Episode 128: Talk w/ Grammy winning musician, Keith Frazier(Rebirth Brass Brand)

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0:42 Not only will you save each money next month, but you'll also be able to secure your family and your home. So do yourself a favor and call or text 209-573-0589. Again, that number is 209-573-0589 to get a free energy savings consultation about your path to energy independence today. Guidelines Smart Energy. Take control over rising energy costs. All right, everybody. Welcome to this week's episode of Uncle Dad Talks. I'm Uncle Dad, and with me as always is the ever so handsome, the raging Cajun himself, Mike Hampton. The raging Cajun in the house, yes. Yes. Indeed. Mike, it's exciting because this is now your second week in a row where I'm giving you the keys and you're taking us for a ride. How do you feel about that?

1:29 Do you feel like you graduated? I feel like my driving skills are getting better. I'm learning. I'm learning. I'm learning how to make turns and drive the speed limit. What do you think? Would you agree or would you not agree? I think you got to go a little faster. You know what I mean? Okay. You got to give the need for speed, you know, but today's guest is a very special one and I'll let you introduce them. But Mike, I know that we were kind of celebrating all things NOLA this month, so very excited to also have this guest on as well. Mike, without further ado, catch them keys because I'm giving them to you now. Go ahead and introduce our very lovely guest.

2:12 Yeah, well, very excited for this guest. Yes, in celebration of Carnival and Mardi Gras this month in New Orleans and Louisiana, we have the bass drummer and one of the founding members of the Grammy Award winning and award show performing, as well as another Grammy nomination in 2019. Rebirth Brass Band co-founding member, Keith Frazier. Keith, welcome. Hey, thanks for having me. Appreciate it. Yeah. So who holds on to the Grammy award? Like, is that, you know, cause I hear a lot of times people win a Grammy, they, they, they downplay it and they say, oh, it's in the bathroom on top of the, on top of the toilet shelf.

2:58 Who has the Grammy and where is this? Well, actually, so the way it goes, if you have less than nine members, I'm not sure if the rules are still the same. Everyone in the band will get a Grammy. And since we had eight band members, we all receive a trophy so everyone has their individual trophies i'm not certain where they put them at my trophy is actually sitting right here in my living room a lot of times when people come in the house they ask me is that real like yeah like what they don't want to take a picture with it and you know so i say hey pick it up take a picture you know and they want to find out well what do you do you know because i live in texas now so people here don't know who the hell i am who are you like just a regular guy man playing the band uh-huh yeah and then they see that and they're like wait a minute what kind of band exactly so you have to explain to them what new orleans is all about brass bands and that kind of stuff they're pretty receptive to it, okay interesting yeah i didn't realize you didn't live in uh in new orleans anymore so i'm gonna get to i'm gonna get to more of that later but you guys also um rebirth just celebrated celebrated 35 years recently right like a 35 year anniversary of a band so are you one is that one of the long that has to be one of the longest running brass bands in new orleans right actually the band has been around 40 years i started in the band when i was 14 or 55 now so and it went about it went really fast doesn't seem like 40 years at all and uh we try to celebrate as much as we possibly can every year

4:28 when we reached that milestone. Like, hey, we've been around for... Because the average lifespan of a band is five years. So after five years, bands normally break up. So we've been here 40 years, so we're kind of blessed. Yeah. And the other bands are the ones that have been around just as long as longer, not necessarily with Brad's fans. Got the Nevels. Irma Thomas band, a lot of different bands that have been together for a very long time. Yeah. Preservation Hall. You know, different. Preservation Hall. Yeah. Yeah. So you started, what was it? If I'm, correct me if I'm wrong, in 1983 with your brother, Phil, right? Right. So in 1983, my brother, Phil Afraez, myself, Kermit Ruffins, and some other guys, we went high school just messing around and went out of the quarters to play for some tips. And here we are 40 years later.

5:16 Were you guys like, yeah, Kermit Ruffin's legendary trumpet player, which is amazing that, you know, you guys were the nucleus of starting the band. Were you guys like in band class together? Like, how does it come to be? We were all in high school marching band together. And my brother Phillip was asked to put a group of guys together to go play at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown New Orleans. And at the time, I was still in junior high school. And they went down to play at the Sheraton. They said, hey, we can't let you guys play because they're serving alcohol. So my brother said, hey, man, I have a great idea. Let's go on Bourbon Street and play for tips this week. We're headed back home anyway. Let's make a couple of dollars. And everyone in the band kind of liked the idea of playing for tips. Kermit wasn't in the band at the time. And they said, hey, man, we could do this over the course of the summer. Instead of working some summer job, we could come out here and play for tips.

6:03 And that's pretty much how that started. That was the start, huh? Just playing on Bourbon. Playing on Bourbon for tips, that's it. Yeah, with all the tourists. and I mean I'm sure bourbon was a whole was a whole different scene whole different whole different scene because at the time we started there were a lot of jazz clubs on bourbon like the Famous Door a couple other clubs, on bourbon I can't remember the exact names but they were they were probably five or six different jazz clubs with actual actual live bands playing in those clubs now bourbon is mostly daiquiri shops, beer you know beer holes there's no real it almost feels like. When I go to new Orleans and I, you know, I'll walk down bourbon, I don't go to bourbon, but I'll walk down there.

6:48 And it almost feels like I'm in Tijuana now when I'm there, it just, you know, like to get the people blowing the whistles with the, with the drink and the little syringe and they're trying to shove it in your mouth and you know, yeah, just different scene. But so, so are you and your brother, are you, you and Phil, are you guys like best friends? Like you guys always hanging out back then at this point or was the band kind of what brought you guys close well because my brother philip was a couple years older than myself he was in high school i was in junior high school and when he actually put everything together i was just on the sideline kind of watching i thought those guys are crazy like you're gonna do what and i was actually like he said we're gonna play in the french quarter would you like to be the grand marshal there's a video actually i have a video of myself dancing in front of the band i'm all all dancing, having a good time. I'm collecting the tips, passing the hat.

