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Feral Zone 24 COLE WILLIAMS: CULTURAL ARCHITECT · Troubled Men Podcast

• 0:01
  Speaker A: Inside the Feral Zone. Greetings, feral listeners. Welcome back. Inside the Feral Zone of the Troubled Men Podcast. Operating under cover of darkness, I am Renee Coleman, sitting here in Snake and Jake's Christmas Club Lounge in the heart of the Clampire. Now, many of you will know that the the Feral Zone is the sister podcast of the Troubled Men Podcast. It appears in this space from time to time when Manny is otherwise occupied or missing in action. So tonight is one of those nights. And following up last week's terrific show, we have once again our guest host. He's a fantastic guitar player, songwriter, singer, founding member of Tribe Nunzio, founding member and writer of the Great Geraniums Band, which I played in for many, many years. Also former owner of the Mermaid Lounge. On and on and on. Without further ado, the great Mr. Jeff Treffinger. Welcome, Jeff.
• 1:17
  Speaker B: Hi, Renee. How are you?
• 1:18
  Speaker A: I'm good, I'm good. I'm hanging in there.
• 1:20
  Speaker B: Good.
• 1:21
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I actually had some. Some satisfactory interaction with safety and permits today. Seem to have made progress and resolved that I am moved here. Okay, well, let's not get carried away. But I will say that they in their favor, you know, credit where credit's due. They answer the phone, you know, you don't have to wait forever.
• 1:47
  Speaker B: Well, there's only one.
• 1:48
  Speaker A: Okay. Someone answers it. They speak to you. They had sound advice for me, went and called the other number, spoke to the mechanics, the mechanical department, and now it's crazy. So the permit. I told you last week how there was an open permit on one of my properties. Now come to find out that it was for an H vac thing. Come to find out that permit was pulled for two mini splits, which, you know, it's those small air conditioning units that fit in the wall. Anybody that doesn't know, you know, it's like, you know, they have a central whatever, compressor or something. So I don't have those at that house. Never had those at that house.
• 2:34
  Speaker B: So wrong address.
• 2:35
  Speaker A: It's totally, just totally erroneous. Permit that was filed, which explains why it was never closed, because the work was never done, because it was, again, a ghost permit. But they understood that. Apparently they took it right off. And I paid my fine, I assume, for being late, I mean.
• 2:55
  Speaker B: So Healthy Homes is yours.
• 2:56
  Speaker A: Well, I think I'm right, Peter. Right on the precipice of a successful Healthy Home permit. Yeah. Yeah. So that's progress in the city of New Orleans.
• 3:06
  Speaker B: So you're sleeping at night?
• 3:07
  Speaker A: Well, you know, fitfully, but. So let's get our guest in Here. I mean, let's introduce our guest here before too long because, you know, don't want to keep her out of the, out of the equation here.
• 3:22
  Speaker C: Bring me in.
• 3:23
  Speaker A: Yeah, I'm going to. What do they say? Tag you in. She's a fantastic award winning singer, piano player, songwriter, winner of the 2024 International Songwriters Competition. She's performed at New Orleans Jazz Fest, French Quarter Fest, Joshua Tree Music Fest, World Cafe and Congo Square Fest, which I, I performed with this year. He's also WWOZ radio host, host of the Tuesday New Orleans music show Just on Today. Fantastic show. Also producer of many different features, including features on Tank and the Bangers and Ms. Irma Thomas. Also, she's the reigning 2025 elite Ms. Louisiana. Petite.
• 4:14
  Speaker C: Yeah, I almost wore my sash.
• 4:16
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 4:18
  Speaker C: I like that style, but I was focused on the lipstick so I forgot.
• 4:21
  Speaker A: Sure, sure, sure. You can't do that. You can'. Also an actress who's appeared in NCIS New Orleans. Big freedom means business, that show. Also the recent movie Sinners, which I just saw last week. Terrific. Also star of the most recent Chip Forstall television commercial and lifelong activist, founder of the Greater New Orleans Citizens Relief Team. On and on and on. I'm going to stop with that because without further ado, I'm going to get her in here. The great Ms. Cole Williams. Welcome, Cole.
• 4:58
  Speaker C: Thank you so much. It's always good to see Renee.
• 5:00
  Speaker A: Okay. All right.
• 5:02
  Speaker C: And even better to play with him.
• 5:03
  Speaker A: That's.
• 5:04
  Speaker C: This man is an incredible bass player.
• 5:05
  Speaker B: Oh, that I know.
• 5:06
  Speaker C: He, he knows his thing that I know.
• 5:08
  Speaker A: Jeff and I go way back.
• 5:10
  Speaker B: We go way back.
• 5:10
  Speaker C: And good to meet you, Jeff.
• 5:11
  Speaker B: Nice to meet you.
• 5:12
  Speaker C: Yeah, we were talking about cats while you were over there.
• 5:16
  Speaker A: Okay. I don't have any cats, but cats love me. And I would say that it's because I move in somewhat of a feline manner. You know, I don't make any sudden moves and yeah, I can see that. I stay calm. Generally. It's a, it's a Nixonian calm. You know, it's a, it's a calm that. That is suppressing the rage inside.
• 5:40
  Speaker B: I've never heard of a Nixonian calm.
• 5:43
  Speaker C: We have now. I like it.
• 5:46
  Speaker A: But, you know, the cats seem to appreciate it, so. Yeah, it's good that you guys are bonding already. Well, so, yeah, I got to the healthy homes thing. That was good. What else? We have several things. It seems like almost the 70s again. You know, we have the National Guard in D.C. clamping it down. Then I also saw the other Day. And I haven't seen this maybe ever is ads for selling your plasma.
• 6:18
  Speaker B: Selling your plasma?
• 6:19
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Ads on YouTube for, you know, you come in and sell some plasma. It's like, gee whiz.
• 6:26
  Speaker C: So listen, I, like, caught an episode. Have you seen Love After Lockup?
• 6:30
  Speaker B: No.
• 6:30
  Speaker C: Okay. It's one of these, like, reality shows.
• 6:32
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 6:33
  Speaker C: But like, one of the guys that got out of jail, out of prison, that, like, is living with his wife, his girlfriend. You know, like, they meet while they're in jail. He's making money while he's looking for work by selling his plasma, like, about four times a week.
• 6:46
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 6:47
  Speaker C: And I just heard that last week.
• 6:48
  Speaker A: All right, so it's a thing. It's coming back.
• 6:50
  Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That must mean, you know, I don't know, that things are boding well.
• 6:55
  Speaker A: Yeah, I don't think that's selling the plastic. I don't think that's a great economic indicator, as they say, you know, plasma.
• 7:01
  Speaker B: Sales have gone up.
• 7:03
  Speaker C: You got to use what you got to get what you want.
• 7:05
  Speaker A: There you go. There's that.
• 7:07
  Speaker B: That's true.
• 7:10
  Speaker A: What else? Well, our mayor went down for 18 counts, 18 felony counts this. This week.
• 7:17
  Speaker B: The indictments are in.
• 7:18
  Speaker A: The indictments are in.
• 7:19
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 7:20
  Speaker A: You know, it's been. We've been thinking that was imminent for. For a long time, but finally they dropped. And, you know, the shocking part of it is that she went in and testified in front of the grand jury. Now, any attorney worth their salt would tell you, don't go testify in front of a grand jury, especially if you're guilty of something, you know. Sure. Because it can only go bad. And I heard someone say, you know, I can only think of that as like some kind of Hail Mary that she was attempting, you know, like, all is lost, but maybe I can win him over with my stellar personality. Well, I don't know. I'm sure some people like it, but generally she. She doesn't seem to have that. That kind of. That kind of winning effect on people.
• 8:11
  Speaker B: Well, she's waning. She's in the waning part of her career as mayor, let's just say, you.
• 8:16
  Speaker A: Know, so I don't know, we'll see what happens with that. It's going to be a long time coming. But that was the big excitement this week in New Orleans.
• 8:23
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 8:23
  Speaker A: And, you know, she's. She still has, what, 100 days left on her. Her. In her term. And so, you know, she's going to have to hide out. She's already.
• 8:34
  Speaker B: She going to Go to Chicago.
• 8:36
  Speaker A: Well, I don't know, like. Like to. To join the. The Texas Democratic.
• 8:42
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 8:42
  Speaker A: Legislature.
• 8:43
  Speaker B: Chicago seems like the place to go when you need to leave.
• 8:46
  Speaker A: Okay. If you want to disappear. Yeah, yeah. It's a big town. That's a lot of people.
• 8:49
  Speaker B: I like Chicago.
• 8:50
  Speaker C: Nice to know.
• 8:51
  Speaker A: Oh, yeah, Yeah, I like Chicago.
• 8:53
  Speaker B: You got that Pritzker guy. He seems. He's a billionaire, right?
• 8:57
  Speaker A: Oh, yeah. The governor.
• 8:59
  Speaker B: The governor, right.
• 9:00
  Speaker A: I'm not sure about him. I could. Could. Don't want to. Don't. I don't.
• 9:03
  Speaker B: Don't want to go down that.
• 9:04
  Speaker A: Don't want to weigh in just quite yet because I'm not sure of. Of what I'm speaking of. But another thing that's happening is. Is the day after this show comes out, it will be the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
• 9:17
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 9:18
  Speaker A: So. So we're revisiting. They have new shows on. I saw a documentary on Netflix. I haven't seen that, but I did watch first episode and a half of a show on Hulu about Katrina and actually saw another one that was a National Geographic produced thing that had a lot of footage or had some footage from one of our former Troublemen podcast guests who's just sitting in the bar right over there. Jason. Jason Affleck. You're a first responder. Yeah. Sitting over there at the bar. So I don't know, Mike. I know. Jeff, you went through Katrina. You know, you were here in the aftermath. You had flooded properties, as did I. Now, Cole, I think that was a little bit before your time.
• 10:05
  Speaker C: That was before my time.
• 10:06
  Speaker A: But, Jeff, are you rushing to watch any of these documentaries to relive the.
• 10:14
  Speaker B: I don't know. I would. I would love to see the Spike Lee documentary again.
• 10:19
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 10:19
  Speaker B: It's been, you know, a long time since I saw it, and I remember being really moved by that documentary.
• 10:28
  Speaker A: Well, you know, I think Spike Lee is involved in a new production that's coming out that I haven't seen yet. I'm not sure that it's either one of those. I don't know, maybe it is the Netflix one. But I saw that that's happening.
• 10:39
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 10:39
  Speaker A: But I think I have limited appetite for too much of that. You know, even though the thing I was watching, you know, you get a pit in your stomach, you want to throw up.
• 10:50
  Speaker B: Yeah, I have one right now.
• 10:52
  Speaker A: Just talking about. Sorry.
• 10:54
  Speaker B: No, it's okay.
• 10:55
  Speaker C: You know, like, are you reliving it? Like, how do you feel about people, especially people that weren't here just making documentaries and reliving that experience on that.
