist, Honey Island Swamp Band, with their fusion of Southern rock and blues on October 28. I hope you will check out one of these three concerts this month. I know I’ll be there.

Ogden After Hours

Ogden Museum of Southern Art

925 Camp Street, New Orleans, LA

Thursdays, 6-8 PM

Admission- $10, free for members