Festival recap: T-Bois Blues Fest 2014

T-Bois Blues Fest 2014 was a grey weekend of warm food and sweet blues. Mike Falgout, better known as “Alligator Mike,” and the Falgout family were to thank for the third season of this intimate festival set on their family farm in Larose, Louisiana.

In Mike’s words, the T-Bois was conceieved when, “we brought in a musician who was resurrecting his career like we was resurrecting T-Bois — Mr. Anders Osborne. And, we brought in a new [musician] to the scene who was just building a career — Colin Lake. I’ve seen these two musicians’ careers grow exponentially in the last few years, and I hope T-Bois Blues Fest can follow suit.​”

As soon as campers were rolling out of their tents in the misty campy mornings, the music began. Anders Osbourne, with Southern Soul Assembly and Colin Lake, still held the torch for good sounds during the weekend and were joined by highlights like Keller Williams, The Quickening, Eric Lidell, Trampled Under Foot, and the Ben Miller Band — amongst others.

The all-inclusive food and beer aspect of the festival was a major factor in generating a relaxing, intimate, and festive weekend.

“The best part for me was the free unlimited food,” said New Orleanian Emily McDonald as she ate a pastalaya dinner on a folding chair in the blues tent. Emily, who works in the film industry in New Orleans, is a frequent festival attendee and rated T-Bois as one of her favorites. “It’s been a little cold, but I don’t mind the rain. I don’t mind the mud. Everyone just seems really happy to be here.”

This year’s menu consisted of fried fish, jambalaya, pastalaya, potato salad, and local crawfish — all served by the Falgout family and their friends. Blaine Prestenbach, of Charcoal’s Gourmet Burger Bar in New Orleans, is one of these friends, said “between all of us, we hang out hunting fish and stuff, so we all broke the menu up.” Other contributing chefs included Aaron Burgau of Patois and Bart Bell of the Crescent Pie and Sausage company.

After dinner, I spoke to Kaitlin Tymrak, another lady from New Orleans, who watched the music attentively with her pup, “Wyatt, who’s almost five. This is his third music festival,” she said. It was definitely a dog-heaven weekend, where butt-sniffing was as common as a handshake between friends.

Libra Lagrone, Curator of Southern Music at the Ogden Museum, announced the music lineup and kept up morale high during rainy lulls with her cheerful demeanor and her praises for the community that brought the festival together. And, of course, the music truly functioned as the glue that brought the dogs, dinner, and fans together under one cozy tent in the rain.

Needless to say, I can’t wait for T-Bois 2015!