The band worked with another younger artist, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, on the band’s last album, 2013’s That’s It!. What do you like about working with younger artists like James and Foo Fighters?

It’s good to get a fresh perspective on what you do. And Jim was one of many [younger] people who embraced the Preservation Hall Band and understood the significant contribution these musicians and Preservation Hall have had on American music. And that’s awesome. I think younger musicians should honor the musicians that laid the groundwork for American music. As an artist, someone who appreciates creativity is always great to work with. People who are constantly exploring and it seems like their lives are a constant musical adventure. And Jim, the first time I met him we immediately felt there was a kindred spirit there. And we continued to be friends and collaborated on several projects and it kind of culminated with him co-producing our last album.

It must have been a unique experience too with the Foo Fighters bringing their rock style to the Hall.

Yeah. Like I said, every time you get to collaborate with someone outside your immediate musical soundwave or immediate musical experience it’s enriching. It’s enriches your life. It influences you and leaves an impact on who you are. It’s something you can’t undo experience. Once you’ve had that experience it becomes part of your DNA.

I read an interview where producer Butch Vig was saying it was a little bit tricky recording there, with how the Hall is laid out.

Yeah, well it’s not a recording studio. It’s a very small room. When we have nightly performances in Preservation Hall, we maybe have 70 people in the hall with the band. There’s no microphones or anything, everything is acoustic. It’s set up to be a performance space. So when Butch came there and they laid the hall out…actually what they did was turn my office, which used to be my parent’s apartment, they turned that into the control room studio and ran a snake all the way to the main room. For about 50 or 70 feet they ran a snake to the front room and recorded the band up there. They communicated back and forth with each other with microphones and headphones and cameras. We had cameras set up in the main room and large screens so that everybody could be in communication with each other.

What’s your favorite memory or story from the experience?

There are a dozen or so stories that are in my mind that were totally memorable but I would say for me is the moment that Dave arrived and walked in for the very first time. He was seeing Preservation Hall for the very first time. And he walked in and to see the expression on his face, that this is where he was going to get to call home for the next week of his life, was priceless. He was like a kid in a candy shop. When he walked in he couldn’t have been happier.

Let’s talk a little bit about New Orleans and its music scene. How else did you and others help share it with Dave and the band?

One of the reasons Dave wanted to come to New Orleans was to immerse himself in the heart of New Orleans music community. Hanging out at Preservation Hall for a week and to be part of our work, he got to see a side of New Orleans very few people get to experience. And that was amazing to get to share our histories and our legacies with him. He got to met members of peoples’ families. He got to go to churches. He got to go to peoples’ apartments. He had meals cooked for him at peoples’ houses. He got to go to peoples’ backyards. He got to have a Crawfish Boil. He got to become part of our world for a week.

Do you think outsider’s perception of New Orleans is pretty accurate?

I don’t know. I’m so in it so I don’t know what people think about it or what their perception is. I can say that having the opportunity to share Preservation Hall and New Orleans with people through our eyes I’ve seen it change peoples’ lives enough times now that I’ve come to recognize there is something very, very special about New Orleans and there’s something very unique about it.

There seems to be a strong tradition of handing down musical legacies and traditions.

Yeah. Every great musician at some point or another discovers New Orleans themselves. You can go back however many decades…you could go back to Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, everybody had to discover New Orleans music. And I’m just talking about Louis Armstrong and King Oliver, I’m talking about Smiley Lewis and Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew and Professor Longhair and Allen Toussaint and The Meters and The Neville Brothers and Dr John. At some point you have to discover those people. You have to discover that for yourself. As a musician I really appreciate the value of that and being part of that tradition.

What do you feel about being part of the Foo Fighters album that highlights all these different places across the country?

I’m honored. I feel honored and blessed to be part of the project. First of all, to have the opportunity to work with and be a part of the Foo Fighters world for a week. What was incredible for me was that they’re some of my idols there, in the Foo Fighters. So to be in that spot for a week was priceless for me. Priceless. And it was so priceless for me because I feel so strongly about the value of collaboration and it’s a big part of what Preservation Hall does. To really collaborate with an artist for a week and provide them with a home to record in and be creative in and be safe in…it’s where an artist goes to feel safe and to feel the warmth of being in the room. And there’s no place like that, like Preservation Hall. Preservation Hall creates that warmth, that safety net, where you’re willing to explore, to go somewhere, and not be afraid of where that is.

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