7:39 And it just so happened, the guy who was playing the bass drum that summer, he had to work one of those summer jobs. So they had to go play in this housing project in New Orleans to see, hey man, get the drum. I'm like, what? He said, you get the drum, you're going to play the bass drum. And here I am 40 years later. Yeah, yeah. Just threw you right in there. Just threw me in there. I tried playing the harmonica when I was a kid and my dad got me and it was just horrible. is horrible. I'm glad there's no video of me playing anything. It's all an instrument to play, though. Harmonica, yeah, it's all to do. We need to bring that back. That's how we'll start opening the show. I'll do a harmonica duo. Good idea. There you go.

8:23 Did Rebirth need a harmonicist? Is that a harmonicist? We don't need a harmonica or harmonicist. Neither do we need a guitar player. young. Okay. Right. Man, man, I, uh, so I'm, so I'm reading about the band, you know, doing some research on you guys. And one of the things I love, you know, you mentioned Kermit was, was the different people that have come through the band. And one of them is what your former, Your former trombone, no, trombone player, Glenn, Glenn David Andrews, right? Am I saying that, his name right? Yeah. Right. Or no, was it, he is now, he's cousins with Glenn, who is now your trumpet player.

9:09 Right. Glenn David Andrews and Clint, Glenn Hall are actually cousins. Got to keep track of all the Glenns. There are a lot of Glenns in New Orleans and a lot of family people who've come in and out of the band. So it's kind of hard to keep track. Apu Su and when they played it, all that kind of stuff. Yeah, it's hard for me to keep track, even with my notes. And they're also cousins, is this right, with Trombone Shorty, who also was in Rebirth at some point. Right, Trombone Shorty, he wasn't actually in the band, but one of the shows that he played at was this, my brother just hired him to play a show that's out of San Francisco. He was kind of discovered by the Rosebud agency because he was actually playing on stage with us.

9:50 We needed somebody to play trombone he said hey man i'll call trombone shorty like you want to make a gig like yeah why not he came up with a gig yeah that's one of the beautiful things about about new orleans jazz right is that people can just kind of hop in and hop out and jam with you guys yeah exactly and then i read that your brother phil at one point was stepfather to soldier slim is that true too right my brother phil was step was was soldier slim stepfather yeah exactly rest in peace rest in peace soldier slim and uh i you know i know towards the the later part of his career he was signed with no limit and man i was such a no limit soldier when i was a teenager okay i like i would tear the the the source ads out of the source magazine and like pin them up on my walls and did you ever have any like connections with with master p being such like a big part of new orleans music like like i know it's a different genre we had a connection with him because Master P's family was living in a housing project called the Magnolia Housing Project.

10:53 And they would get us to complete parties on the weekend. And we knew one of his brothers really well. One of his brothers who unfortunately was shot and killed. We knew him really well. He would hire us all the time to complete parties in the housing project. And we didn't know if Master P was his brother. He's like, yeah, you know, Percy Miller's my brother. We was like, what? He was like, yeah. Was that Kevin? No, Master P has a brother named Randall. I think he was a little older than Master P and he would hire us all the time, That's to play parties. Yeah. Kind of strange. That's cool. That's that's yeah. That's there's so many different connections with, with, with bands and family. And, and I, and I love that. Are you are so like, and you also had another guy in your band who I also love his stuff.

11:36 And it's Shamar Allen who was, was he, and he was part of rebirth or was it kind of a similar thing? No, Shamar was in the band. He was actually in the band for like four or five years. He branched off and started doing his own solo thing and we've had a lot of different people come to the band in 40 years yeah i mean i would imagine that amount of time you would have a lot of different people right um yeah i i we we talked to eric who is now playing trumpet right with you guys and we had him on the show last week and i was hyping up how much i love to hit the sean on Peyton that Shamar did that song for the Saints so good so good yes yeah so are you are you like are you bummed out or does it when it when guys like that leave the band and they're successful are you like hey we want you here in Rebirth like we don't want you going out like we want you no not not at all I'm always advocating and promoting that guys you know do your own thing you know try try your hand at it for yourself if I could help you for your career I'll do as much as I possibly we can because it's a good look for the band like oh yeah i was one time i was playing a revert they're like what like yeah so it's not a bad thing i think it's actually a good thing, because he went on to play with um with the willie nelson band right right some more did it did a.

12:53 Two-year thing with willie nelson that's some other people so that's cool you know a lot of guys have left our band they've done some really big things so, now they always tell me like yeah i was playing a reaver at one time like what i get it. So do you like you kind of being like, you know, one of the OGs of the band, do you help coach them like, like how to do things or do you just kind of let people figure it out? I kind of lead by example. But if they ask me, I'll tell them like, hey, listen, man, if you're trying to make a million dollars, you better try to make five, try to make five. Because it's going to take you four millions to make that one, to get down to that one million. I was telling them it's a lot of work. You know, I'm gonna make it look easy. Yeah, I was giving, you know, tidbits here and there, giving them advice. I'm like, look, don't drive in a car with me for three hours.

13:34 Don't ask me any questions. You know because experience is our greatest teacher and i may actually know something that you don't know so and we'll just kick it around and they always come back and say hey man you know what what are you talking about like yeah that's what i was talking about okay no advice no advice like the advice from the guy who's actually been through it for 40 years all right so do you so you're in texas do you do you play with the band still much or are you just kind of more on the back and behind the scenes now? Playing with the band all the time. I'm not there every Tuesday night. You know, there's a new place that we're playing called Rabbit Hole because we're no longer playing at Maple Leaf. We played at Maple Leaf for almost 30 years. And after COVID kicked in, they decided that they wanted to do something different.

14:17 We're like, okay, no problem. And so we just moved our business over to another location. But I'm not there every Tuesday. I might make one Tuesday out of a month, but when a band is on the road, I'm there. Mm-hmm. Yeah, there's a real... fun quote from Obama that, you know, he said at the end of his presidency when he was speaking in New Orleans that he may finally get to catch Rebirth at the Maple Leaf on a Tuesday. Yeah. What an honor that is. He's just going to have to come to the rabbit hole, you know, as he is. But yeah, I was honored for him to say that. When he said it, everyone was calling like, hey man, President Obama mentioned you guys' name. I'm like, well, he should. We're the Rebirth. Why Why wouldn't he? Yeah.

