Music Inside Out with Gwen Thompkins

We'll be back next week with an hour with Jeremy Davenport. Stay safe, everyone!  

Irma Thomas returns to Music Inside Out for a whole new, fresh, hot buttered and yummy conversation. The Queen of New Orleans Soul pays her respects to some of her musical influences and talks about the bottom line of a Grammy Award. Turns out, there's a reason why they call it show business.

Go ahead, we DARE you. Try listening to this week's re-broadcast of Music Inside Out with Deacon John Moore and NOT enjoying yourself.

As a guitarist, band leader and showman, Deacon John has been delighting crowds for more than half a century. This year, he's played the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and the White House. He's just that irresistible.  

Allen Toussaint says he'd rather let his piano do the talking. Lucky for us.

Toussaint's fingers have done the talking on song after song for more than 50 years, defining the modern-day New Orleans sound. He's written, produced and arranged chart-topping hits for scores of artists. And lately, Toussaint has been performing his catalog more often around the world.

This week, Allen Toussaint has plenty to say to Music Inside Out. Check out his major chords. And the minor ones too.

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James Booker

Don Vappie can play just about anything on banjo — classical compositions, traditional jazz, even funk music. So wherever he goes musically, there's always an audience eager to hear what he has to say.

What most people may not know is that Vappie's talent extends to bass, guitar and any other instrument that needs playing. His ears are just that big. And his hands are just that good. Maybe that's why Vappie tells Music Inside Out that one of his favorite songs is the old Charles Wright hit, "Express Yourself." Because that's what Vappie does best.

More than six billion people live on the planet, and yet relatively few human voices are recognizable to the naked ear.

Irma Thomas has one of those voices.

For more than 50 years, Thomas has written, recorded and lent her voice to some of the most precious songs that Louisiana has ever produced. Now music lovers all over the world know the contralto that she calls, "Irma's sound." This week, Music Inside Out with Gwen Thompkins makes way for the Queen of New Orleans Soul.

Keep it down, y'all. Miss Irma is speaking.

When John Boutté invited OperaCréole to join him on stage at this year's New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Boutté knew he'd hit on the right mix for yet another history-making performance. OperaCréole, which appears on Boutté's latest CD, All About Everything, is a new and formidable force in the area's musical pantheon.

Givonna Joseph is the founder of the group and knows the power and the glory of good music. This week, Joseph joins the mix at Music Inside Out for yet another history-making show.

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Deacon John's mother wanted him to be a singer, but she hated rock 'n roll.

Oh well.

Mrs. Moore's little boy picked up a guitar, and it wasn't long before rock 'n roll came tumbling out. His bandmates named him Deacon John. But he also recorded at least one song under the name Johnny Moore. Deacon John's early recordings were high energy and danceable, just like his stage show. But "You Don't Know How (To Turn Me On)" and "Haven't I Been Good To You," signaled only a fragment of what the Deacon could do.