By Dominick Cross
LAFAYETTE, LA — It’ll be an interesting evening at the Blue Moon come Tuesday, November 23, 2021, when Drew Landry returns home for “A Rinky-Dink Reunion Show” at the Blue Moon.
A native of Scott, Louisiana, the singer/songwriter has lived in Montana since 2016. In addition to the gig, he’s wrapping up work on a recording, and, of course, checking in with friends and family.
“I’m just going home to have a good time with some old friends; whether it’s the cats I served in the National Guard with, or folks that hung out at the bars around the year 2000,” Landry said. “It’s really about kind of a little dysfunctional family reunion.”
A Rinky-Dink Reunion Show, 7:30 pm
The Blue Moon Saloon
215 E. Convent St.
Lafayette, La
337.234.2422
Actually, there’s way more to it than that, especially regarding the Blue Moon gig where Landry “Invited a bunch of songwriters that we used to play together” from his Rinky-Dink days, a bar he owned. And that would be Steve Judice, Blake Simon, Chris Breaux, Jason Harrington, Matt Breaux & Jake Stephens.
The Songwriter Showcase opens the three-prong event at 7:30 p.m.
It’s not too often your mom opens for you (except in South Louisiana, that is), as Becca & the Band Ades follows. Becca Begnaud is Landry’s mother. Prong II.
Landry said he “then threw a band together that’s willing to wing-out some of my new songs and I’d love to see what people think about them,” he said.
And it’s a pick-up band anyone would like to have as it includes Lee Allen Zeno, Clint Redwing, Eric Adcock, Ken Veron, Jason Meaux & Blake Simon. Prong III.
“We’ll do a set of some of the new songs and some of the old stuff,” he said. “It’s just about getting back to Lafayette, seeing who’s still around and playing some music for some good folks I haven’t seen for a while.”
While Landry has gigs here and there in Montana, his day job is an Extension Agent with the USDA to work with the Blackfeet Nation. He is a dad and also acting director of Montana Missing Indigenous Persons reporting portal, MMIPMT.com.
Landry lives on the east side of Glacier National Park these days.
“The summers are great, the winters are pretty tough and being a dad is awesome,” he said. “But at the same time, I’ve got a couple of records in the bag and I’m getting them mixed and mastered. I’m excited about getting back to playing music.”
In addition to Tuesday’s gig at the Blue Moon, Landry will also head to Dockside Studios to complete an album.
“We’ve got one done at Dockside and another one I recorded in Nashville and I’m excited about getting those songs out there,” said Landry.
On the release is a song about missing Native American women.
“We’re going to put out a video for that one,” he said. “We got a grant from the Department of Justice here, we closed it out in June. We built a reporting portal and a data base (www.MMIPMT.com) and now we’re getting the tribes in Montana – all the Tribal Nations on board – which we’re working on getting by December 15.
“And then early next year, we’re going to start promoting this way of reporting cases and I think it’s going to make a difference, hopefully saving a few lives.”
Levon Helm’s “Hurricane” is covered by Landry (and others) for a film he’s working on to address Hurricane Ida.
“I was working on recording that song for a soundtrack for a film I’ve been working on called, ‘Restoration.’ When the storm hit, I was like, ‘Let’s see if we can raise a few bucks for this nonprofit,’ so we put it out there. I think we got about $500 raised, so I’m going to give that lady her money back in Louisiana for the song.
“At least people paid for a song,” he quipped. “That’s a change.”
Landry is referring to Tracy Coonz and her GO FISH (Gulf Organized Fisheries in Solidarity and Hope), a 501(c)3 non-profit coalition of grassroots organizations from across the Gulf Coast that banded together after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill to advocate for the rights of fishing families, protect and restore the fisheries, fisheries habitat, and fishing community culture.
“Those are the same folks that live south of New Orleans, you know, the levees — it’s great they held up for New Orleans,” he said. “But it’s almost more detrimental to folks that had a boats in the water below New Orleans.”
At Dockside, Landry is working on a release addressing such issues.
“During and after the oil spill, we recorded with Dr. John,” said Landry. “Bobby Charles has always been one of my heroes and so we kind of revived the idea of doing this environmental album. We put out this EP on it, but I think a feature-length album that also could be part of a curriculum where we could work on sustainability, that’s the deal. That’s what we need to do.”
Looks good on paper, “Unfortunately, you can’t do anything without it being a political deal, whether it’s COVID or hurricanes or oil spills,” he said. “It seems like people have to take a side on every freakin’ thing. You just can’t be logical.”
Landry’s output includes the CDs “Keep What’s Left,” “Tailgaten Relief & Hurricane Companion,” and “Share-Cropper’s Whine.” His “BP Blues” charity single routed money to folks who needed help with health issues on the coast following the disastrous oil spill in 2010.
With his Lafayette gig just hours away, Landry cannot recall his last show in his hometown.
“I honestly do not remember,” he said “I really don’t.”
Drew is one of my favorite songwriters of our generation. He can tell a story and paint it in a way that allows the listener to transport to the different times and locations in narratives. Easier said than done…Drew has mastered this art.