15:00 But he never reached out to you? You never got to meet him or anything? Well, actually, we ended up playing at the White House. So we actually met him, him and his wife, Michelle. And I always tell the story, and people are like, what? I said, we met, meeting President Obama was great, but meeting Michelle Obama was better. Michelle Obama was so beautiful, she hurt your eyes. Yeah. She was so, not only was she beautiful, you know, outwardly, her personality, the way she is. She said, before I leave out the room, we're playing for the jazz thing that they do at the White House. She said, I'm going to shake everyone's hand. It was like, Ms. Sabama, we need deliciousness. And I'm not leaving until I shook everyone's hand. She shook everybody's hand. She had a brief conversation with her.

15:41 She was so nice. It was unbelievable. Wow. That's cool. It's really amazing when you're in the presence of someone who has that kind of persona about them. Especially someone in such a place, you know. Such a high up. That high up. Yeah, yeah, for real. I was surprised they even invited us to that. Like, you want to invite Rebirth to the White House? Yeah. I'm like, wow. Oh, my goodness. So it was an honor for us to actually play the white house for sitting president like okay so that's one of the biggest things we've ever done in our career was played for president at the white house like how high can you get yeah that's i mean so are you nervous for a gig like that or is it just like are you just business as usual at this point for the most part it was business as usual until the president walked into the room we walked in the room you like whoa you know because you never think you'll meet a president the president of the united states like really Really?

16:34 Yeah. And when they walked in, you try to make sure that you dot your I's and cross your T's and be correct. Yeah. Yeah. And do you guys get to do a tour of the White House and all that stuff while you're there? No, we didn't tour the White House, but we had a chance. The room that we were in, it's a funny story. I forget exactly what rock artist it was, but there's some food out for them, right? And we walk in there, we eat the food, and the guy comes and says, hey, don't worry about it, man. It's the White House. There's plenty more where they came from. Oh, yeah. I mean, all the big names in rock and roll, jazz, they were there. Elgin Rule. Anybody to think of was at that particular jazz function. I was like, Aretha Franklin was there. She performed right before we went on.

17:17 I was like, wow, man, this is really a great honor right here. Yeah. Wow. I mean, you guys are part of that honor. I mean, you know, like, I mean, you know, for Obama to mention you, I mean, you know, already. And Tuesdays usually suck, right? Like, Tuesdays are usually, like, it's, you already went through Monday. Mondays suck. Wednesdays, not even. Then you go to Tuesday. Tuesdays is just whatever day. It's, like, not even Wednesday. It's not even hump day yet. So you guys made Tuesday, like, a day, right? We made Tuesday a day. And the way we got that particular gig at the Maple Leaf, one of our former manager's agent, he said, hey, man, the guy who was playing before us was not James Black, was another great New Orleans musician. He had passed away.

18:04 They said they're looking for someone on Tuesday. So he said, would you guys consider doing a gig? I'm like, yeah, why not? So we went in there. And I mean, you could throw a brick in there and I'd hit anything. It was empty. We probably made $20, not $20 per person, $20. And so the fellow looked at me and said, hey, man, you know what? What I think we should do is let's just stay with it. We have nothing else to do on Tuesdays. And 30 years later, it was probably one of our biggest standing gigs in the city of New Orleans to just play Tuesday nights. Just a packed house every tuesday every tuesday okay and so yeah i guess you know covid changed a lot of things and so that's kind of what prompted you guys to end up going to rabbit hole, yeah so covid kind of changed that and the guy the new guy came in he wanted to he wanted to change the deal you know we understood everyone's losing money he's like we're losing money you're like well we can't lose money too we've been losing money too so he said i need a cheaper band that wasn't us so like well it's not us so we kind of moved on yeah and so the rabbit hole is that like a is that more of a newer establishment like do you know much about the history i don't, It's a newer establishment. The guy who runs the place, he's been working with brand spams around the city of New Orleans for years.

19:14 He saw opportunity like, hey, man, I know you guys in Maple Leaf. Why don't you come over here? He made us a really good offer that nobody was making at the time because all venues was losing money. It was kind of a no brain. He's like, let's just see what happens. Try it for a year. After one year, it got better. And right now it's really picking up. I mean, the way it's set up, it's not just about re-brand on tools. There's like a marketplace where they sell clothing and different types of goods. Here's a DJ before we play. Here's an outside patio that's really nice. It's really cool. So I'm like, yeah, I think that's the way to go. And I've seen you guys a couple of times there, and it gets funky and swinging and rocking.

19:55 Like it gets packed and it gets hot and sweaty. and yeah they have this huge outdoor area out back where you can go and just kind of, they'll have little nooks and spots where you can chill and it's a real fun real fun spot it's fun spot so it's something new and you know i'm always looking forward to playing it because it's just a new vibe and kind of gives you some creativity based on the newness of the place, yeah ain't no party like a rebirth party right is that is that kind of like a rebirth party is that you guys playing on Tuesdays is that at the Maple Leaf at a packed house is that kind of where the origin of that song comes from for you guys pretty much you know because those Tuesdays were legendary I mean a lot of things that happened outside of just playing we actually recorded an album at the Maple Leaf, All kinds of stuff happened from A to Z. Some things you can't talk about.

20:46 Some things you can't talk about. You're like, wow, did that really happen? Like, yeah. It's just legendary. Man. What about the... Okay, so let me ask you now a couple other songs. One of my favorite songs that y'all play is AP Turo. AP Turo, yeah. What's the story behind that song? Well, actually, that wasn't one of our songs. We kind of borrowed that song from the Newbird Brass Band, and a band that my younger brother, Kerwin James, who's now deceased, they were playing a song. We heard it. And we always said, man, amateur's imitates but professional still. We heard it like, that's a great song. It was an actual song that my brother, Kerwin James, and Trommel Shorty worked together on.

21:27 And he said, hey, man, we got this good song. We listened to it a couple of times. And after we listened to it a few times, we said, you know what? That's a really good song. Let's try that. And we kind of put our twist on it. And it kind of took off. And people would always say, man, it played me too rude. and people don't even know that hey that's not our song they're like what like no not at all. Yeah i didn't know i didn't even know speaking of songs and uncle dad had to school me on this one i didn't even realize casanova wasn't your son right that's another one people think casanova is our song and so i have to tell people listen no that's gerald overt and a group called overt you're like what i said we borrowed that and it just so happened we were playing this one spot on Thursday night, and the guys came up with these lyrics that are very provocative, and, we started playing it, and it kind of stuck.

