With the Mardi Gras haze faded and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival looming on the horizon it seemed like a good opportunity to reach out to New Orleans’ finest bassist/business wiz, Galactic’s Rob Mercurio about the many responsibilities he has amassed. From protecting a legendary club to keeping his own sanity throughout Jazz Fest, Rob told Live For Live Music how a simple ten days in the Big Easy can feel like a month or more. Read a transcript of the conversation below, edited for length and clarity.
On just how seriously Galactic takes its collective ownership of Tipitina’s, a true musical national landmark:
Rob Mercurio: We take it very seriously. Of course we’ve played there a bunch, we grew up seeing shows there and we understand its importance to the New Orleans music community and the fans. We try to keep the legend alive while subtly upgrading the experience. We’ve changed the P.A., a couple little things about the stage. That brings a lot of joy to us. Keep it what it is but also make it the best it can be.
People say “Oh my god! You changed this thing or that!” and we think they’re noticing it’s all for the better. As for the rest…we’re not super involved in the bookings, we do overlook what’s happening but we have a talent buyer that was there before us so it really all comes down to them and our general manager.
I will say I have filled in a shift for security. It was during one of the COVID peaks, for an Anders [Osborne] show, and the operations guy called us kinda frantic and didn’t know what to do so Jeff [Raines, Galactic guitarist] and I took the shift. We had a couple of fans who were like “What are you guys doing here, working security?” but it was okay, we took the easiest spots.
On whether every musician who calls New Orleans their home fiercely protects the scene and history almost from birth:
RM: That’s very true. I can’t claim it from birth because I moved here when I was 17 but I instantly recognized this as the truth because it has this culture. Sadly, I think a lot of cities have lost their unique identity, especially in music. There used to be multiple areas that were known for different genres and their own really strong musical identity but that’s rare these days.
That makes it feel even more important to keep this alive, protect this and perpetuate it because it’s such a rarity. When I moved here [I heard] sounds and rhythms and melodies that I had just never heard before. I knew right away that this was a place that needed to be perpetuated.
On his involvement in the New Orleans edition of the Take Me To The River music documentary anthology and serving as musical director for the live tribute show during Jazz Fest 2022:
RM: Since working on the New Orleans edition of the film series the director, Martin Shore, and I have become really close. We worked together on a lot of projects over COVID. We filmed a lot of video stuff at Esplanade [Studios in New Orleans]. I served as musical director for the first show we did at Jazz Fest just as I will be doing this year. We had me, Ivan, and Ian Neville (Dumpstaphunk), John Cleary, and Terrence Higgins.
As for the title of M.D. that was all Martin Shore. He always tells me I’m the biggest team player he’s ever met and likes to call me out when he can. I’m pretty modest and I truthfully didn’t even know he was going to give me that title until I saw the ad for the show. Honestly, I’m just not the kind of person that needs to be credited for everything.
[The role of musical director] comes pretty naturally to me, where say, with Galactic, we’ve had special guests and so on…planning rehearsals, figuring out where and when folks should come out. It’s not a huge leap for me.
Ivan Neville, Ian Neville, and Take Me to the River ALL-STARS LIVE in New Orleans II TMTTR LIVE
With Jazz Fest looming on the horizon there’s the perennial question hometown artists face…”When am I supposed to sleep?”:
RM: It’s funny…about this time of the year I’ll start looking at the calendar and thinking “Okay, that day I can actually get a full night’s sleep. On that one, I’ll get a couple hours here, then a nap in the afternoon.” It starts to look pretty daunting. I will say these last couple years I’ve tried to keep my schedule a little more manageable.
There were years when I would just say “Yes” to everything and then find myself with a pretty crazy schedule. I like to be able to prepare for the shows, be in a good mindset. So I’m a little more choosy. There’s guys like George Porter Jr. and Stanton [Moore, Galactic drummer] who never wanna stop. George, in particular…it’s just amazing how hard he works. He’s 75! He’s 25 years older than me and has twice the energy.
Before we let Rob off the hook to go store up some sleep we couldn’t resist the opportunity to check in on the Tipitina’s Record Club’s upcoming releases:
RM: It’s a really fun project that Ben [Ellman, Galactic sax player] and I have been spearheading. One of the few blessings of the pandemic was it gave Ben Ellman and me a chance to start the Tipitina’s Record Club. It’s been really fun getting a chance to utilize this huge library and put out a new record every two months.
The next one coming up, I guess around Jazz Fest, is this excellent Dr. John solo performance from 1984. It was pretty rare to find him playing solo live so that is pretty exciting for us. We have a new Anders Osborne record coming out after that. After that we have some stuff brewin’ up! It’s been really exciting finding and sharing these hidden gems.
We’re trying to split our releases into thirds. One-third is from the live, unreleased stuff from the Tipitina’s archive, a third being reissues of music that hasn’t been put back out in 30, 40 years if ever…that’s really fun. And the last third is new stuff like the Anders record. We’re even talking about recording and releasing some new stuff ourselves, like helping Jelly [Joseph, current touring Galactic vocalist] produce her solo record.
With that packed of a schedule, let’s hope Rob gets “That one full night of sleep” he mentioned:
RM: Thanks, fingers crossed!
During the “Daze Between” Jazz Fest’s two weekends, music fans in New Orleans can also take part in the fun at Daze Between New Orleans, a two-day music festival at Faubourg Brewery on Tuesday, May 2nd and Wednesday, May 3rd featuring four sets of Goose over two nights in addition to performances by Tank and the Bangas, Lawrence, Neal Francis, David Shaw, George Porter Jr., Eggy, Melt, Honey Island Swamp Band, J & The Causeways, and The Quickening. A portion of proceeds from the Daze Between New Orleans will benefit New Orleans nonprofit organizations via Rex Foundation. Find ticketing information via the festival website.