• 11:05
  Speaker A: We have, it's good, I think, for people that don't remember or, you know, weren't here, didn't experience it firsthand, to know about it, to understand what happened. Because the sands of time, it confuses everything. People, you know, have misconceptions that are then reinforced. And so it's. It's good for certain people to see it, but I don't have any misconceptions about it, so. And for all of us that were here and coming back and mucking out houses and all that stuff, it's. It's. It's a sense memory, you know, that. And it'll come back and manifest in ways that you can't really predict.
• 11:43
  Speaker B: It's true. It's true. I, you know, as a. I'm a builder as well, you know, I renovate houses. So the aftermath of that was pretty profound. You know, mainly the first things that were happening was getting old people back in their homes. You know, they were the priorities. And, I mean, there are so many beautiful memories that were just caused by the absolute incredible people that populate this city. I mean, if you weren't here. But, you know, the people of this city, and they're deep and they're strong and they're loving and they're committed, and we lost a lot of people, but the people that stayed and. And, you know, locked arms and did what it took, that changed my life, you know, profoundly.
• 12:36
  Speaker C: Like, you guys, like, rebuilt. Like, you're part of what rebuilt the city because everyone didn't come back. So you're actually like a part of the city. No, I mean, some Nick and Jake.
• 12:46
  Speaker A: Right, right. Well, you know, yeah, on the outside. My family's been here so long, I'm not allowed to leave. And if I was, I wouldn't know where to go. Chicago we went to. No, no, it's too cold for me. I couldn't make a Chicago winter. You know, Jeff and I were both in Austin, and Austin is a lovely town to be in, and, you know, if you can't be in New Orleans, that might be one of the second best places to be. But the day they turned power back on in my house and they opened an elementary school in my neighborhood for my kids, we left Austin. I had a lease I'd signed for a year. I was like, I'm sorry. We'll figure that out later. I'm going back to New Orleans, babe.
• 13:27
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 13:28
  Speaker A: You know, broke the lease. It worked out, whatever the government was at that time. And this probably certainly wouldn't happen under this administration. But even post Katrina, the, you know, just the whole way it went down with the neglect from fema. And then at some point, they just started throwing money at us, you know, at the whole city. And so there was enough, you know, cash flow to do all these things. It was just, do we have the manpower? Do we have the resolve? Can we.
• 13:59
  Speaker B: Ethics.
• 14:00
  Speaker A: The. The ethics. Well, yeah, the ethics.
• 14:02
  Speaker B: You know, let's not forget that.
• 14:04
  Speaker A: Yeah, well. Or lack thereof. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway. Well.
• 14:11
  Speaker B: Yeah, well, here we are. 20 years.
• 14:13
  Speaker A: Here we are. We made it.
• 14:14
  Speaker C: We made it.
• 14:15
  Speaker A: All right, well, let's. Let's get our guest in here. Let's concentrate on. On something. Something more. So why weren't you pleasant?
• 14:22
  Speaker C: So I'm originally from Brooklyn, New York.
• 14:24
  Speaker B: Oh, that's where my brother lived.
• 14:27
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 14:28
  Speaker C: Yeah. Moved here, like 10 years ago.
• 14:30
  Speaker A: Nice, nice. Well, so as I was about to say, yes, you're not from New Orleans. So tell us you're from Brooklyn. You grew up in Brooklyn or how.
• 14:39
  Speaker C: Born and raised in Brooklyn. I'm first generation American, which means on my mother's side, they're all Jamaican.
• 14:45
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 14:46
  Speaker C: And so I'm like the first generation that was born in the United States.
• 14:50
  Speaker A: Nice.
• 14:50
  Speaker C: So that was really weird, but I grew up around a bunch of, like, first generation children with Caribbean backgrounds.
• 14:57
  Speaker B: What neighborhood?
• 14:57
  Speaker C: East Flatbush.
• 15:00
  Speaker A: So, yeah, you were telling me, we were riding to a gig one time, you were talking about how you felt instantly. A rapport with New Orleans, possibly. And I was saying, well, maybe it was. You think that's because of the Caribbean neighborhood that you grew up in?
• 15:17
  Speaker C: I think it's like a mixture of a lot of things. Like, you know, I love to travel, I love to move around. Like, I always love being on the road as a touring musician, but there was something about this city. Like, the people seemed actually nice, you know, like, you know, as a musician, you travel and everybody's nice to you because you're in the band.
• 15:35
  Speaker A: Right, Right.
• 15:36
  Speaker C: So I thought. I don't think that it's just because I'm in the band. So I came here, like, on my own, and I was like, wow, it's the same thing. They don't know me, but I still feel like I'm playing on stage. But I think it's just there's like this spirit. I'm trying to think, like, when I moved here, it felt like if you want to do something, you can do it. Just like in New York, if you want to do something, you can do it. Obviously, it's like a Different region, different elements. But, like, there's a way to get things happening here that I feel like it doesn't happen like that in a lot of other cities.
• 16:09
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 16:09
  Speaker C: And then the weather, like, you know, I have dry skin, so, like, the humidity is really good. The hair, like, oh, my goodness. I dry up, too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I dry up when I leave the city.
• 16:20
  Speaker A: Yeah. I can't handle Arizona or anywhere like that for more than a day or two.
• 16:25
  Speaker C: But I did have to, like, pull from my Caribbean roots, you know, like, some of the brownouts, you know, was like, I experienced that in Jamaica.
• 16:33
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 16:34
  Speaker C: Just like, how are you gonna make do, like, with what you got? Like, sometimes it's just things that are out of your control. It shouldn't be that way. You're like, am I living in, like, 1900?
• 16:44
  Speaker A: Right.
• 16:44
  Speaker C: But, like, you make do. So, like, I pull from those roots.
• 16:48
  Speaker A: Sure. Yeah. The resourcefulness that you have to have. Well, you know, I've said this on the podcast many times, that there used to be a bumper sticker, maybe there still is, that people say, New Orleans, Third World and proud of it. You see that?
• 17:02
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 17:02
  Speaker A: I would point out that, look, for New Orleans, in many respects, Third World status is aspirational. I mean, we're. We're in many ways where this is a failed state. Or, you know, I could say it, you know, more directly say, New Orleans is a criminal enterprise that. That is masquerading as a failed state. All right. Okay.
• 17:22
  Speaker C: All right.
• 17:23
  Speaker A: You like that?
• 17:24
  Speaker C: Amen.
• 17:24
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 17:26
  Speaker B: I think a couple buttons just lit up on that phone. It's.
• 17:32
  Speaker C: Like a couple of friends, like, have said, how. How do you live there? It's lawless, but it's like, I don't know. Your spirit has to. Your spirit has to match this town. Like, I've seen people move here while I'm here. They're not here anymore. There's something about this city. Like, it's. It's just either for you or it's not. So the city is for me.
• 17:51
  Speaker A: Well, you know, a lot of getting back to Katrina, a lot of people, so many do gooders came here from other places to help out, and we love them. We appreciated everything that they did. Now a lot of those people, along with all their kindly efforts, thought, God, you guys are really backward, man. We're going to bring some know how from these other parts of the country, and we're going to show you how it's really supposed to be done. And friends from other places would say, oh, do you think all these New Newcomers are going to change New Orleans. And I was like laughing. I was like, not at all. Like, really? How come? I was like, look, man, now they're junkies now. Yeah, yeah. Or, you know, they join the priesthood or something, you know. Yeah. But you're not going to change New Orleans. The arc of New Orleans is very long and unbending. And either you're going to conform to the New Orleans zeitgeist or you're going to leave.
• 18:49
  Speaker C: That's right.
• 18:49
  Speaker A: That's what you're saying. Some people could cut it, you know, it was for them. And then other people threw their hands up after six months or six years or whatever, however long it took.
• 18:58
  Speaker C: I've seen it. Yeah. It's like, where's such and such? They're not here anymore. Like they moved back home. And I'm like, oh, okay.
• 19:05
  Speaker A: And you know the New Orleans thing, it's like, we love you when you come and when you leave, that's fine. We don't hate you, but we don't need to talk to you.
• 19:14
  Speaker C: Is that for real?
• 19:15
  Speaker A: We don't need to keep up, you know, it's like, don't call and ask how things are because if you, you cared how things are, you'd be here. You know, I mean, that's how it is in my family. Anybody that only had one relative that ever moved out of the city and.
• 19:30
  Speaker B: Everyone lost touch with him.
• 19:31
  Speaker A: Nobody talks to them anymore.
• 19:33
  Speaker C: They're not in any wells.
• 19:35
  Speaker A: I don't know. I mean, I think they have money of their own, but no, they're just not on the call list.
• 19:41
  Speaker C: Wow. I remember. So people would ask me, how long you been here? And it's like, again, it's like, oh, okay. And then it's like, how long you been here? Five years. Oh. Then like you got here five years. Then I crept to the ten year mark. Oh, no, I'm painting the picture.
• 19:57
  Speaker A: Right.
• 19:57
  Speaker C: And I crept to the 10 year mark. And it's like, oh, you're from here.
• 19:59
  Speaker A: Right.
• 19:59
  Speaker C: You know, so it's like they want to see like, how long have you lasted from another city.
• 20:04
  Speaker B: Right.
• 20:05
  Speaker C: And like, are you going to make it in like 10 years? It's like, I think she's probably going to stay.
• 20:09
  Speaker A: Right. Commitment and buy in.
• 20:13
  Speaker B: I moved here 78.
• 20:15
  Speaker A: Wow.
• 20:17
  Speaker B: 78. Yeah.
• 20:18
  Speaker C: Wow.
• 20:19
  Speaker B: Dutch Morio was elected mayor one month after I moved here. Okay.
• 20:26
  Speaker A: And who was mayor before Dutch? I'm trying to even think I was in high school then. I'm not sure that's a good question. I should Be able to remember. Was it Moon Landru? I mean, Mitch's father.
• 20:42
  Speaker B: Right.
• 20:44
  Speaker A: So, you know, we take turns. It's like the Landrus get a shot, then the Morials get a shot, then back to the Landrus and back to the Morials.
• 20:51
  Speaker C: So then how did Kaintrell make it?
• 20:54
  Speaker A: Well, she married into a New Orleans family.
• 20:57
  Speaker C: Oh.
• 20:58
  Speaker A: And I think she snuck in like that. Well, she. She was an effective council person for.
• 21:05
  Speaker B: She was for Broadmoor.
• 21:07
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 21:07
  Speaker A: And council person really went to bat. And, you know, it's Peter Principle. Yeah, yeah, could be. You know, like the. Which explain what that is. It's.
• 21:17
  Speaker B: Everyone is promoted to a job one level higher than their ability, and that's where you stop.
• 21:24
  Speaker C: My mouth is open.