22:13 We played it so much, people were like, put that reverb cast in there, we're like, it's not our song. We don't want to take it. And we did it so well that the guys from LaVert, they was like, y'all did it so well, man. We just have to give y'all credit for doing a great job with it. I'm like, wow, cool. That's your song now. Exactly. Like, it's your song now. I'm like, okay. But yeah, it's a scary song. Right, Uncle Dad, you like that song, yeah. Yeah, so I'm a huge R&B guy, and I love Levert. Levert, in my opinion, was one of the greatest R&B bands ever. Yeah, definitely. And that song, when I had heard that song, because the first time I got to see you guys live was probably a couple of years ago with Mike, and that song came on. And in my mind, I'm like, whoa, this is awesome. This is a take on Levert.

22:57 And he goes, what? What do you mean, Levert? I was like, yeah, this is Levert. That's Levert, yeah. definitely yeah yeah so well you guys that's that version in my opinion it's it's even though i love the original i mean who doesn't right but the your version is just a lot of fun you know it's kind of the epitome of new orleans yeah it's kind of fun take your drawers off have a good time. Yeah i i that happens there yeah exactly especially doing monogram a lot of drawers yeah what about uh speaking of that like so do what you wanna i feel like is kind of like a an adopted phrase of new orleans at this point right like how does that song come to be, well do what you want to kermit came up with this song a piece of song he's like hey man let's try this right here my brother philip chimed in with the bass line part and this guy by the name of reginald stewart they were playing at this family that we would always go over to the house and kind to practice.

23:59 And he got into an argument. I was saxophone player at the time. So he came up with this horn part. And it kind of stuck. And as we continued to put it together, everything just kind of came together. It's like a gumbo. Everyone started throwing bits and pieces into the pot. 10 years later, it was a full-blown song. And it just kind of took off. This guy, the radio guy, who was working at an R&B station, he would play it at the end of the night or the beginning of of the night and he would put the do what you want up against other r&b songs and hip-hop songs and we would win the contest every week he like this week it's gonna be uh reverse do what you want against the latest hip-hop song and we would win every week and it kind of blew up and people like man do what you want do what you want and it kind of kind of tipped in hip-hop clubs in new orleans and people just always request that song and just grew a life of his own yeah well that that riff that it starts off with like to me that's just it it's like the epitome of new orleans like that that sound you know yeah you know and and also that's kind of what you do when you're in new orleans is right what you want yeah do what you want and then i'm going to get more to this in a little bit but they even use that phrase in the in the show treme which.

25:17 I love that show, and I know you guys were a part of it. But also, we've been talking about Phil, and I got to meet him at a show that you guys were doing in Oakland. Yeah. So he had a stroke and couldn't play with the band. So how difficult was that for you, being his brother, and you guys created this? It was extremely difficult. Because actually, Phil was kind of like the heart of the band. When people think of Rebirth, they think of my brother Phil. I would tell people, like, they're not thinking about me. They don't even see me half the time. So I'm like, what? Shorty's not here. F it, move on. Let's go, whatever. But he's actually on one of the Jazz Fest posters because he pretty much started the band.

25:59 And he picked all the guys in the beginning who he wanted to be in the band. And when he had a stroke, he was like, man, what's going to happen? I'm like, I don't know. Are we going to carry on or what? He was like, hey, man, I'm not here. Just carry on. Do what you got to do. But you know he'll come out every now and then support the band, give us two cents on what's going on but he kind of stand on the side like no actually it's a different band it's a new day, I'm gonna stick with other guys there that was a big blow for us but we kind of carried on and there we are yeah and does he help like pick or find the next guy to play because he played the tuba he actually picks all the guys he picks them all you know yeah every i'll tell people like it's not me i'm like there's nothing wrong with his ear so he could hear like i think this guy would be a good guy to put in a band i'm like okay you think so and i just kind of stand on the side like that's the guy you want because the guy it is and so we just do it that way yeah i mean that's great that he still has such a you know a prominent role you know going through going through a stroke because some people right you know they go through a stroke and that's it like they're not they're not doing anything yeah you know he had the stroke then he had COVID and I'm like man you walking through this stuff like it ain't nothing you know if I have a stroke and I have COVID that's going to be it for me like I ain't doing nothing we're trying to get ourselves together.

27:19 Yeah. Well, I mean, good, good for him that he's, he's, uh, he's still part of it, man. And, uh, yeah, I got to meet him. Super nice guy. And, uh, yeah. So, okay. So, so, so, you know, you mentioned jazz fest poster. So you guys play at jazz fest. You're kind of like regular mainstays there now, right? It's kind of like, you know, we play every year. This year we played April 28th at the Congo square stage, probably at three o'clock, three or four o'clock, something like that. So we play every year you know and you play in that when you guys play i'll be there for that yeah definitely and so what's that like you know you're playing you know jazz fest is one of the biggest music festivals in in the u.s you know and what's it like playing it on such a high level event with such you know such a crowd you know in in new orleans like what's that feeling like for you uh when we play jazz fest it's a lot of energy like you know when we're playing people already already know what it's about you know it's we play you dance you have a good time there's no pretense anything like that like we're trying to fool somebody or something like that like no man y'all already know what it's gonna be a for hour and a half or whatever the time frame is it's about having a good time everyone's partying and we might try some new songs but for the most part people come there like casting over feel like phoning it up do what you want yeah that's what they want to at some point we give it to them but it's a lot of fun hey what what's it like Like, you know, when you guys, I know a lot of, sometimes when you're on stage, there's just, there's a lot of, correct me if I'm wrong, right?

28:50 Is there a lot of improv going on in between the gyms? Because you guys, pretty much once you start, you don't really stop until the end of the show. Like you just keep, like one song leads into the next. There's a lot of improv. A lot of times there's a lot of mistakes that we improvise on top of. There's no set. And that's what, it's easy, but it's also hard because when it's time to record, because we're improv-ing so much, we may have forgotten what we did a month ago. At that point, it's something brand new. And so people are like, can we capture that on CD? We don't really know. We're going to see what happens when we get in the studio. It all depends on what the spirit is like when you're in the recording studio. So there's a lot of improv all the time. There's no set part. The beauty of Rebirth is do what you want.

