Derek Tabb: Hero

Derek Tabb is so much more than just the Drummer for the Rebirth Brass Band. He is a local hero. Growing up in New Orleans taught Derek many valuable lessons as to music's power to keep kids out of the streets and away from the drug dealers. He is a living testimony to that. However, Derek has gone a step further to give back to the art form that just might of saved his life. He worked to form "The Roots of Music Foundation." It is best described by the foundation's website:
"The Roots of Music program is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded by Rebirth Brass band drummer, Derrick Tabb, Allison Reinhardt, and Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews. Having seen and experienced the losses of Hurricane Katrina and the daily challenges facing New Orleans' inner-city youths, they were concerned the youth and the music culture of New Orleans were in jeopardy of being lost. From this concern grew the idea and ultimately the formation of The Roots of Music as a free, after-school academic tutoring AND music education program for low-income middle-school students in New Orleans."

The television network CNN has recognized Derek's achievements, and has chosen to nominate him as 2009's Hero of the Year. This is a wonderful honor to a great man, and we here at the Howlin Wolf would greatly appreciate your taking a moment to go to CNN's website and vote for Derek. We as New Orleanians need to he supporting every hero we have!!

The voting page can be found here.

The link to the article about Derek and the Roots of Music Foundation can be found here.

Here's Derek's Video:


Please take the time to do this. Derek deserves this honor!!!

Rebirth + Mute Math

This Just In.....

Rebirth has just been confirmed to be featured on the new Mute Math album. For those of you who aren't familiar with the band, they were, by and far, the favorite of most people surveyed at Voodoo Fest two years ago, and they are making a big splash in the Indie Rock world. Most of the band members are from NOLA, and we are proud to be a part of their new release. Everyone at the Rebirth camp is excited to see how we will take part in the new album. Stay tuned to the Rebirth blog for more info!!!

Here's Mute Math with "Control"

Rebirth on Regis and Kelly

Rebirth was proud to represent the sound of New Orleans and the Brass Band community on Regis and Kelly this morning. In case you missed it, you can see it here.

Pics from Rebirth's 25th Anniversary

Our good friend Matt McIntosh recently posted his pictures from Rebirth's 25th anniversary show. You can see them all here. While your there, check out the rest of Matt's pictures. He's got some great NOLA shots. Makes you love this town even more.

Thank Matt!!

Rebirth's Coming To Texas

Yeehaw! All our favorite Texans need to be coming to see us starting tonight. Yes I know, Texas is a huge place, so we're making it extra easy by playing 3 nights all across your wonderful big-ass state.

Tonight 3/11 we will be at the Granada Theater in Dallas.

Tomorrow 3/12 we will be at Stub's Jrs in Austin for SXSW. We also hope to have some of our NOLA fans here for this!!

And finally we are rounding out our Texas hat-trick (10-gallon hat-trick, I guess) with a show at the Warehouse Live in Houston on 3/13.

So ya'll come out and get your Rebirth on "Texas-style."

Rolling Stone Article

The Rolling Stone recently published an article online about the struggling music scene in New Orleans post-Katrina (you can find it here). We here at the Rebirth camp want to thank Rolling Stone for taking a moment to recognize our struggle. We also want to thank them for using a picture of our beloved Tuba Phil for the article. Great work RS!!!

Mardi Gras Free Shows

It's that time of year again folks. It's Mardi Gras time!!! In an attempt to make this year special, and to thank all of our fans for the love and support you have shown us, Rebirth is doing 3 FREE SHOWS at the Howlin' Wolf!!!

The first show will be with a local soon-to-be legendary act The Revivalists on Thursday, February 19.

On Friday the 20th we will be featuring our good friends The Soul Rebels Brass Band.

And on Saturday we will be playing with everybody's favorite, Papa Grows Funk.

All shows start at 11pm and are ABSOLUTELY FREE!!! So, come on out to the Howlin' Wolf on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for the best music that New Orleans has to offer.

Tuba Phil's Return!!!

The wonderful folks at Nola.com sent Lauren Wilbert, one of their producers, to the return appearance of Tuba Phil at the Howlin Wolf a couple of weeks ago. Lauren was kind enough to shoot some footage of the show and do an interview with Phil after the band was done.

Thanks Lauren and Nola.com for the support, and for sharing this wonderful moment with us!!

Rebirth Brass Band's "Tuba" Phil makes his return at Howlin' Wolf.

Shout Out from Carson Daly

Last year Carson Daly wrote a brief piece in his blog about Rebirth celebrating their 25th anniversary. Cool! Thanks Carson! Now if you could just get us a spot on Last Call?!