• 21:25
  Speaker A: Yeah. But. Yeah, and then, you know, then her. Her true personality perhaps started coming out, and it's rubbed people the wrong way in New Orleans. Anyway, I want to get off the mayor and back to our guest, Ms. Cole Williams. So, Cole, tell us about that, you know, growing up in that Caribbean neighborhood Now. So I know your father. Now, your father was Caribbean also.
• 21:51
  Speaker C: My father's American, so he's originally from Bed Stuy. But, you know, the funny thing is that my father thinks that he has roots in New Orleans. So I'm just gonna out us.
• 22:02
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 22:02
  Speaker C: So he's a. Who's listening?
• 22:06
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 22:06
  Speaker C: It's gonna come.
• 22:07
  Speaker A: Hardly anybody.
• 22:09
  Speaker C: So my father's adopted name is Williams, so that's why I'm a Williams. But his birth name is Perrier. And so he's always, like, tried to trace it back to, like, someplace in New Orleans. But, like, when I moved here, he said, like, he vacationed here, like, a couple of times. I'm like, why didn't you tell me you vacationed in New Orleans? And why didn't you bring me? So I had that American side. Like, American Baptist. Then like my mother, Jamaican Adventist, Seventh Day Adventist. It was a very interesting childhood. Very religious, super strict. Like, I don't fit in. Like, everybody's just like, they're going to church. They're, like, practicing the Sabbath.
• 22:51
  Speaker A: Right.
• 22:52
  Speaker C: You know, no jewelry, no, like, adornments.
• 22:55
  Speaker B: So you weren't allowed to watch soap.
• 22:57
  Speaker C: Operas, and I wasn't allowed to watch soap operas until I was, like, 16, 17.
• 23:01
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 23:01
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 23:02
  Speaker A: Now, looking back, do you think that that benefited you having that cloistered upbringing where, you know, you're in the church? I'll let you answer that. Before I was going to cut myself off and ask a second question.
• 23:15
  Speaker C: Do the A and B.
• 23:16
  Speaker A: Okay, well, so a question I had is like, when do you start playing music? Is that church involved?
• 23:25
  Speaker C: So I'm playing piano. That's my first instrument. I'm playing classical piano from, like, age 4. So that was, like, separate and then doing recitals. Like, I played at Carnegie hall when I was 8. And so it was just this weird juxtaposition of, like, playing classical piano, being out with, like, regular people, and then being, like, consumed by church and, like, singing in church, playing in church, sometimes being immersed and pretty much, like, enmeshed in that. I learned harmonies. Like, I learned how to sing in harmony. I learned about discipline, I would say, like, from the classical side and the church side. But I also learned, like, what I don't want, what I don't want to be. You know, like, being in that environment helped me learn that. So not religious right now. I'm spiritual, but I don't do the religion thing. No offense to anybody that does that.
• 24:22
  Speaker A: No, it's a. It's a great thing about living in America. You get to decide what. What you want to do.
• 24:27
  Speaker C: Well, in New Orleans, I don't know about the rest of them.
• 24:31
  Speaker A: Okay, yeah. Now, that drive to study music, was that something that you had, or is that something your parents encouraged you into? Initially?
• 24:42
  Speaker C: That was my dad. My dad had that experience, and he just shared it to me. I would say that I'm thankful that my dad placed all the experiences he had as a child. Taking piano lessons, playing in church. We even went to the same high school, Brooklyn Tech.
• 24:58
  Speaker A: Oh, nice.
• 24:59
  Speaker C: So it's like, he was very much about education and being well rounded. I think, like, when I went to college, I was gonna be a psychologist, you know, like, gotta be a lawyer psychologist. Like, one doctor. And when I sat in college, I just realized, like, this is not for me. So I thought back to, like, well, what can I do? And I've always been writing. I've always been making up songs. Like, I've always been creative. And so I left in my last year of college to like, go out and just, like, start working with different production houses, different backgrounds. Sony Studios in New York. In New York, Henchman Studios. I sang background for, like, a lot of African artists from Cameroon, like Kaissa Somi, Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam.
• 25:48
  Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Yeah.
• 25:48
  Speaker C: And then I went back to college because I realized how much I loved, like, doing this, and I wanted to become a more. A better expert. So I went back and I got my degree in classical voice.
• 25:58
  Speaker A: Oh, wow.
• 25:59
  Speaker C: So, like, I was in school and, like, touring and, like, doing homework and that Whole thing. And it was just really. It was really interesting. Yeah. And I was like, in school doing the thing that like everybody else in school was going to school to do to become, but I was already doing that, like, after hours. I remember this one time, my teacher, like, concert chorale, which was like 0.5 credits. He got mad at me that I had to tour and so he was gonna fail me. And so I had to go to the dean to say, like, I'm like, I have to make money. Like, I'm paying my own rent. So, like. But I'll do what I need to do, like to make sure that I, like, respect this guy in his class. So I had to do work study. He made me do work study because I, like, missed concert chorale for 0.5 credits. And everybody else let me, like, you know, send in the homework and stuff. Yeah.
• 26:50
  Speaker A: So there's always one in every bunch.
• 26:52
  Speaker C: There's always one. Yeah. But it was really interesting, like, being able to apply what I was learning in school during the day and then I'd have a gig at night. And yeah, I just started to kind.
• 27:01
  Speaker B: Of find work study.
• 27:02
  Speaker C: To me, you know, that man, he was a hater.
• 27:06
  Speaker B: He should have given you credit for singing.
• 27:08
  Speaker C: Yeah, he was a hater. I think he was a hater.
• 27:12
  Speaker B: They're out there.
• 27:14
  Speaker A: So I hear.
• 27:16
  Speaker B: Well, it's none in here.
• 27:17
  Speaker A: No, no, no.
• 27:18
  Speaker C: So, yeah, like, so that part of my life, I was like, so imagine this really strict Caribbean household. Like, they're like, what do you mean you're singing? Like, to this day, I still have people ask in my family. So are you still doing music?
• 27:30
  Speaker A: Like, you would have stopped and taken a serious job.
• 27:34
  Speaker B: You would have got it out of your system.
• 27:36
  Speaker C: Got it out of my system, yeah. So it was just like, I had to really believe in myself. And really, I'm really blessed. I had some good mentors that were able to, like, push me and encourage me and let me know, like, this is a real career.
• 27:49
  Speaker A: Musical mentors.
• 27:50
  Speaker C: Musical mentors.
• 27:51
  Speaker A: Anybody you want to mention?
• 27:53
  Speaker C: Well, yeah. So my. My first mentor, my first real vocal coach, Ankara Aminata. He passed away about two years ago. He was very vital and just like me discovering my own voice. Like, he would push me. Like, we'd be crying during lessons, we'd be laughing. It was just great. It was like having like a godfather.
• 28:12
  Speaker A: Right.
• 28:13
  Speaker C: And then another mentor of mine that I had much later in New Orleans, Curtis Muhammad, a 60 year civil rights veteran. And he's someone that kind of like saw all of me, like, not just the music, but, like, the advocate in me, the person that starts things that, like, helps myself and helps other people and, like, really pushed me to, like, I guess, embracing that. That part of me, you know, not being afraid of it.
• 28:42
  Speaker A: Right.
• 28:43
  Speaker C: And just, like, continuing to be myself and growing.
• 28:46
  Speaker A: Now, did you have exposure to that kind of civil rights background in. Back in New York?
• 28:54
  Speaker C: I think my family.
• 28:55
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 28:55
  Speaker C: Well, I mean, like, when. But no, not necessarily.
• 28:59
  Speaker A: So, like, the organizing, the activism was not necessarily a tradition that was active, but something that you were individually motivated towards?
• 29:12
  Speaker C: Yeah, I think I was called to do it. You know, I think it was always a seed being planted. I think, like, if I look back, everything that happened, all the adversity that I beat it, like, brought me to a place where. Where I can understand that all lives matter, that we're, like, all part of the same human race. And it fuels the music, but it also feels like the message in the music. But I would say that being in New Orleans, this place is a wonderful place because we build community. And so, like, how do I build community as someone that's not from here, but built community, respecting people here, but also that it's like a microcosm for, like, every part of the world. Like, anybody can do what we do in New Orleans. You know, if you just treat your neighbor like love your neighbor, like you love yourself. Like, less judgment, more love. You don't have to understand people, I believe, but just accept, you know, the more acceptance we have, I think, is the more love that we pass around.
• 30:08
  Speaker A: Absolutely. You know, Jeff, before you got here, Cole and I were talking and talking about being in New Orleans and how, you know, it all turns on personal relationships and how, like, the pest control guy who shows up to my house for the first time, how I make sure to make a friend of that guy. I see him, I start talking to him. He's got red hair. It's like, oh, you know, I have two redheaded kids. Oh, you know, like, it's like, whatever I can find to connect with this guy. And by the end of it, he's like, all right, Renee, well, I'll. I'll call you up.
• 30:41
  Speaker B: And it's like, so you have lunch with him today?
• 30:45
  Speaker A: Well, not today, but. But, you know, we have that kind of. Next time I see him, he's asking me about my family, you know? Yeah, like that. And. But that really is. If you don't do that in New Orleans, you're missing a bet, man, because that's. People will do things for you. As I said, out of the goodness of their hearts that they wouldn't do if you put a gun to their head.
• 31:05
  Speaker B: Well, I think part of that too is the pace of the city allows for more connection to happen. You know, there's something about the heat and the humidity that slow people down.
• 31:19
  Speaker A: Enough to where they can pay attention to who they're talking to.
• 31:23
  Speaker B: Well, and also, you know, when somebody comes and they work physically at your house. I have a gentleman who's been working with me for about 15 years. He's about my age and we've become great friends, but at the end of the day, we'll be working together or he's working on my property or doing something at the house and it's be like, lawrence, let's sit down, let's chill.
• 31:47
  Speaker C: I like that.
• 31:48
  Speaker B: You know, because he, you know, we both need to cool off and have water, right. And breathe.
• 31:56
  Speaker C: And that doesn't happen in New York.
• 31:57
  Speaker B: Well, I haven't lived there in so long, I can't say that it doesn't.
• 32:01
  Speaker C: But I'm telling you, okay, that's why I moved here. For the, I said for the, for the, for the chit chatting and the mint juleps.
• 32:09
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 32:09
  Speaker C: But yeah, definitely enjoyed the chit chatting. Just.
• 32:12
  Speaker B: Oh, yeah, I remember. I remember the first time I went out, I moved in off campus, off a two lane campus. I was in a line with an ice cold six pack of beer at the Winn Dixie on Carrollton. And there were three people in front of me and it took me 35 minutes, 40 minutes to get out of the store. I was like, come on, how does everybody know everybody just cuz they were.
• 32:39
  Speaker A: Holding such a big conversation with the cashier. Right.
• 32:43
  Speaker B: Everyone was talking about their mama and how's your. How's Louie?
• 32:47
  Speaker C: That I had to get used to.
• 32:48
  Speaker B: Oh yeah, I had to get used to that.
