New Orleans musician blazes a folk trail all his own

Posted
As a musician based in New Orleans, Andrew Duhon said his music is not defined by the cultural force that is the Big Easy. “Its folk,” he said. “I think there's a soul that New Orleans lends to any art made there. That said, it’s not 'New Orleans music.' I'm just a songwriter who had the lucky break of growing up in a place as raw and inspiring as New Orleans.” Since 2013, Duhon has released three albums, including "The Moorings," produced by Trina Shoemaker, who was nominated for a Grammy for engineering the album. Last year, he released “False River.”
Duhon has been described by No Depression magazine as “a soulmate of Van Morrison lyrically and vocally." “I think songwriters have to answer the question, ‘What do you have to say?’” Duhon said. “I'd like to believe each song I write is an attempt at answering that question, and musically, there is that soul of New Orleans deep in the belly of these songs. Still, I think they reside within that classic Folk/Americana world.” Fort Worden Jan. 6 Duhon, joined by key player Dan Walker of Renton, will perform Jan. 6 at Rainshadow Recording Studio, 200 Battery Way, Building 315 at Fort Worden. “We played Rainshadow last September and really enjoyed the whole tour, so we made a fairly quick turnaround and expanded the run to go from Seattle down to Los Angeles this time,” Duhon said. “We'll play plenty of the new record, but we won't forget the songs of the old records either.” Duhon said his personal experiences drive his inspiration to write music.
“Many of the songs have been about my experiences with love and longing,” he said. “No surprise there. It's something that doesn't get tiresome to me. Learning to love has been complex and never as rosy as the fairy tales would suggest. I think that's why I'm interested in writing about what it really is to me.” Duhon said he also is inspired by his travels across the country. “That’s a cyclical process,” he said. “Tour to promote the old songs, and let those travels inspire new songs. That's a really beautiful part of the journey, I'd say.”