The Sixty One

In an attempt to utilize as many different forms of social media as we can to spread the word of Rebirth to the world, we have joined a site called The Sixty One (follow this link to the site). For all of you who are unfamiliar; The Sixty One is part social network, part new music, and part competition. Bands submit their music. Fans join and are given a number of points. Fans get to "bump" up songs that they like. Bumping an artist or band costs the fan a certain number of points, however if other fans bump the song you are rewarded points for liking good music.

I (Matt, Rebirth's blog lackey) originally joined the site as a fan who wanted to discover new music. I didn't originally participate in the competition aspect of the site (and that's okay if you just want to listen to new music), but as I grew to the site I began bumping artists and became infected by the competition.

I say this to encourage you all to try it out!!! If for no other reason than to show some support for Rebirth on a new form of social media, but also so you can enjoy this cool new idea. So visit the site and show some love for your favorite New Orleans band!! We've only been on the site for less than a week and we've already gotten over 130 bumps between the two songs. We're well on our way to taking over!!!

Rebirth Design Contest

Rebirth Brass Band, as a whole, has always been a grassroots organization. For the majority of the band's career they have always epitomized the concept of "Do-it-yourself." This ethic has been vastly supported by a crew of fans that would rush to Rebirth's rescue anytime there was a need that couldn't be fulfilled "in house."

Now that D.I.Y spirit has been carried over to the online world. If you haven't noticed, Rebirth has recently spread its love to several new forms of social media. We have renewed our efforts to keep up our MySpace and Facebook, along with starting a Twitter site, YouTube channel, and this blog. All of these have proven invaluable in helping us keep our fans up-to-date with all the developments in the Rebirth world, and we want to keep that flow goin'!!!

Rebirth's management team (the fine folks at the Howlin Wolf) has designers on-staff that have provided many of our fantastic web designs and logos in the past. However, we thought it would be a great opportunity to give YOU, our fans, a chance to contribute to the Rebirth legacy!

We are asking any and all designers (or even wannabe designers) to participate in our very first "Rebirth Design Contest." We are looking specifically for web banners (for our blog and a new website), but any and all designs will be accepted and considered. The winners will receive a ton of swag (tshirts, CDs, and tickets), along with mentions, attribution, and website links on all of our various sites (free promotion for you). However, the real prize will be knowing that a piece of your art will become a part of the symbolism that has made Rebirth the worldwide icon that it has always been.

The theme of your submission can be anything you like. Just keep in mind that Rebirth recently celebrated its 25th year of bringing the sound of New Orleans to the world! For further info or to submit a design, please contact Matt Bodie at bodie.matt@gmail.com. We will be posting these designs from time to time, and we may even work out a way that our fans can vote for the winner.

Thank you all for everything that you have already done for The Rebirth Brass Band. Whether it be coming to a show, buying a CD, or showing us some love on MySpace and Twitter, your support has made Rebirth what it is. We can only hope that you, like us, want to continue that love for 25 more years!!

The Triumphant Return of Tuba Phil

Last December the Rebirth camp was dealt a terrible blow when one of their founding members "Tuba" Phil Frazier suffered an apparent stroke. In an attempt to maintain confidence in the band's ability to perform, the band quickly resumed their rigorous touring schedule with the help of their good friend Jeff Hill (of the Lil' Rascals and New Birth brass bands). The band continued on undaunted and Jeff was a brilliant replacement, but the lack of Phil's presence onstage was felt by band mates and fans alike. Since the incident, Phil has been obeying doctor's requests and quietly recovering at home.

And now the good news....

On Saturday, January 31 Tuba Phil will be making his triumphant return to the Rebirth Brass Band at the Howlin Wolf. Anticipation of this event has been strong as an outpouring of concern has appeared on various web blogs, Twitter, and Myspace.

So please help Rebirth celebrate this reunion with your attendance on Saturday, as we welcome back its most beloved member.

Also, Rebirth now has their very own YouTube channel. Check out past performances and stay tuned for more videos of the best live shows that New Orleans has to offer. In addition, if any Rebirth fans out there have any footage from shows that you would like to share with the world, please contact Matt Bodie at bodie.matt@gmail.com.

Thanks!! And we'll see you Saturday at the Wolf.

Rebirth Is Here To Stay!!

Rebirth is celebrating 25 years of bringing the sound of New Orleans to the world. In the spirit of this, we want to further our cause by sharing ourselves and our music on this blog for the world to see.

Stay tuned, as we bring you all the news and info on Rebirth and New Orleans!!!