29:36 It's always there when you're having a good time. Try to play the right notes, but for the most part, it's going to be improvised. It's fun to watch and Uncle Dad I don't know if you remember this but like sometimes you can if you pay attention to the to you guys actually playing you can see where someone might have messed up or someone's doing something, a little off and you guys are laughing at each other and you guys are having a, seem like you're having a blast up there. We're having a, we're having a party. It's a 90 minutes. I always say, man, if you're not having a good time, if people see that you're not having a good time, then I don't have a good time. So have a good time. There's no right way or wrong way. There's no music police that's going to arrest you at the end of the night. So have a good time.

30:18 Yeah. We, uncle dad and I saw you guys, um, play it at tip to patinas. One time, And is that one of your favorite places to play? I would assume you love playing there. Tipitina's, Holland Wolf, House of Blues, almost any place that people will come and watch us. And if it's in somebody's bathroom, you know, I tell everybody, Rebirth is from the cradle to the grave and everything in between. If there's a room big enough for us to fit in, we're there. You'll do it. I want to go to that show, the bathroom show. Yeah. You've got to have great acoustics in the bathroom, right? Yeah. The smaller room is actually acoustics can get really good because everybody's so close to each other. You probably even have to mic it up.

31:02 So it sounds really good. Yeah yeah so so you know those are all you know iconic new orleans venues you know especially for people from out of town so what what what made you you know i was always wondering like could you see yourself living in anywhere besides new orleans because you're you're like so much of what new orleans is and what what made you move to texas was it like a katrina thing where you moved away and just stayed or how that i ended up in texas after katrina you know i got here And, you know, at my age, I was like, you know what? I think I'm done with all the red tape and all the whatever's going on in Louisiana. It was just New Orleans. But, you know, Louisiana is backwards. You know, like, you know what? I can't take it anymore. I just need to get to the airport to make the gig.

31:44 I still love it. But there's a lot of stuff that go on. You're like, man, if we could just fix this, if we could just fix the drainage system. How about the school system? And you look at it, you're like, I don't think it's ever going to get fixed. You have to make a decision. Like, okay, what should I do? At the time, my daughter was five years old when Katrina hit, and I had to decide, like, am I going to put her back in that system or let her stay here and be properly educated? And I chose to stay here and let her be properly educated. I just need to get to airporting. Here I am. Yeah. I mean, and your neighbors. It's not like you moved to far away. You're still really close. You're not in Sacramento. I can drive. No, I'm not in Sacramento. No. The greatest thing is my wife is, though. Yeah.

32:25 Yeah, so you can go there and catch a King's Pels game, right? Right, go catch a King's Pels game, or I could just go hang out by my mother-in-law or something like that. But yeah, I'm not a Sacramento. But you know what? I like Sacramento, though. There's something about it that I like. I don't know what it is. Yeah, me neither. Yeah, I lived there for many years, and I don't know what it is either. But there's something I like about it. Yeah, I'll go anytime if I get a chance to. Yeah, I mean, you can find something good about most places, right? Most places, yeah. You can find something good. Have you guys ever played in Stockton, California? We've never played in Stockton, California. I'm always wondering, what's in Stockton?

33:09 I'm like, what's in Stockton? Uncle Dan will tell you. That's right. That's my neighborhood. Let me tell you. You're from Stockton. Yeah, yeah. I'll just tell you, man. It's a different beast out there well i plan to you know hopefully get down there one day check it out i'll pass through then as i pass through i'm like man what the hell is going on hey i ask myself that all the time i mean is there a major venue that people go to like it's been you right here i mean there's the stockton arena but like if you wanted to say like a like a legend oh i guess the bob hope theater yeah i would say that okay yeah okay Okay, that's a legendary theater, I would say, that's been around since, you know. Is Bob Hope from Stockton?

33:52 No. I don't even know why he's from Stockton. Unless you know why, Mike. I think he took a shit there once. What? I guess you got that idea. That would do it, huh? That's all you need in Stockton to get something named after you. Keith, you got to come do that, and then what will happen is we'll get you a Keith Frazier theater. Is there like a festival in Stockton that they do like music-wise or. There's the asparagus they moved it though they moved the asparagus festival out of there, the asparagus festival not anymore they had an asparagus festival that was their one thing and I went one time and it was terrifying and Stockton's terrifying, Stockton's terrifying?

34:36 What do you mean? Do you mean in terms of crime or what? I would say crime people say that like it can't be worse than New Orleans We're the capital of crime. Sometimes, man. Sometimes it can be pretty bad. It can be worse than New Orleans? I would say so. I think the only reason it's not worse than New Orleans is because there's less criminals to do crime in Stockton because it's a smaller city. Okay. Well, I'm going to have to, because, you know, I like to travel. I'm always curious about places. I'm going to have to stop through just to check it out. What's going on here? They do have a big Comic-Con that I do there. I sell stuff out there. Twice a year and they get a good turnout, but I hear from at least one or two vendors or artists or guests that get their car broken into.

35:23 Overnight while they're staying there. Yeah. Okay. So cheers to Stockton. Well, hold on. If you go to Stockton one day, you've got to do me a favor. You've got to go down. If you like Mexican food, and who doesn't, you've got to go to Arroyo's. Arroyo's. It's a really good Mexican restaurant. That place has been there since my dad was a child, and I've been going there since my, you know, since I was a kid, since he was a kid. It's a family thing. You should go there. is probably one of the most legacy restaurants you're going to find in Stockton. If you ever go. I plan to go. I plan to go. Next trip to Stockton.

36:05 Next trip to Stockton. Yeah, do a drive to Stockton and experience the life there. Okay. Yeah. So, okay. I want to talk a little bit about the show I mentioned earlier, Treme, which you guys are are part of that you know so like i know you guys appear in some shows i know they talk to you guys about like consulting the musicians or the people that were playing the musicians in the show like also got to be an honor right yeah so so what what was that like they were like we want this to be as authentic as possible we want rebirth to be a part of it somehow so they reach out to you actually when he when he started putting the show together he had to create the poly.