• 32:50
  Speaker A: Yeah. And it's. It demands that you take a beat, as they say these days, you know, and, and if you don't do that, the, the person will still sell you your groceries and all, but they're gonna think, okay, you, you know.
• 33:03
  Speaker C: Right.
• 33:04
  Speaker A: All right.
• 33:04
  Speaker C: Is that what's happening behind.
• 33:05
  Speaker A: Well, I mean, you know. Yeah. When they're like, you know, they go, how are you? And you? I'm good. It's like, no, no, that's not how you answer that question. It's like, I'm good, how are you? I'm all right. You know, like, you need to acknowledge that this is a person who is acknowledging you and we're here together and yes, we're doing a commercial transaction, but we're relating on a much more, you know, fundamental basis than that.
• 33:34
  Speaker C: That's real. It's true. You know, I have found that I've gotten things done better by having that person personality. But just like chit chatting on the phone, like, yeah, like, you know, there's like these people next door to me that aren't, like, cutting their trees. Like, you know, you have to deal with that.
• 33:50
  Speaker A: Right.
• 33:51
  Speaker C: And like calling the city, like, what can I do? And then, you know, they'll tell you, well, here's what you do.
• 33:56
  Speaker A: Right, Right? Yeah, yeah. When it gets to that stage.
• 33:59
  Speaker B: Exactly.
• 34:00
  Speaker A: All right, honey, look, here's what you do.
• 34:01
  Speaker C: And I'm like, oh, my goodness. Thank you.
• 34:04
  Speaker B: That's right. That's right. It's true. It's true.
• 34:07
  Speaker C: So.
• 34:07
  Speaker A: So where did you go to college?
• 34:09
  Speaker C: I went to New Jersey City University.
• 34:11
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 34:12
  Speaker C: Yeah. So my dad was living in Jersey City, so. But by that time, my parents divorced, and I'm like, I've always been a daddy's girl, and I wanted to, like, be like, closer to him. So I went over there. I also, like, looked like. I do a lot of research. I don't know if you know this about me, but, like, I like to research, like, to know it's like, how things work. So I was like, okay, so if I stay in New York City, like, how much. How many people are going to be in the classes? Like, I wanted attention, so I was like, oh, I can like, get a, like a really good education here, but, like, private school education, pay city prices and have smaller class sizes, so then I'll get, like, more attention that way. Yeah. So it's pretty good. Yeah. Yeah. And I was paying for it, so I was like, yeah, let me do that.
• 34:56
  Speaker A: Yeah, get the most bang for your buck.
• 34:59
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 35:00
  Speaker A: You're working already as a. As a musician, singer, and I'm working.
• 35:05
  Speaker C: Part time at Victoria's Secrets.
• 35:07
  Speaker A: Okay, well, I was going to get to your modeling career. How does that happen?
• 35:12
  Speaker C: I don't know. You know, like, in New York, just, like, there are people everywhere and you.
• 35:16
  Speaker A: Go, oh, you're so cute. You know, you're a size zero. You could. Have you ever thought about modeling?
• 35:24
  Speaker C: I wish it was that fabulous. Cause, like, you know, there are bad experiences that I had as well with, like, not so nice people. But, like, I had to figure it out, like, some things the hard way. But I was always thinking, like, how can I, like, use what I have to, like, make an income without, like, getting on a pole? Although I'm not opposed. I've considered it a few times. When times are hard.
• 35:50
  Speaker A: Sure, sure.
• 35:50
  Speaker C: Yeah. I was like, okay, how would I do this?
• 35:52
  Speaker A: Right.
• 35:53
  Speaker C: You know, like, would I wear sunglasses and get on the pole?
• 35:58
  Speaker B: All right, you know, I got it. You know, I'm going to shut my eyes and see what that looks like.
• 36:07
  Speaker A: So. So you didn't wind up on the pole here?
• 36:10
  Speaker C: I never wound up on the pole.
• 36:11
  Speaker B: So how long were you in Jersey City at the.
• 36:15
  Speaker C: So, three years. Three and a half years for the first almost degree. Then I went back to New York City. Then I went back and I was able to, like, work something out where it was only about two and a half years, but since I was touring and, like, they were little, except for that teacher with the 0.5 credits. They were really understanding. So, like, it was about two and a half more years and then I was like a degree classical singer, but I love the technique of classical singing, but that wasn't what was calling me. So I would just, like, apply that to, like, my pop singing. I would say, like, I've been a pop singer longer than I've been any other kind of singer.
• 36:54
  Speaker A: Sure.
• 36:54
  Speaker C: Like, I used to do jingles. Like, there was a covergirl commercial and, like, suave commercial. And, like, I would get called into all these sessions and do that and.
• 37:03
  Speaker A: Oh, cool. It was like.
• 37:04
  Speaker C: Yeah, like two hours, like, in and out. So, like, I have no patience in the studio. Like in Manhattan or in Manhattan, in Greenpoint, you know, when you. So just like in New Orleans, this person knows that person. You get a call and so, like, got to do, like, studio sessions for albums that were, like, major label albums. So, like, I got to perform on the Wendy Williams show and Jimmy Kimmel and. What's the other one? Conan o'. Brien. Oh, nice. And.
• 37:35
  Speaker A: And who are you performing on those shows with?
• 37:38
  Speaker C: This guy. This. Right. These rapper. I think it was a rap duo. Chitty Bang.
• 37:42
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 37:43
  Speaker C: I was a member of this band called Little Jackie. Like, we did these, like, wonderful international tours. It was like we were, like, on the MTV of, like, the uk. So like, I lived there for a little while.
• 37:54
  Speaker A: Really? When was this? After college?
• 37:57
  Speaker C: This was after. Definitely after college. College. Maybe. Maybe like five, three to five years after college.
• 38:02
  Speaker A: Well, so sorry. I'm going to go back. So, Victoria's Secret, were you working as a model for Victoria's Secret? Working? I was in the. In the corporate structure.
• 38:11
  Speaker C: No, I was in the store.
• 38:12
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 38:13
  Speaker C: I was selling the bras.
• 38:14
  Speaker A: All right.
• 38:15
  Speaker C: The sets. I was measuring.
• 38:16
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 38:17
  Speaker C: Yeah. I was like, you're wearing the wrong size. Can I measure you? Do you have spillage?
• 38:22
  Speaker A: Spillage? I can imagine.
• 38:23
  Speaker C: I've got the tape and I would get the measuring tape and I'd measure them and then. Oh yeah, because like you have like a smaller size around your, your torso and then like you have a smaller cup size. So like evening stuff out and.
• 38:38
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. It's complicated, so. It's a lot more complicated than men understand, I'm sure.
• 38:42
  Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, definitely. And then like the push up bras and I got into my bra game, like. Okay, yeah, but I'm not like a big bra person. I don't.
• 38:53
  Speaker A: You're Miss Petite. So.
• 38:54
  Speaker C: Yeah, I don't really need a bra.
• 38:55
  Speaker A: But yeah, well, so, so. But then you're. You're in. How do you wind up in. In Paris? Modeling.
• 39:04
  Speaker C: So I forget. When did this happen? So this was before, like all the late night stuff, like with the little Jackie I got. I was dating a guy that was also a singer. I would never do that again.
• 39:18
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 39:20
  Speaker C: And he knew someone in Sweden that was an Elvis impersonator and like had these big shows in Malmo, Sweden.
• 39:29
  Speaker A: Oh yeah, I've been there.
• 39:32
  Speaker C: It's like a wonderful small city. You just need to know like the big square and the little square.
• 39:35
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 39:36
  Speaker C: So every winter there was like this Christmas Elvis show that he would put on, sell it out. And so he needed like the sweet inspirations. And so I got hired for that. I did that about like three years in a row. Like would live in Sweden and then just like people would see me and like, can you model this? It wasn't like anything like I got a lot of money for, but I was able to get in like Italian Vogue, but I didn't get any money.
• 40:03
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 40:03
  Speaker C: For that. Yeah. It was just. I didn't know, you know, like, if I knew then what I know now, I would have negotiated.
• 40:10
  Speaker A: Right. Well, it's a great experience though. I mean, who can say that they were a model in Paris, you know? You can.
• 40:17
  Speaker C: I can. And then. Yeah. So then like Paris was right there. So then like I would like stay in Paris. But then also I dated some. A guy from Paris later on and then I started doing that again.
• 40:28
  Speaker A: So do you live in Europe? For how long was that? A couple of years.
• 40:32
  Speaker C: That was like on and off. So it'd be like three months out of the year or like two months out of the year or like back and forth like for six months.
• 40:39
  Speaker A: This is like in the 90s.
• 40:40
  Speaker C: No, this is like 2000 like 210.
• 40:43
  Speaker B: All right.
• 40:43
  Speaker C: Yeah, like 210. Like that whole. That whole decade, that whole era.
• 40:48
  Speaker A: Gotcha.
• 40:48
  Speaker C: Like, pretty much, like, right before I got to New Orleans.
• 40:52
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 40:52
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 40:53
  Speaker A: So you. You liked it over there, but you did. Not enough to stay.
• 40:59
  Speaker C: It was like, the language. So, you know, I could get on, but I couldn't really envision, like, staying there, like, paying the rent. Like, it's expensive over there, like, to live in the place that I would want to live. Just, like, having a home base. Like, I didn't know that many people there, so I thought, like, I could always just go back and visit, like, whenever I wanted to.
• 41:24
  Speaker A: Right.
• 41:24
  Speaker C: I'll tell you this. It was between Paris and New Orleans.
• 41:28
  Speaker A: Okay. I think you made the right choice.
• 41:30
  Speaker C: Yeah. Like, it. It was between, like, I packed. So, like, a lot of people don't know this. I was packed for six months before I moved here. Like, I knew I was going to move somewhere, but I didn't know where.
• 41:40
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 41:41
  Speaker C: And I was like, I need to manifest it. So I packed and then ended up. I was in a band that I'm not going to name the name of.
• 41:48
  Speaker A: Sure.
• 41:48
  Speaker C: For my own personal reasons. And we had some, like, late night gigs here during Jazz Fest during Halloween. That's how I, like, quote unquote, discovered it. And then I met some people and visited back, and then they were like, you got to come to New Orleans. You got to come to New Orleans. And I was like, you think so? But I don't know, like, where am I going to live? And the next time I visited, somebody was like, subletting a room, and they were like, you got to come, like, here. You got it. And I was like, okay. So I just took whatever I could fit in my father's car. We drove down my cat, my fashions, and my art. That was 2015. Nice in January.
• 42:27
  Speaker A: Outstanding.
• 42:28
  Speaker C: And it almost didn't happen. Snoopy with an I. Yeah. It was like the week of. And things kept happening, like, with his schedule. And, like, was a Friday night. And I was like, dad, we gotta leave today or it's not gonna happen. Just like, screw everything else. Put everything in the car, let's go. And we came and we drove here.
