On Friday night, I thought I wasn’t going to go anywhere at all, but then I got invited to Folk Alliance International by a friend. I had no idea what it was or what it entailed until I was pleasantly surprised by door-to-door concerts and engaging performances from Loyola musicians I’d never heard of.
If you are as clueless as I was, Folk Alliance International is a nonprofit arts organization founded in 1989 with the special focus of bringing artists and fans of the folk genre together to celebrate music from all over the world. Artists and industry leaders have the ability to network with one another and the conference seeks to preserve the folk genre in its entirety. Every year, Folk Alliance hosts a conference in a different city. Luckily for New Orleans–and me, surprisingly–-this year it landed at the Sheraton hotel.
It is extremely difficult to get me to go to the French Quarter in freezing temperatures when it isn’t for the Zulu Parade, but my interest was piqued. The Sheraton is a massive four-star hotel, and immediately on arrival, I noticed this event was a huge deal: there were people from all walks of life constellated around the decorated, ambient lobby. I felt out of place compared to the immensely stylish musicians. For some perspective, the Sheraton has multiple different elevators–one for each floor.
The “Loyno Late Nights” sets were on the eighth floor. The hallways were narrow, each door leading to another concert. With the simple turn of a knob, you could step into a different world filled with fresh takes on the folk genre. As soon as I entered the room dedicated to Loyola, I was entranced by a glowy purple light accompanied by the psychedelic sounds of Kota Dosa.
Kota Dosa was incredible. They’re a band with roots in New York, New Orleans, and Oregon, citing The Doors as one of their inspirations. Immediately, that was clear. Their ability to seamlessly blend genres together was noticeable off the bat: rock, folk, jazz–a horn solo, even. At one point, this other musician named Steve Poltz–a guy with long silver hair and a wide-brimmed hat, unaffiliated with Loyola–got up and started playing with them. “I tested positive for positivity,” he sang into the mic with a trill. The entire crowd started chanting in response. The chant was corny so I didn’t participate, but I can appreciate the hype of it all.
The next set was from Not Related Band, a folk act starring three Loyola students: Lily Waguespack, Louisa Saakian, and Jerney Jackson. Their set was a duo act with Lily and Louisa–Lily singing and playing acoustic guitar, and Louisa whipping out three different instruments. They played a mix of covers and originals, at one point with Louisa taking the mic. Her singing was soft and despairingly beautiful, like an emotional whisper.
Following Not Related was the band DIZZY!, consisting of Izzy Gruner (Loyola ‘27) and her brother David. Izzy was on keyboard, and her voice was utterly captivating. The duo’s combined stage presence was insane, with songs like “Retail” capturing the endless fatigue of late stage capitalism. As someone privy to alternative pop, I thoroughly enjoyed their set.