36:51 So they told us, hey, we want you guys to be a part of the poly. Like, okay. So we're thinking that means play a couple of tunes for the show while the show is coming on or something like that. We didn't know what they were talking about. So we get there, the guy said, no, we want you guys to be a part of the show. We was like, what you mean? He wants to play in the scene or something? He said, no, we want you to read parts. Now, we have never done any acting. The only acting we've done is trying to be musicians, to act like musicians. So they give us the lines, right? And I never knew how hard acting was until I actually got to read lines. Because not only do you have to know your lines, you have to know the person that you're talking to lines as well, so you can know when to come in. So I'm studying the lines, and this lady we're working with, she said, look, relax, just like music.

37:33 Like you're a drummer, you have to know all the parts in a band. Now you have to know all the lines that everyone is saying. And it's just so happened they picked me. I'm like, they're not going to pick me? Like we want you to read i'm like oh my goodness so at that point i'm nervous i'm shaking like can i do this you say you can tell you can do it i know you got it in she gave me the lines i memorized my lines i memorized the guidelines that i'm talking to and they say one two three go so at that point she's saying well it's just a pilot no one will see it i'm okay if no one's gonna see me do this make a fool of myself so i'm not worried no one's gonna see this the day, Tremé comes on, I'm in the very first scene, the first words, that's me.

38:14 My phone is blowing up. I'm like a movie star. I can't believe it. The first scene of the first episode? First scene of the first episode, I'm reading. I'm acting. Oh, we got to play a clip of that. Music. What's up, bro? What's up? Look at the fuck show up. What's up? When was the last time you saw this motherfucker play a second line? First thing that goes, those legs, old man. He stole that from Tyrus. Man, Tyrus used to play that riff with that. Hey, girl, if you're referring to Mr. Chapman, the fact is he appropriated that particular musical ornamentation for my repertoire, bro. I can't breathe at all. Music.

39:45 I was like, wow. She said, I didn't want to tell you what's going to be in the part of the show because it would have made you nervous. She said, you did a really good job. I could have been better. She said, you were great. You're not acting. You were great. So people saw it and they were calling me like, hey, man, you know you're on TV? I'm like, TV? What you mean? We playing somewhere? Like, no, you're in a movie. I couldn't believe it. And from that point on, I was like a movie star. I'm like, wow. Wow. Actor slash musician. Actor slash musician, yeah. Yes. And the funny thing is I have a sister. She's into theater and acting. She said, you mean to tell me you got a SAG card before me? I'm like, I'm an actor. Yeah.

40:26 Did you get craft services while you were acting? Did they have craft services there for you? Yeah, they did. Yeah. Okay. And it was good. It's good, yeah. I was surprised by the whole experience. I did two or three different scenes reading and I was like, wow. Once you get used to it, it's a lot of fun because you can cut and go back and fix anything you want. If you forget something, they'll just splice it together. You can't even tell. Wow, you did a really good job. You're a professional in Hollywood. Yeah. What you're saying is you'll be appearing in another movie again soon so we can keep a watch for you. I had that feeling I'm going to be in another movie.

41:08 I don't know if my wife is going to go for that. I'm like, a movie? I don't know about that, buddy. So, yeah. They might call me anytime. I always tell somebody when they do the biopic of Rebirth, I want Lorenz Tate to play my part. My sister's always laughing at that. Like, man, get out of here. Well, yeah. We haven't seen Lorenz Tate in something for a long time, right? Right. That would be a good movie. Like, the Rebirth movie? I mean... The characters and whatever will be changed to protect the industry. Yes. We're going to put a link to your IMDb in the show notes to this so people can follow you there. I think we should get Tyrese to play you. Tyrese? Yeah, you know what? Yeah, you know what? Yeah. I see some resemblance there. Tyrese, man.

41:51 Yeah. I think he would do a good job. He's still acting. Yeah, he's still acting. Yeah yeah wow that's so funny yeah that's yeah and there was a huge there's a huge scene in uh i think it was season three right where they they reenact when some of you guys in the band got arrested for for playing a second line for someone who passed away and that's actually the person who passed that's that's my brother kerwin james that passed away and so when someone like a musician passed away we kind of parade around the neighborhood to pay you know tribute to that person. And Derek Tabb was the snare drum in our band at the time. As we were marching up to finish off the march, the police roll up and they arrest him.

42:34 He was like, sure, they're going to arrest me. I'm like, you're getting arrested? You got arrested. That was the actual real story. He was like, man, I can't believe they arrested me. I'm like, I can't believe they arrested you either. And so they kind of put that in for me. And we was like, wow, they're going to put this in there? You know, they had to get the okay from my mom and everything, but it was a true story. They really arrested him for playing for your brother like yeah yeah it's just another reason why maybe you know hey i don't need to move back there you know there's just exactly you know there's a lot of stuff that happens and. There's a lot of amazing things about new orleans obviously but you know i don't think it's a secret to anyone that the nopd is not as straight edge up and up yeah not at all right yeah, are you familiar or have you heard of this book i've been reading it i've had it for years and and I've just started reading Unfathomable City.

43:26 It's like an Atlas book. It's a book of, they make these maps and atlases. Of New Orleans, but there's also lots of history in it. And you guys are, Rebirth's mentioned in it a couple of times. Never heard of it. And we're mentioning it. I'm hoping a good one. Oh yeah. So, so one of the times they say, it's just like a casual throw in a, in a paragraph about how with Rebirth, the original band members move on and new ones come in, but, but the, but the spirit plays on a Rebirth indeed, which I thought was a really nice way of, of, of putting that. But then they also said we all remember what rebirth did on tuesday nights they don't say the maple leaf they just say we all remember what rebirth did on tuesday nights yeah i'll send you a something so you can see the book would it okay yeah but it's just a nice shout out and so the reason i'm mentioning this also the tuesday night thing you guys play on tuesday nights which which is also Mardi Gras, which is right around the corner.