• 42:49
  Speaker A: Nice.
• 42:49
  Speaker B: Good thing you were packed.
• 42:52
  Speaker A: Well, so now. And now in the storyline, we've got you moving to New Orleans, and this is a perfect time to take a little break here. And everybody out in the feral zone knows what to do. Get yourself another cocktail or Arnold Palmer or Shirley Temple or Topo Chico, and we'll Be right back.
• 43:12
  Speaker D: Daylight wake me up we will rise Going to the other side Sunlight awake me we will rise Go into the golden road to the other side Days that awake me we will rise Going to the other side Sunlight awake me we will rise Going to the golden road to the other side I was born into slavery from my mother feeling this free spread she passed it down through generations oh boo boo, you gotta work harder and I tried to be much better Black sheep, she was my.
• 44:22
  Speaker A: Name.
• 44:25
  Speaker D: Time to unlearn the things you know and create a new day say flight awake me we will rise Going to the other side Sunlight awake me we will rise Go into the gold road to the other side and we're.
• 44:54
  Speaker A: Back back in the Feral Zone with my guest co host, Mr. Jeff Treffinger. I am Renee Coleman, back with our guest, Ms. Cole Williams. Now, Cole, I know you're new to the podcast, you're not new to me, but, but you know, we, we have in the Troubleman podcast on the Feral Zone where, where both of these entities are listener supported operations. And we have Venmo and PayPal links in the show notes of every show as well as the Facebook posts that we use to promote them. And usual, usually we'll read out people's names who are buying our cocktails tonight. Oh yeah, well, there are no people buying our cocktails tonight because it's been a little while since we had any real material support. We have emotional support. We have, you know, other sorts of, you know, everybody.
• 45:46
  Speaker B: I'm going to sell plasma for drinks.
• 45:48
  Speaker C: Okay, that cocktail bucket. What's going on?
• 45:53
  Speaker A: Well, you know, cocktails and then the, the, the composition books, they're not expensive, but we use a lot of them anyway. For those of you enjoying the show, please avail yourselves of those links in the show notes. And also, let's see, we say follow us on social media, Instagram, Facebook and rate, review and subscribe to the podcast wherever you're listening to it. And I will say we also have a Patreon link there in the, in the show notes. And we do have a faithful handful of patrons who are supporting us week in and week out. So I guess we're, we're relying on them tonight, the backbone of this, this operation. Thank them for the drink, underwriting it all. Thank you our patrons and we love you. And also, let's see, we have the Troublemen podcast T shirt link. That's there, it's live. As I said last week, we're not six weeks from Christmas, we're six months from Christmas. As you so ably pointed out. Jeff corrected me. Thank you. And you know, sometimes I get welcome. I get going too fast and get ahead of myself. Get ahead of my skis, as they say.
• 47:04
  Speaker B: Say. But, but we agreed there's no calendars in this.
• 47:09
  Speaker A: That's right. That's right. This is a, A, A break in the space time continuum here. Once you go through, it's like Narnia. You know, you go into the club, the Cl. Whatever. The closet is the wardrobe. When you, when you go into Snake and Jake's, it looks. Funny thing. Oh, well, I have to mention before I forget, it is Tiki Tuesday here. It is Tiki, Snake and Jake's, and our bartender Ian is back there making the exotic cocktails. Now, as a, as a drinker, I'm not crazy about the exotic cocktails because they take a long time to make. And people come in, they, they, they spend a lot of time, even think choosing a drink. And I'm, I'm watching that. I'm just like, just fucking order a drink, man. Just, just, you know, what, what are we doing here? This is, you know, get busy. Booze and ice. That's all you need, you know.
• 48:00
  Speaker C: What are you drinking?
• 48:02
  Speaker A: I'm having a booze and nice. Well, and some soda. So I have vodka soda. I think in some places they call that a skinny bitch. Well, and that perfectly suits me.
• 48:14
  Speaker C: They do.
• 48:15
  Speaker A: Because I am a skinny bitch in every sense of all those words.
• 48:23
  Speaker B: But amen.
• 48:24
  Speaker A: Enough about me.
• 48:27
  Speaker C: So I will shout out to the skinny bitches.
• 48:30
  Speaker A: There you go. All right, all four of us here. We have a silent partner here. We won't mention his name. We don't want to embarrass him in front of his colleagues or get him fired from work or anything. He's smiling. I like that. So have some dates coming up for myself next week. Like a day after this comes out. I'll be playing with Dave Easley, the great pedal steel phenom at Ruby's Roadhouse in Mandeville. Back in Saint Tammany Parish, you gotta mind your P's and Q's in Saint Tammany. Yeah.
• 49:12
  Speaker C: I don't know.
• 49:12
  Speaker A: Chores, the stores. That's the, the Green Acres theme with Dating Myself Once again with Zsa Zsa Gabor.
• 49:24
  Speaker B: Oh, yes.
• 49:25
  Speaker A: Eddie Arnold. Eddie Arnold. Yes. Great show.
• 49:27
  Speaker C: I don't know Eddie Arnold.
• 49:28
  Speaker A: You'd recognize him. He was a character actor. But his. Probably his most prominent role was as in the show Green Acres. It was the, the era when they had, like, Gilligan's island and Other and like goofy sitcoms that, that show, what was it with Petticoat Junction? You ever seen that show?
• 49:48
  Speaker C: No, I haven't, but I've heard of it.
• 49:51
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 49:52
  Speaker B: There's a little hotel called the Shady.
• 49:55
  Speaker A: Rest at the Junction. Yeah, yeah. I could sing the whole thing too. Let's not. Yeah, let's not go there. And there's Uncle Joe. He's moving kind of slow.
• 50:03
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 50:04
  Speaker A: Yes. Admin Junction. Anyway, great show, but. Yes, watch yourself, watch your P's and Q's. And in Saint Tammany Parish, if you come to see.
• 50:13
  Speaker B: And then you're playing with that 29th.
• 50:14
  Speaker A: The 29th. That's, that's the anniversary of Katrina there. Then the next night. Yes, you remember from last week. You have a mind like a steel trap, Jeff. Ed Volker playing at. I'm playing with Ed volker on Saturday, August 30th at Chicken Wawa. And that's the Mollusk Trio, plus Renee Coleman and Rod Hodges.
• 50:39
  Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
• 50:40
  Speaker A: And so that's going to be a great gig. You know Ed Volker of the Radiators, perennial favorite monster. He's cooked up a whole new thing. I have a rehearsal with him tomorrow. We're gonna. He's gonna unveil whatever. Whatever kind of lugubrious actions he has, he has contorted for us. And then the other big date coming up is with you with Jeff Trer. Tribe Nunzio, your. Your original band here in New Orleans, your original hit maker. And we're. We have a. A reconstituted version of Tribe Nunzio playing a show September 19th at the Broadside.
• 51:19
  Speaker B: Oh, we do.
• 51:20
  Speaker A: It's great to have me and Joe Cabral, who originally played saxophone and Tribe Nunzio even before I was in the. The Iguanas.
• 51:30
  Speaker B: Right, right.
• 51:31
  Speaker A: And your original singer Holden's back. And Vernon.
• 51:34
  Speaker B: Vernon Rome.
• 51:35
  Speaker A: Vernon Rome, original bass player. We have Kyle Molassa Bam Bam taking over for, uh, Damon Shea on drums.
• 51:45
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 51:45
  Speaker A: And we have, uh, great new percussionist, uh, OVI Giron, who did a bang up job filling in for Doug Garrison at the Carousel Bar the other night.
• 51:55
  Speaker B: Oh, he did?
• 51:56
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Killed it. Killed it, man.
• 51:58
  Speaker B: Oh, wow.
• 51:59
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 51:59
  Speaker B: Good.
• 51:59
  Speaker A: And everybody loves the kid, so look out for OVI Garon. He's going to be on the podcast soon.
• 52:05
  Speaker C: I'm coming to that show. I want to see.
• 52:07
  Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah.
• 52:08
  Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
• 52:08
  Speaker C: I want to see alan on the.
• 52:09
  Speaker B: 19Th at the broadside. Yeah, It'd be wild. It'll be.
• 52:14
  Speaker C: Thank you. You know, I'm, I'm Ms. Elite Louisiana Petite.
• 52:18
  Speaker A: You're on the. You're on the guest.
• 52:20
  Speaker B: Come with your.
• 52:21
  Speaker A: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 52:23
  Speaker C: And my crown.
• 52:23
  Speaker B: You got to get on stage with us. Holden will love it. Yeah, let's do it. I'm a singer.
• 52:30
  Speaker A: Come sing some backup. For sure.
• 52:31
  Speaker C: Oh, I love that.
• 52:33
  Speaker A: It's one of those bands. It's like the Tribe. Nunzio is kind of like. Like the Talking Heads, when they got to the. The big band St. Stage, you know, and they had the big band, like, doing more quasi African kind of rhythms and stuff, you know, That's. That's very much where Trib Nuncio kind of sits.
• 52:53
  Speaker C: It's a good picture.
• 52:54
  Speaker A: And I get to play keyboards in that band.
• 52:56
  Speaker C: No way.
• 52:57
  Speaker A: So because they have a great bass player. Original bass player. And playing keyboards in a band, especially in this band, I don't have to do a lot. I get to. It's. I liken it to, like, often in bands. As a bass player, I feel like I'm driving the bus in this band. I'm just riding on the bus, you know, I'm looking out the window. I'm going, oh, look at that. Oh, that's cool. Oh, all right. You know, I'm not watching for potholes. I'm not. Whatever, man.
• 53:22
  Speaker B: And your keyboard is one of the most hilarious devices I've ever heard.
• 53:28
  Speaker A: Everything.
• 53:29
  Speaker B: Everything he plays is like, cracks me up.
• 53:32
  Speaker C: No, and it's good.
• 53:34
  Speaker B: I mean, he plays all the right notes, but the sounds are, like, perfectly spooky.
• 53:39
  Speaker A: Spooky weird.
• 53:40
  Speaker B: Spooky weird.
• 53:41
  Speaker A: Yeah. I think last time we were playing Tip of Tinas for a private party a few months ago, which is kind of how this. This other public gig wound up happening. And after a soundcheck, you said, wow, man, I can. I'm finally being able to hear what you're playing and the sound you're using. And Matt, I had no idea. He said everything sounds like the theme from the Monsters.
• 54:03
  Speaker C: Oh, my God. I gotta be. I'm coming.
• 54:07
  Speaker A: You gotta come.
• 54:08
  Speaker C: I am. I will be there.
• 54:10
  Speaker A: So anyway, everybody look for that. And, you know, you can find all my other dates on the Renee Coleman Facebook page and the iguanas.com and that's enough of that. Back to our guest, Ms. Cole Williams. Now, Cole, back to us. Now you see that you're so. Now I'll say, the first time I met you, I often get back to this point. This part of the show was I played the. I've played all of the Clash Day tribute shows at Chicky Wawa that we've had the past few years. And you showed up as a vocalist on the first one, and I was not familiar with you.
