An insider’s guide to the best live music venues in New Orleans

5. Best for wandering from venue to venue with a drink in your hand: Frenchmen Street and Saint Claude Avenue

If certain venues “feel” like New Orleans, there are two streets – or corridors, in NOLA-speak – that encapsulate the vibe for Duhon. “Maybe you just picked up a cocktail from one room, but you want to go to the next,” he said. “You can bring that cocktail along to the next room if you like. You can walk with your drink in New Orleans.”

Duhon’s favourite music venue-lined corridors are Frenchmen Street and Saint Claude Avenue. “When I was a kid figuring out my songwriter thing, Frenchmen Street felt pure,” Duhon reminisced. “It felt like the tourists hadn’t found [it] yet.” Duhon concedes that gentrification is sneaking into the corridor, but the stalwarts remain. “The ones that come to mind are DBA, Snug Harbor [Jazz Bistro] and The Spotted Cat Music Club,” he said. “DBA can be a mixed bag; everything from rock to jazz. Snug Harbor is strictly jazz. [There’s a] seated area around a small stage, very intimate, quiet, a place where you can really tuck in and listen… and across the street, the Spotted Cat is a whole different take on jazz. That’s a small room where there aren’t seats; you’re just shoulder to shoulder with the locals and a beer in your hand and on the stage is probably somebody crooning some jazz tunes, Dixieland.”

On Saint Claude Avenue, Duhon likes [indie music room] Hi-Ho Lounge; metal, punk and underground band venue Siberia; Allways Lounge [cabaret]; alternative music spot Saturn Bar and Sweet Lorraine’s [jazz club]. “I think either Frenchmen or Saint Claude are great options,” said Duhon. “I wouldn’t even have to look at a calendar… I could go to either one of those corridors and feel like I’m going to find something cool… A walk-in beverage, a couple of friends, or not. Make a couple of friends! That’s New Orleans, you know?”