44:26 And so is Mardi Gras being on Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, a big deal for you guys? Or is it just like another day? For us, it's a big deal in that when people come to see us on Tuesday night, we tell people, listen, Mardi Gras may be over, but the party continues. They're like, what you mean? Like, that's just one part of it. And we bring them right into Jazz Fest from that point. Like now it's time for jazz fest get ready i'm like what like and you might go home like oh mardi gras is over but not for us every day is mardi gras in new orleans and no matter where you if you're from new orleans you take your mardi gras with you wherever you at every tuesday is mardi gras yeah yeah you know in new orleans we drank every day you know i'm gonna drink on on a weekend no we drank every day we party every day you just take it that happens that happens Yeah.

45:16 So we, Uncle Dad and I, there's a comic convention in New Orleans every, that first weekend of January called Fan Expo. And we go there for the convention and cover it for the podcast. Yeah. It is the most fun and also the most difficult because we're in New Orleans, right? Yeah, exactly. You have to really have a lot of discipline. It's hard. There's a lot of partying going on. People don't stop partying. But you know, like you said, it's a lifestyle of New Orleans. Like one season just rolls to the next season, you know, into the next, into the next. And, you know, I don't have to tell you. I mean, I think that's part of why jazz from New Orleans sounds the way it sounds, right?

46:00 Different than anywhere else. Anywhere else, yeah. You know, it's so loose and fun and it swings. And, you know, I see bands. I saw this band. I think they're called Lowdown Brass Band. They're from Chicago. I saw them in San Francisco and they covered one of your guys' songs. And I talked to them afterwards. But it was interesting to see someone play a Rebirth song so syncopated and tight. Where you guys play is so loose and wild and fun. Just, you know, it's a reflection of where you're from. Right. That's it. I mean, New Orleans is very loose and wild. There's nothing tight about it. So you grew up that way. You like everything that's wrong is actually right.

46:41 So the lines are blurred. You like people doing stuff wrong and they know it's wrong. They do it anyway. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So will you be playing at the rabbit hole on a Mardi Gras night? I don't think I'll be there this Mardi Gras night. Cause I'm actually in the process of, we have a big tour coming up, uh, starting on the 17th of February. So I'm trying to get ready for that. And we got to go to Austin, Texas, February 10th. And so I'm like, okay, I'll let the other guys take care of that. I'm not a big Mardi Gras person. I actually, I'm like, okay, after you do it so many times, you're like, okay, one more Mardi Gras. My wife hasn't seen it. I want her to see it. But for me, it's just another party. Party like it's not a party yeah there's lots of parties yeah you know when we had we had uh we talked to vincent he kind of hung out with us when we were there for fan expo and we did a little segment with him and he said the same thing as you he's like i've seen enough parades i don't care about a parade anymore and you know it's just whatever for me but then we talked to eric eric gordon and he's so into it right and he does the mardi gras indian thing exactly and we went into a lot of conversation with him about that and and so it's just interesting to see you guys all have different perspectives on it you know for me i grew up in uh mostly in lafayette and you know there's a there's a different kind of mardi gras there but it's still mardi gras you know right and so i love coming back and experiencing it it's so nostalgic and it's fun you know it's a lot it can be a lot of fun you know and i always tell people like you know my perspective

48:14 is different because I grew up in it, but. The first time you see it, people are just blown like, wow. You know, just do what you want. Anything goes. It's a lot of neckiness, a lot of drinking as long as you can laugh. People are like, what? I drank all day? Until you pass out. Yeah. It goes all night. There's no stopping. The party doesn't stop. It doesn't stop. There's no 2 o'clock cutoff. It's like 2 o'clock. People are just getting started. They're just getting revved up. By 4 o'clock in the morning, And then there's the Bourbon Street kind of tourist... Mardi Gras, but then there's the actual New Orleans Mardi Gras.

48:55 Now, that's what I tell people. If you want to do the Bourbon Street Mardi Gras, that's a whole different, another animal. Because that's, I don't even, I'm like, what the hell are they doing down there? I mean, people jumping on the balconies, and they're like, oh, wow, yeah, I don't know. You can't even walk. You can't even walk. You're like, why would you want to walk through a sea of people you can't get through? It takes you almost two hours to walk from one end to the other end. People just drink in Korea, like, nah, and you'll probably step in some throw up some other human step in some regurgitation along the way maybe some other human, someone's laying on the ground just naked like why is a man on the ground naked dressed like a woman like can't explain it to you.

49:35 Yeah well you know to each their own right, well I'm stoked so tell me tell me as we start to wrap up here tell me a bit about the tour like where you guys gonna be stopping stopping and yeah this tour coming up we start off in tampa then we go to baltimore, then we new york city we go to northampton and hampton beach we're kind of all it's all on the east coast pretty much um it's gonna be pretty it's gonna be pretty big and you know a week for us is big like a week like yeah normally two or three days i'll be back but a week is like it's like a year because we can get a lot done in one week so yeah yeah and people in northeast At least they're looking forward to it. Like, yeah, man, we want to see you guys. Like, okay.

50:20 Yeah. Oh, it's a treat. Do you, do you feel, how do you feel about when other bands cover you guys? Is that like an honor? Do you like appreciate it? I love it. Like, you want to cover Rebirth? Go right ahead. Yeah. Because, you know, there's always ways to make money from a band covering your stuff. Because if they're playing at a venue that's part of ASCAP or BMI, they actually have to pay for it. So we get the money on the back end. So I'm like, yeah, by all means, do cover Rebirth stuff. Go right ahead. Yeah. Yeah. One of my favorite rock bands is the Chili Peppers. And I know you guys share a stage and there's this really cool quote that Flea that's out there from Flea, who's arguably one of the greatest bass players of all time.

51:02 Just saw a rebirth brass band. Unbelievable. Hard as hell. Free as a ray of light. There is not a band on earth that is better. Stunning. Yeah. Right. I mean, that's, that's also gotta be an honor, right? Like, you know, Chili Peppers are a pretty big band. It was a huge, huge honor. And then we went on tour with them. And he was actually hanging out with one of the Neville guys. And he was bringing it to Giacomo's in New Orleans. And we were playing Tuesday night. And he said, man, who's that? And Ivan Neville said, well, that's Rayburg. He said, I know those guys. He said, you know those guys? So he goes, Ivan Neville's real tight with Phil. Phil knows everybody. So he goes, hey, Phil, this is me from Chili Peppers. He said, OK, what up?