• 54:52
  Speaker C: Yeah, I've heard of you, though, but I never met you, but I knew. I knew the name, so I. Legendary, so.
• 54:58
  Speaker A: Oh, well. You're very sweet.
• 54:59
  Speaker C: He's legendary.
• 55:00
  Speaker A: Oh, well. But so I. Icon.
• 55:05
  Speaker B: The man's an icon.
• 55:06
  Speaker A: All right, relax, kids. I don't like those kind of compliments enough about me. I was telling my wife, who's playing, I said, cole Williams. And she goes, oh, I love her. She goes, she's on the radio. She goes, I love her voice. I love everything about her. She's really cool. And I was like, oh, she's really cool. In rehearsal, you know, and so you did a great job on that.
• 55:27
  Speaker C: Thank you. That was fun.
• 55:28
  Speaker A: It was really fun.
• 55:29
  Speaker C: Yeah. It was, like, out of my element, but in my element, right. Yeah. It's a nice challenge, like, as a. I guess maybe every instrument, but definitely a singer. Like, I can't sing what I don't believe in. You know, for me, it just doesn't sound authentic, and I need to be authentic.
• 55:46
  Speaker A: Sure.
• 55:47
  Speaker C: So I had to figure out, like, my space with that music, but also respect. Like, everybody knows these songs, and how do I respect, like, what they want to hear, but do it my way?
• 55:59
  Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. No, that's where real artistry lives. That's exactly where, you know, the artist mindset should be. You did it with great aplomb. So that was our first meeting. And then, you know, it turns out, as we said, like, years go by, and then I get the call to back you up on this Congo Square concert you did was in March. And then we played also French Quarter Festival, another triumphant gig there at the. The Gazebo. Right there on the river.
• 56:36
  Speaker C: That's right.
• 56:37
  Speaker A: And I noticed in rehearsal, you know, we. We did the first tune. We played it for a while, and then. And I could tell you were really listening, and. But. But then also really gauging everybody, you know, and, like, picking up on everybody's aura, if you will, you know, their.
• 56:56
  Speaker C: Their.
• 56:57
  Speaker A: Their vibe, you know, and. And where they. And I thought, oh, I like this. I like Cole's. Really. You know, she's really assessing this on a. On a. On a molecular level, a spiritual level, as you would say.
• 57:11
  Speaker C: Well said. Yeah, you know, I've been a side man. Like, I've sang backgrounds for a really long time. I've also sang backgrounds and played percussion and then leading bands, and I think. Think that some of the best band leaders are also people that know how to be Sidemen that know how to be a part of the band. So like, whenever I'm leading, I have to respect my sidemen. Like, it's almost like respecting the sound person. We can sound great on stage, but if they're not dialing us in, it sounds like crap. So we're really all working together. But I also knew it was like crunch time. Like we didn't have like that short amount of time. But there's a thing that I do that I just needed to see where everybody was and what you do individually and together, which is great that you guys already play together and like, how can I come in and like be a part of this, but then also have you guys be a part of me and then have us do something together? Like, I don't need it to sound like the record. I don't need it to sound like any other band. I needed it to sound like us. And I feel like each and every one of you, like viscerally understood the mission and like we were all on the same accord. Like, I left that rehearsal, that first rehearsal so happy and like, happy and like hopeful for like where music is going. I was like, there are good musicians out here. Like, you just have to find your tribe. So I'm like so blessed that like, I didn't even know that like John Papa Gro was gonna, like, I didn't know like, who. Who he was gonna call. I just was like, Spirit told me like. And Spirit had told me like a while ago. I was like, it said John and I was like, but he says a lot of things. I don't know. But then I just was like, you know, effort. Like, let me just see like if he's available. Like, see what you guys need. And it worked out.
• 59:04
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 59:05
  Speaker C: Yeah. Like, I love. I loved it. Like, I absolutely. I'm still living in it, like from March and April, you know. We're going to do it again.
• 59:12
  Speaker A: Yes. And I noticed today that actually the live recording that they did on that Congo Square and again playing in Congo Square. Holy cow, man. I mean, you know, what a privilege, what an honor, what a tradition to be a part of. But you have two tracks and I guess you're going to wind up, I think on September 26th.
• 59:38
  Speaker C: Yes.
• 59:39
  Speaker A: You're going to release the entire live set, which is like eight songs or something.
• 59:44
  Speaker C: Eight songs and they're all like 10 minutes each.
• 59:45
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We.
• 59:48
  Speaker C: We jam.
• 59:50
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 59:50
  Speaker C: Like the live versions. Like we, we. We go in. I was looking, I was like, oh my goodness. Every song. Like the, The Shortest song is about eight minutes long. It's like a. I don't. It's a vibe, It's a feeling. But, yeah, I'm releasing the live recording of that because it's just like, what we did together is just something like.
• 1:00:13
  Speaker A: And that was our first. That was our first public performance ever.
• 1:00:17
  Speaker C: Yeah, it was. It was so good. I mean, like, Renee, I actually, you know, I'll put that on, like, just to, like, remember. I'm like. I remember. I liked it, like, in April and, you know, March. Let me put it on again. And I'm in my house with my cat and we're dancing. Like, it's so dialed in, right? Yeah, it's a good feeling.
• 1:00:37
  Speaker B: Who's on drums?
• 1:00:39
  Speaker A: Mo Roberts. He's actually from New Jersey or maybe from New York. He moved down here. He's been playing with Marsha Ball in Austin for a while, but then he's. Now he's moved to New York, to the North Shore, and he lives around here and still plays with Marcia and plays with other people around town. And Alex Malay is playing guitar in the band. And actually, John was. John Gro was supposed to be on the gig, but then he wound up having a little bit of a health issue. So. Wound up, it was just the four of us. Me, Cole, Mo on drums, and Alex on. On guitar. And we went and did the gig and sounded fantastic.
• 1:01:18
  Speaker C: But, you know, it worked out because, like, on piano, like, I drive, like, just because I, like, that's, like, my thing. I can't stop or else, like, I'll, like, lose something. So it worked out because I wanted John to be like the cherry, the whipped cream. And so just us establishing what we did as, like, rhythm section. Like, he just came in and right.
• 1:01:39
  Speaker A: Then, the next gig we played was the French Quarter Festival, and John did. Did play B3 with us. And that was. That was really, like, you said, the cherry on top. And it was really, really a wonderful performance.
• 1:01:49
  Speaker C: Sparrow was there. We had Beth Arroyo Utterback, general manager of oz.
• 1:01:53
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 1:01:54
  Speaker C: Jack Lampert. Like, there was just so many people that just came out to support, including, like, just, you know, the fans.
• 1:02:00
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 1:02:00
  Speaker C: Like, and new fans and old fans. Yeah, it was wonderful.
• 1:02:03
  Speaker A: It was.
• 1:02:04
  Speaker C: That was church.
• 1:02:05
  Speaker A: Yes, it was.
• 1:02:06
  Speaker B: I gotta see this.
• 1:02:08
  Speaker A: So. So getting back to your. In your narrative, you moved to New Orleans. Now, how soon do you hook up with Oz?
• 1:02:20
  Speaker C: So that was pretty quick.
• 1:02:21
  Speaker A: Okay. Had you been. Had you had DJ experience before? Had you been on the radio before?
• 1:02:27
  Speaker C: So I hadn't been on the radio, but right before I moved. I was in talks with Robin Hood Radio, a subsidiary of NPR pr, to get a show. And then the head guy got really sick. So, like, that, you know, didn't pan out. So when I moved here, I wasn't, like, thinking radio, but I was just thinking, like, how can I meet people? How can I get involved? And so I just started volunteering, like, all around. And then I kept hearing wwoz. Wwoz, you know, I'm a researcher. So I researched, and I was like, oh, you know, I didn't know anything about computer. Community Radio was like, wait, you can volunteer. So, like, I emailed them or called them, and somebody called me back. I believe it might have been Jorge. Oh, I love Jorge. And then they asked me to come in to interview and meet the volunteer coordinator that happens to me still is Maurice DeJean, the host of the Jazz from Jax Brewery show on Monday evenings. And she. She interviewed me. And I just remember I was, like, on my New York. So I was just. I was just talking, talking, talking. She was just sitting there looking and listening. You know, Maurice is just very calming. And then when I finally stopped talking and just, like, sharing, like, what I think they wanted to hear, she said, you know, it's a privilege to be on the radio. That's something that's stuck with me, like, to this day. And I started volunteering just. Just at events. So, like, my first WWZ event I volunteered at was with Sharon Martin performing and Mario Abney. And I just volunteered, like, volunteered on the phone banks when they still had those, and I would sub when I could. And then I think about two years after, after I volunteered and just subbed and everything, there was an opening for a show host. And my. And Derrick Freeman, we both got our New Orleans music shows at the same time. And it was like a privilege, like an honor, but also like, oh, my goodness. So I'm not from. I'm not from here. And what are they? You know, And I had some. I had some weird phone calls when I first started. Like, oh, yeah, oh, yeah, you know.
• 1:04:42
  Speaker A: What are you wearing kind of phone calls?
• 1:04:43
  Speaker C: No, like, mean. Like, people. People were mean. Like, somebody was like, you know, I was playing. I always had Corey Henry in the beginning of my show under the live wire, somebody called and said, hey, the music's too loud. Excuse me? He said, yeah, exactly, and hung up. So you know what I did? I went on the caller ID and I looked for his number, and I called him back and I said, hey. I said, you just called wwoz and he sounded so surprised. And I said, let me tell you something. I said, don't call me and disrespect me ever again. Got it? I said, am I clear? Okay. Yeah.
• 1:05:15
  Speaker A: Because I got some New York for you. I know you're not expecting this, but I do have that in my back pocket.
• 1:05:22
  Speaker C: So I did that privately. You know, I never, like, went to anybody else and told them, like, people are being mean. I knew that the station supported me, but I just was like, I just gotta kinda take the good and take the bad and take it all, you know. There you have the facts of life. Yeah. So then I, like, started learning, like, you know, I'd met a lot of good people like Walter Wolfman Washington, like, while he was still living, and brother Tyrone and Cyril Neville and Charmaine Neville, and just kind of like, you know, you get stories when you live here. Like, everybody has a story. And so I just started like, using these stories to, like, discover music and, like, going down that rabbit hole and during the pandemic, I think is what really, like, changed my viewpoint on, like, what I was doing there. It gained more importance to me. Like, not only was it, like, filling my soul because there was nothing else to listen to for me besides NPR and oz, but I realized that we were, like, helping people, like, get through a really tough time.
• 1:06:27
  Speaker A: Lifeline.
