{"id":2414631,"date":"2026-05-13T09:22:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T09:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2414631"},"modified":"2026-05-13T09:22:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T09:22:18","slug":"new-lower-garden-district-karaoke-club-offers-private-rooms-entertainment-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/new-lower-garden-district-karaoke-club-offers-private-rooms-entertainment-life\/","title":{"rendered":"New Lower Garden District karaoke club offers private rooms | Entertainment\/Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It wasn\u2019t too long ago that Cajun dance halls were at the center of social life in rural Louisiana, dotting the landscape between rice fields and providing a place where small town folk could gather to celebrate another week of hard work finished.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s only fitting that 44-year-old Ben Miller, born and raised in Vermilion Parish, named his new karaoke club after one such bygone establishment. Singing Cher with 15 friends and dancing to Zydeco for hours have more in common than you might think.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust watching people really let go and have some serious connection with their people is really hard to find, I think, in a lot of places now,\u201d Miller said. \u201cAnd really necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea for Rockabye Karaoke, which opened in the Lower Garden District in late 2025, has been churning in Miller\u2019s mind for well over 20 years now, ever since he overheard his grandparents reminiscing on the rural dance halls and bars of their prime.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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When they mentioned Forked Island\u2019s historic Rock-a-Bye Club, the name stuck with him.<\/p>\n

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A group from The Times-Picayune gathers for karaoke at Rockabye Karaoke in New Orleans, Thursday, April 2, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Years later, while living in New York and Portland, it clicked. There, Miller was treated to the joys of singing at the top of his lungs in dimly lit, private rooms among friends and co-workers rather than on a stage in front of strangers.<\/p>\n

Private-room karaoke, or karaoke boxes, originated in Japan decades ago and are now readily accessible in major cities across the U.S. But in the New Orleans area, the options are few and far between.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would come to New Orleans and I\u2019d be like, \u2018It\u2019s a music-first city, why is there no private-room karaoke?\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so I was just really thinking about how to make that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He moved back to New Orleans in 2015, but it wasn\u2019t until late last year that the perfect space opened up at 1050 Calliope St. behind Merchant House, where Miller has a design and holiday d\u00e9cor studio. He jumped at the opportunity.<\/p>\n

Rockabye offers something a little different than karaoke staples like Kajun\u2019s and Cat\u2019s Meow. There\u2019s no stage, no bar and no DJ taking bribes for better spots in line.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just you, whoever you came with and a couple of microphones in a room. But Miller described it as a near transcendent experience akin to that of those old dance halls, one in which fears are overcome, lifelong bonds are formed and microphones are pried from the hands of once staunch karaoke deniers at the end of the night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s play, it\u2019s joy in a way that you don\u2019t experience,\u201d Miller said. \u201cCommunal singing is, like, very, very healing.\u201d<\/p>\n

A vote of confidence like that is impossible to ignore. So we at The Times-Picayune, dedicated as always to fact-checking and truth, decided to check it out for ourselves.<\/p>\n

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From left to right, Hannah Levitan, Sophie Kasakove and Joni Hess sing at Rockabye Karaoke in New Orleans, Thursday, April 2, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Let\u2019s get it started<\/h3>\n

Like at most karaoke boxes, the goal at Rockabye is to minimize stage fright and maximize fun.<\/p>\n

The three rooms are thoroughly soundproofed for privacy and feature rainbow party lights, a big screen, multiple microphones, an impressive sound system and plenty of seating for 10 to 25 wannabe stars. You can bring your own snacks and booze \u2014 which is likely necessary for the releasing of inhibitions \u2014 and each room comes with a caddy stocked with ice, cups and a variety of mixers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Chelsea Shannon selects a song at Rockabye Karaoke in New Orleans, Thursday, April 2, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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At a rate of $15 per person, per hour, plus a 20% per hour service charge, it\u2019s certainly not as cheap as going to the local dive and toughing it out in line. While walk-ins are welcome, Miller said it\u2019s best to reserve rooms ahead of time online at rockabyekaraoke.com<\/a>, and a deposit is required at booking.<\/p>\n

But here at Rockabye, you don\u2019t have to listen to that weird tone-deaf guy butcher \u201cSweet Caroline.\u201d Instead, you can sing along as your tone-deaf friend screams Queen. It\u2019s your own private party, where you can choose from 90,000 songs and adjust the volume, key and tempo.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve seen over and over again is this is a place for celebrations,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThis is birthday parties, this is bachelorette parties, this is kids\u2019 birthday parties on the weekends during the daytime.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Don\u2019t stop believin\u2019<\/h3>\n

The thought of going into a small room with 15 of your co-workers and singing in front of them may sound intimidating \u2014 almost more intimidating than singing to a crowd of strangers.<\/p>\n

Turns out it is.<\/p>\n

After leading The Times-Picayune group to our room in early April and giving us a crash course in song selection, Miller popped his head in repeatedly over the next 20 minutes \u2014 during which not one single song was sung \u2014 offering to help us get started. Ultimately it was me who had to break the ice, though, partly because I was the one who forced everyone out for karaoke and also because my boss told me I had to.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t remember ever doing a worse rendition of Cher\u2019s \u201cBelieve.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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From left to right, Martha Sanchez, Hannah Levitan and Kasey Bubnash sing at Rockabye Karaoke in New Orleans, Thursday, April 2, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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But Ian McNulty, the knowledgeable food writer he is, brought a box of liquid courage from Patron Saint, which, along with St. Pizza, is conveniently close by. The pile of snacks and drinks littering the room only expanded as more of our colleagues trickled in, and soon the juices were flowing and the setlist was growing.<\/p>\n

We are family<\/h3>\n

I\u2019m can\u2019t pinpoint exactly where things turned. Maybe it was when staff writer Jenna Ross chose Robyn\u2019s \u201cDancing on My Own,\u201d or when reporter Chelsea Shannon chose \u201cSay It Ain\u2019t So\u201d by Weezer.<\/p>\n

But midway through our two hours at Rockabye, we weren\u2019t the same bashful group standing timidly around the screen. We practically screamed Bohemian Rhapsody, danced together to the Dixie Chicks and, giddy with adrenaline, emphatically cheered each and every song choice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Marco Cartolano, left, sings with a group from The Times-Picayune at Rockabye Karaoke in New Orleans, Thursday, April 2, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Miller was right \u2014 there\u2019s something healing about singing together, about overcoming the awkward and uncomfortable and finding the freedom waiting on the other side.<\/p>\n

In the end, Miller had to cut our mics and force us out. As consolation, he let each attendee choose between two stickers bearing opposing sentiments: \u201cI lost my voice at Rockabye,\u201d or \u201cI found my voice at Rockabye.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throat scratchy and cheeks sore from laughing, I chose the former. But really I knew we\u2019d all found each other at Rockabye.<\/p>\n

Rockabye Karaoke<\/h3>\n

1050 Calliope St<\/em><\/p>\n

4 p.m. to midnight Thursday-Saturday<\/em><\/p>\n

4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday<\/em><\/p>\n

21 and over only after 6 p.m.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nola.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It wasn\u2019t too long ago that Cajun dance halls were at the center of social life in rural Louisiana, dotting the landscape between rice fields and providing a place where small town folk could gather to celebrate another week of hard work finished. So it\u2019s only fitting that 44-year-old Ben Miller, born and raised in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2414632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[128321],"class_list":["post-2414631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-hardwall"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/New-Lower-Garden-District-karaoke-club-offers-private-rooms.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2414631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2414631"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2414631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2414633,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2414631\/revisions\/2414633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2414632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2414631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2414631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2414631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}