51:44 He's like, I'm going to check you guys out. So he's checking us out, having some wine and talking. He said, man, what you guys think about coming on tour with us? We're thinking, you know, like, man, he's bullshit. We're not going on tour with him. A month later, we had a call like, hey, you guys hit it off with the Chili Peppers. He's like, what? So we go out on tour with the Chili Peppers. And that was like playing in the White House because they're playing in stadiums, 30, 40, 50,000 people. And the one song, it's called Under the Bridge, one of my favorite Chili Pepper songs. I saw it tell Flee. I said, Flee, that's one of my favorite songs. He said, man, I want you to do something for me. He said, when that note comes, there's a note that he plays at the end. He said, I want you to hit this key, hit this string right here.

52:24 So I go up on stage. And he said, when I tell you to hit it, hit it. I hit it. And the people go crazy. I'm like, wow. I felt like a rock star. movie star rock star all kind of stars so jazz brass band star look at you that's a great story we ended up playing flea's wedding no no kidding wow what an honor like, so what what year was that when you guys were uh on tour with them that had to be 2011 or 12, something like something like that so it was a it was a big tour i mean i mean they're playing and it's just packed. There were people jumping out the rafters trying to get on stage with them.

53:05 And we're just like, damn, man, this is real rock and roll right here. And we're in two vans. They're like two big buses. We just rented two vans and drove all over the country. That's so fun. And Flea was like, man, you guys do it all. Cool. We're like, dude, why not? This is all it takes for us. So it was a lot of fun. And Flea's a lifetime friend. And he's always calling, checking, like, what you guys into? Just out on the road. He's like, okay, keep up the good work, man. I'm going to have to help you get my Chili Peppers poster signed. Definitely, man. I might ask for a favor. Okay, no problem. No problem at all. All right, real quick. Favorite venue to play in in New Orleans? Like top, what's your top one? You named off a few.

53:45 My top one would probably be Tips, Tippy Teens. Yeah. Yeah. Favorite venue to watch another band play in New Orleans? Like if you were to just go watch. Just go watch? I like House of Blues. House of Blues. Okay. All right. What about, what's the favorite venue you've ever played in, period? Like, was it one of these huge stadiums with the Chili Peppers, or is it like a smaller venue like in New York? You talking about in the world? Just in the world, yeah. You know what I like? This was in 1986. We played Bumbershoot in Seattle, Washington. Okay. It was outdoors. It's kind of like an amphitheater. We recently went back to Bumbershoot in August.

54:29 For some reason, Seattle has really good sound. It just sounds so good. I guess they put a lot of money into the sound equipment. I like playing Seattle, period. Okay. Bumbershoot. Next time we're in Seattle, Uncle Dad, we'll have to go to the Bumbershoot for a show. Yeah, check it out. We'll definitely do it for sure. Definitely. Last one, and the most important one. What's your favorite place to watch the Saints game? on TV. The crazy thing is I'm not a big Saints fan. I'm a Cowboys fan, but I still want the home team to win. When they lose, I'm giving everybody shit like, y'all lost another one. When they lose, no one calls me. They refuse. My phone is like solids of lambs. How does that happen?

55:11 When I was a kid, this lady was watching us and it was 1972. The Cowboys won the Super Bowl. At the time, they're kicking ass, beating everybody. I saw that team. I'm like, okay, that'll be my my team. Then when I, in 1970, that San B in 1972, it snowed in New Orleans, but that Christmas, my mom brought my brother Phil a Saints uniform with the helmet, and she didn't give me one, so I said, well, that's not my team. I'll just pick another team. And that's pretty much what happened. The team that was always on TV was the Cowboys. And so, but I always tell people, like, I prefer to see them win, because when they lose, everyone is, like, in a dumps. I was like, you just don't want to be like, oh, man, just let them win something, please. And my dad was, my dad went to the very first Saints game in Tulane Stadium.

55:54 He actually saw the Dempsey guy kick the 63 yarder. Oh, yeah. When the Saints won the Super Bowl, I felt good for him. I'm like, you know what? All that money he put into the Saints, damn, I wish he was here to see the payout. Yeah, my stepdad's a huge Bills fan, and he's from Buffalo. Get this guy a Super Bowl before he croaks. Yeah. See, on certain teams, you just want to see the Bills, Detroit. You just want to cleave. He's like, man, could somebody please let them have a Super Bowl? Just one time. Do the 49ers need another Super Bowl? All right, all right. That's what I'm talking about with the Cowboys. They actually don't need another Super Bowl. but the 49ers don't either.

56:39 Uncle Dad likes the 49ers. I like to see the Cowboys play the 49ers all the time because win or lose, it just makes everybody hate the Cowboys so much. It's just fun. I love to be hated. Last time we played you, I'll just tell you, that wasn't so good. But didn't it feel good to beat the Cowboys down? Of course. It feels good to be a villain sometimes. I'm going to be the villain. Yeah, I'm going to be the villain. Yeah. It does, yeah. Well, Keith, it's an honor, man. And thank you for coming on and talking to me about all that stuff. I love you guys and what you do and how you make people feel.

57:20 It's always an honor to see you guys jam at the show. It was an honor to design and do a hat with you guys. We did a bar bridge. We need more hats. They sell so fast. We need more hats. Okay, all right. So I'll call Mike and get some more hats. Okay. we'll put it down. Thanks for the hat. And yeah, and I, you know, and I just, I respect, I respect what you guys do. I respect the culture. I respect the music. And where can people find you guys? Rebirthbrassband.com, Rebirthbrassband.com. You just, just Google Rebirth Brass Band and all shows will pretty much come up. They can call me. You can text me. My, my number's 24 seven. If I don't get back to you, I won't, I'll tell people I will answer you. Like you actually call back. Like, yeah, why not?

58:02 Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right. Well, put your phone number out on the listen notes. Put the phone number on, yeah. Put it on. All right, man. Well, I hope to see you soon at a show and it's been an honor. And thank you again. All right. Thank you. I appreciate it, man. Same to you guys. Hold on. Before we go, Mike, you got to wrap it up the right way. How do we wrap up the show? Yeah, here we go. That's right. We are not uncles. We are not dads, ads, but we're someone that you can talk to and we'll see you all next week. Music.