• 1:06:27
  Speaker C: A lifeline. So I've just felt more responsible in my. In my position there. And I just said, you know what? I just have to pour in. I'm not. I'm not looking for anything. Like, I just have to pour in to this space that I've been blessed to receive. And just the more that I poured in is the more that I, like, I don't know, a light just started, Like, I just started learning more and just started to feel like I just found a groove, like I'm going to play what I want to play. And right now it's like from 1950s New Orleans to present day New Orleans and all the genres and just.
• 1:07:02
  Speaker A: You've developed such a deep knowledge of New Orleans music since, you know, your researcher on your show. I am.
• 1:07:11
  Speaker B: You're a researcher?
• 1:07:12
  Speaker C: I'm an only child too. So what are we gonna do?
• 1:07:14
  Speaker B: Right?
• 1:07:14
  Speaker C: What else am I gonna do?
• 1:07:15
  Speaker A: I don't see it.
• 1:07:16
  Speaker B: You're a lone researcher.
• 1:07:17
  Speaker C: Yeah, but, you know, I like to know the origin of the things and I like to know. I like to have reasons to respect things. And I just need to know. I need to like that I need to understand, I can accept. But in my role As a dj, I also need to understand the relationships and the music and, and the contribution that, like the impact. I'm sorry that we all, all of us DJs that we're making on the air and take my role, they seriously.
• 1:07:47
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 1:07:48
  Speaker C: Like, it helped me grow up, I would say. I always say Brooklyn made me, but New Orleans raised me because I moved here and I didn't know anybody really, except for Corey Henry because I recorded on his album in Brooklyn. So I looked for him and like, sat in with him at Vons for years. But I had to like, rebuild with the resources I have available, you know, using what I have and getting to know people, making relationships. Like you said.
• 1:08:14
  Speaker A: Well, and I know your show these days, you. You spend a, like, it's kind of almost equally divided. You'll. You'll play like some old time stuff, like classic New Orleans stuff. Then you always have like an hour for the ladies.
• 1:08:28
  Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
• 1:08:29
  Speaker A: Play a lot of. Yeah. Then. Then you'll have like more recent stuff. Really cover the waterfront.
• 1:08:37
  Speaker C: Well, it's three hours, like you said, sitting in the same chair. Like, for me, I was like, I have to make it interesting or I'll get bored. And like, I'll be on my phone and I'll probably forget to like, put on the next song. But also I just thought about people's attention spans and like, you know, they need, they need slots. So it keeps it interesting for me, but also like, keeps the listeners engaged if they want to listen for three hours.
• 1:08:59
  Speaker A: Right, right.
• 1:09:00
  Speaker B: So do you do it on the fly or do you come in with a preconcert, preconceived show?
• 1:09:06
  Speaker C: So it's like a little bit of both. I start off with things like preconceived, but if I'm there and I'm feeling like a vibe, I'll just like, scrap what I have and I'll just like start looking at what we have or start looking in the other stuff that I have that's not programmed. You know, I'll bring in a bunch of CDs, I'll have my stuff on my laptop and I just go for like, what feels good. But I'm chair dancing the whole whole time. Yeah, yeah, I've been caught. Like, people like, walk in and I get startled. I'm like, oh my goodness. I'm like, I'm going in. I'm going in.
• 1:09:40
  Speaker A: In the moment, man. In the spirit.
• 1:09:41
  Speaker C: I love it.
• 1:09:42
  Speaker A: Absolutely.
• 1:09:43
  Speaker C: And the studio is amazing.
• 1:09:45
  Speaker A: You know, just how to say the new studio.
• 1:09:47
  Speaker B: This place is gorgeous.
• 1:09:49
  Speaker A: Unbelievable.
• 1:09:50
  Speaker C: So it's really inspiring being there and like looking at the Mississippi river and the Natchez and like looking at the live room where the, where the musicians get to play. Like a proper studio for us, a proper space for everyone. Like the city of New Orleans deserves a place like that for what we do.
• 1:10:06
  Speaker A: Yes. And shout out to Beth Arroyo Utterbeck and shout out to Alan Berger who is kind of underwriting this and giving you all that space at a very affordable price.
• 1:10:16
  Speaker C: Shout out to all of them because.
• 1:10:18
  Speaker A: He and everybody at Oz.
• 1:10:19
  Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. They don't a great job.
• 1:10:21
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. It's a. What a godsend. Well, so, so let's, we're kind of on the, winding it down a little bit here. Let's touch on some other things, like your acting career now. It just. People see you and they see your vibrant personality and they say, no. Okay, how does this happen?
• 1:10:39
  Speaker C: There was like one time, like I filmed a independent movie during the pandemic. Like they found me on Instagram. So I did it like at a really, really, really, really, really, really reduced rate. But I do things not only for the morning.
• 1:10:55
  Speaker A: Well, you're doing this tonight on a very reduced rate too.
• 1:10:59
  Speaker C: I just wanted to see you. Listen, I almost brought that raspberry preserve, that jam.
• 1:11:03
  Speaker A: Oh yeah, I like it.
• 1:11:04
  Speaker C: I almost brought that for us, but I didn't have time to pick it up. We talked about the preserves.
• 1:11:09
  Speaker A: I turned Cole on. I pulled out. You know, Jeff, Jeff as well as all the other musicians I play with, know I'm a sandwich guy anytime I go to a rehearsal.
• 1:11:17
  Speaker B: You had a sandwich at Brent the other day.
• 1:11:19
  Speaker A: I did have a sandwich at Br.
• 1:11:20
  Speaker B: That we were listening to music at a friend's house on the couch and Renee's eating some kind of sandwich and it's not the first time he's done that.
• 1:11:29
  Speaker C: Not the sandwich, Mini cuz. Remember it's a proper.
• 1:11:34
  Speaker A: Yeah, no, I didn't have it cut into the, the, the, the Ms. Renee's Creole finger Witches that, that day.
• 1:11:40
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 1:11:41
  Speaker A: Which, yeah. I don't know if you've seen these. I, I do. This came up when I had some oral surgery and I, I couldn't chew with my front teeth and I, I, I had to go to a rehearsal and I cut the sandwich into five. I've seen this, I've seen like finger sandwiches, you know, and I started pulling them out. Cuz it's good in a rehearsal. Cuz you can eat one. You don't have to like take a few bites here know you just like pick it up. And.
• 1:12:05
  Speaker B: And it's like a wedge sandwich.
• 1:12:07
  Speaker A: Well, it's strict, like. Yeah. Like finger sandwiches, they used to call them because they look like fingers.
• 1:12:12
  Speaker B: I get it. Yeah.
• 1:12:14
  Speaker A: Thanks.
• 1:12:15
  Speaker B: Thanks. Thanks for the clarity.
• 1:12:17
  Speaker A: All right.
• 1:12:17
  Speaker C: Sorry, you're about your sandwiches.
• 1:12:21
  Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
• 1:12:22
  Speaker A: But. But yeah, because the thing about the reason I have to have the sandwiches is because, you know, I'm a skinny guy, like, you know, as we all are. And the way. The way I maintain that is I'm not hungry. I'm not hungry. I'm not hungry. And then I'm starving.
• 1:12:36
  Speaker C: Yeah, me too.
• 1:12:37
  Speaker A: And so I have to have food with me for that time when I'm starving, because then if I don't, I want to fight you.
• 1:12:47
  Speaker C: Oh, yeah? Yeah.
• 1:12:48
  Speaker A: It's not going to be.
• 1:12:49
  Speaker C: Has he fought you before?
• 1:12:51
  Speaker A: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Well, Jeff knows enough not to. He's not going to make himself a target. You know, if he sees. He can see me getting to that point, he's just going to.
• 1:13:00
  Speaker B: No, the whole point of my life is not to be a target.
• 1:13:04
  Speaker C: Jeff probably has a sandwich prepared and pulls it out.
• 1:13:08
  Speaker A: Not for me.
• 1:13:09
  Speaker B: No. Although, you know, I would like to be that kind of friend. I haven't achieved it yet.
• 1:13:14
  Speaker C: Okay. But, yeah, we're getting there.
• 1:13:16
  Speaker B: We're getting there.
• 1:13:16
  Speaker A: Well, sometimes I will make a second sandwich just for myself, but I know that. So here's the thing. I'll pivot when you go. Like when you play Mardi Gras balls, which I used to play, a lot of you go to the rehearsal for the Mardi Gras ball, for the tableau, you know, that's going to be all different music. And you do like a half an hour rehearsal and you have to bring a pencil with you because you're going to have to mark these charts up and they're going to say, cut out. You know, section C. We're just going to stay between A and B, or, you know, whatever it is you're going to, you know, you got to have a pencil in your pocket. So at some point I realized, well, somebody's going to forget their pencil near me, so I'll bring a second pencil. So when somebody goes, oh, fuck, I didn't bring a pencil. I go, here you go.
• 1:14:06
  Speaker C: You're that guy.
• 1:14:06
  Speaker A: That person will remember you fondly forever. It's like, wow, I remember. You know, I can say anything to you after that. They're going to let me slide, like he, you know, whatever you want to say.
• 1:14:17
  Speaker B: He once did me a 9 volt battery.
• 1:14:19
  Speaker A: 9 volt battery. There you go.
• 1:14:21
  Speaker B: On stage. I was impressed.
• 1:14:23
  Speaker A: Okay. So he still remembers that. I don't remember it, but he does. Yeah. All right. The little things.
• 1:14:31
  Speaker C: So, no, I'm not really an actress, but I like to try things out. I'm an artist.
• 1:14:36
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 1:14:36
  Speaker C: So I think, wow, like, that's amazing that people can just, like, become, like, this character. And, like, I enjoy it. So, like, I just started, like, signing up to be, like, an extra. Like, whatever I could do.
• 1:14:51
  Speaker A: Right.
• 1:14:51
  Speaker C: Just to, like, get the experience, you know? Like, I feel like I want to conquer, like, a lot of different areas in art. And, like, acting is something that, like, I'm pulled to. I don't know if I'm called to it. Like, singing. Singing is like a. It feels like a calling.
• 1:15:07
  Speaker A: Right.
• 1:15:08
  Speaker C: But acting feels like something that I'm drawn to. Like, I have the capabilities of doing it with the right project.
• 1:15:15
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. So working on centers, that must have been incredible, huh? That's a huge production. I mean, it had involved lots of. Now, where did y' all shoot that?
• 1:15:25
  Speaker C: We shot that here in New Orleans at a Second Line Studio.
• 1:15:28
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 1:15:29
  Speaker C: And then somewhere out in Chamette and Napoleonville. And what's that other place? Brayton? Braithwaite.
• 1:15:37
  Speaker B: Braithwaite.
• 1:15:38
  Speaker A: Braithwaite. Yeah.
• 1:15:38
  Speaker C: Yeah. We were out there. So it was, like, these long hours. It was. It was terrible.
• 1:15:43
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:15:44
  Speaker C: It's.
• 1:15:44
  Speaker A: It's a tough business.
• 1:15:45
  Speaker C: It was two months straight while filming in the same outfits, so, like, no makeup at all. So, like, I thought we were going to get made up. The makeup was Vaseline. They wanted us to look like people on the field. So, like, my first scene was, like, on the field with, like, a bag of cotton.
• 1:16:05
  Speaker A: Oh, geez.
• 1:16:05
  Speaker C: And we had to, like, pretend to pick cotton. There were two mules in the back, barefoot, with, like, this red soil. And I was like, oh, my Lord, what did I get myself?
• 1:16:13
  Speaker A: Right, Right. But then, like, when we got beyond this.
• 1:16:16
  Speaker C: Yeah. But then when we got into the juke joint scenes, which was, like, the majority of, like, what the extras were shooting, that was really fun because we.
• 1:16:24
  Speaker A: Had to dance the majority of the movie.
• 1:16:26
  Speaker C: Yeah. But we do the same thing over and over and over and over again. So it was, like. It was an interesting experience. I don't think I would do that again. Like, if I shot a movie, like, of that length, I would have to have, like, a role, like, so I can go into a trailer.
• 1:16:41
  Speaker A: Right.
• 1:16:42
  Speaker C: But I like the experience. I just like seeing how things happen. It was, like, my first major film senpai was actually a consultant on that film, Bruce Senpai Barnes. So I saw him in passing.
• 1:16:52
  Speaker A: Senpai's got his. His hands in so many pies, you know, he's. Because he's very knowledgeable guy. He's a researcher like yourself, you know, and. And really takes all this cultural stuff seriously, so it makes sense.
• 1:17:06
  Speaker C: Yeah. So, yeah, the same outfits turned into a vampire.
• 1:17:11
  Speaker B: Ooh.
• 1:17:13
  Speaker C: So they, like.
• 1:17:13
  Speaker A: No, you're giving away the movie. No, it's okay. Everybody's seen it already.
• 1:17:16
  Speaker C: So I. So there were two times that I was so exhausted that I did not take off the blood makeup, and I was like, I'm leaving. But then, like, by the time I got home, I'm like, I'm hungry. I don't feel like cooking. I'm gonna stop at the store. So I stopped at Hanks.
• 1:17:31
  Speaker A: Oh, God.
• 1:17:32
  Speaker B: Oh, hanks. Hank's son, St. Claude.
• 1:17:35
  Speaker C: Claude. I forgot I had the blood on.
• 1:17:38
  Speaker A: You don't.
• 1:17:38
  Speaker C: Nobody said anything.
• 1:17:39
  Speaker A: Oh, wow. Didn't even notice you when I went back.
• 1:17:43
  Speaker C: Yeah, when I went back, I was like, didn't you see me with. Because I knew this lady. I said, didn't she see me with the blood? She said, oh, yeah. But I didn't know what happened. I didn't want to, like, get in trouble.
• 1:17:53
  Speaker A: Right.
• 1:17:54
  Speaker C: And I'm like, oh, so I'm gonna get my ass beat. And, like, you just let me go back out there.
• 1:17:59
  Speaker A: I'm just minding my own business.
• 1:18:00
  Speaker C: Oh, my God.
• 1:18:01
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 1:18:02
  Speaker B: More of that New Orleans look we were talking about earlier.
• 1:18:05
  Speaker A: If that's how you want to live your life, that's up to you. That's none of my business.
• 1:18:11
  Speaker C: Get your ass beat. Oh, my goodness. Yeah.
• 1:18:13
  Speaker B: So she looks like she'll get through this.
• 1:18:17
  Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah.
• 1:18:18
  Speaker A: Looks tough enough.
• 1:18:20
  Speaker C: Well, she doesn't have a black eye.
• 1:18:22
  Speaker A: Right, right, right, right. Just. Just. Just a little scrape.
• 1:18:25
  Speaker C: Yeah, and on the neck, too. It was all down the neck.
• 1:18:28
  Speaker B: Damn. At Hanks.
• 1:18:30
  Speaker C: Said nothing.
• 1:18:31
  Speaker B: What time was this?
• 1:18:32
  Speaker C: This was like, seven in the morning. I'm on my way home from an overnight shoot. Shout out to Hanks.
• 1:18:42
  Speaker A: Shout out to Hanks. Everybody goes to hanks. Everyone. Alex McMurray would say, yeah, it's true. Now, last thing we have to touch on is, most recently, you have become the new face and voice of the Chip for Forestall commercials.
• 1:18:56
  Speaker C: Oh, my God.
• 1:18:57
  Speaker A: Now, I gotta say that. To me, that's a chance you're taking, because when you film that, you're gonna be the focus of it, but you don't have any Control over how you look in the thing. You don't have any. Any control over how they cut it. You know, you could. You could look ridiculous potentially.
• 1:19:17
  Speaker C: I could have, but it's me.
• 1:19:20
  Speaker A: There you go. There you go. You look lovely. Yeah. And. And you look so. So dignified and elegant in the. In the. In the commercials. And. And that's a great form of exposure for, you know, an artist, an emerging artist like yourself, you know?
• 1:19:40
  Speaker C: I think so.
• 1:19:41
  Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. No, I think it's great.
• 1:19:42
  Speaker C: Thank you. Yeah, it's like, I think now I'm finally New Orleans.
• 1:19:47
  Speaker A: All right.
• 1:19:47
  Speaker C: Like, you know, you do. You do like a Chip for a Stall commercial or a Dudley de Bossier commercial.
• 1:19:52
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 1:19:53
  Speaker C: You're like, I don't know. You're in there.
• 1:19:54
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:19:55
  Speaker C: But, you know, I produced the music as well as like saying, you know, and that was, for me, that was a goal, like so all these years, you know, no offense to the men, but it's such that the jingle industry, the commercial industry in particular, is so male dominated that there was like the first. The first thing that I submitted, I wanted it actually to be like doo wop and acapella, you know, and you know, they wanted music, but I still wanted that effect. And so, like, I produced the music and it was like all this, like a lot of back and forth. Like they really know what they want. Yeah, they're actually a really good team. They know what they want. And after about we f. I. The music was done last August and we filmed the commercial last September.
• 1:20:44
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 1:20:44
  Speaker C: And that was at the N. On the Natchez and at the do.
• 1:20:47
  Speaker A: That's why I'm not involved.
• 1:20:48
  Speaker C: Cuz it was before you'd met me, of course. Yeah, you. Y' all would have totally been involved. Yeah, y' all would have been in the corner.
• 1:20:54
  Speaker A: I'm not sure they would have wanted me on.
• 1:20:57
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 1:20:57
  Speaker A: They camera. But. But no, it turned out fantastic.
• 1:21:00
  Speaker C: Thank you.
• 1:21:01
  Speaker A: And.
• 1:21:04
  Speaker C: So.
• 1:21:04
  Speaker A: So, you know, everything's building for you, Cole. And. And I. I ran into you at this year's Jazz fest at the Oz 10. I was there and. And said, next year it's going to be us out here playing.
• 1:21:18
  Speaker C: Yeah, I believe it.
• 1:21:20
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 1:21:21
  Speaker C: From your mouth. My mouth to God's ears.
• 1:21:24
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 1:21:25
  Speaker B: Or Quint Davis. Whatever comes first.
• 1:21:27
  Speaker A: Same difference.
• 1:21:28
  Speaker C: Same thing. Yeah. You know, I'm just really confident in what we do together. You know, I really respect, like, what a band is, you know, and a band are a group of musicians that love what they do, but love coming together and like Doing that to, like, uplift people. And if you can do that in many different facets with, like, different musicians, but find your tribe, you know, sky's the limit.
• 1:21:56
  Speaker A: This is a divine exercise, Cole.
• 1:21:59
  Speaker C: It absolutely is. I don't think any of us would do it if we didn't love it. It's. No, you have to love this. I don't think people really understand, but it's nice to be. It's nice to be a new New Orleanian and really be myself in New Orleans, you know? Like, I didn't. When I first moved here, a lot of people were telling me, oh, you got to sing covers. You got to do this, you got to do that. But I'd had a career established in New York. I never. I was. That's just not my thing.
• 1:22:27
  Speaker A: Right.
• 1:22:27
  Speaker C: You know, I like to write. I have something to say.
• 1:22:29
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 1:22:30
  Speaker C: And it's evolved from, like, me and my experiences to we and our experiences and what we're gonna do together to make ourselves feel better and be better.
• 1:22:39
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 1:22:40
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 1:22:41
  Speaker A: And everybody look for the. The live record of our Congo Square Yes. Gig. The record is called Give power to the People. Coming out on live. Coming out on. It's a beautiful record cover, too.
• 1:22:55
  Speaker C: Oh, thank.
• 1:22:57
  Speaker A: Really powerful record cover, I would say, visually and as well as musically, the record. And it's coming out on band camp on September 26th.
• 1:23:06
  Speaker C: Oh. All the other digital platforms, all the digital everything.
• 1:23:10
  Speaker A: All right. Going worldwide and. Well, Cole, thank you so much. This has been really fantastic, and I can't wait to play with you again.
• 1:23:20
  Speaker C: Me too. Thank you so much for having me.
• 1:23:22
  Speaker B: It's been a joy to meet you.
• 1:23:23
  Speaker C: It's so nice to be here. It's Snake and Jake's at Snake and Jake's. Oh, my Lord.
• 1:23:27
  Speaker A: Tiki Tuesday.
• 1:23:28
  Speaker C: What time is it?
• 1:23:30
  Speaker A: Who knows? Who knows? So I am Renee Komen, signing off for Jeff Traffinger, Cole Williams, and Manny Chevrolet. Wherever you are from the feral zone, good night.
• 1:23:46
  Speaker D: Tarry not, we're leaving here. This train is bound for glory. Fret not, don't worry rejoice is come we all are going home. Love abides she's by my side like grandma holds me closely. I cur rich gently woe moving into hearts Our souls live on.
• 1:25:09
  Speaker C: Struggle.
• 1:25:10
  Speaker D: Listen, listen more. The wisdom is in our stories. Let go, let it not a sin reconcile let it be reborn. The stairway to have fun is here on earth. Your ticket is if you're humanity see, we rise, then we fall Then we get back up. We get back up.
• 1:26:25
  Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
• 1:26:29
  Speaker D: Let's all the night we leaping soon? Let's sing about how we got? Oh, over my love abides? I'm by your side? This is our freedom song?
• 1:28:19
  Speaker C: Alex Malay on guitar. Y' all give it up.
• 1:28:23
  Speaker D: Get a guitar, Play a song Saving sooner? Let's sing about how we got?
• 1:28:51
  Speaker A: Over my love?
• 1:28:56
  Speaker D: By somebody your side? This is our freedom song? This is our freedom? Freedom, freedom?
• 1:29:20
  Speaker C: Oh?
• 1:29:25
  Speaker D: Do you want to be free? Do you want to be free? Do we want to be free? Can we all be free? Freedom, freedom, freedom? Yes.