Three years after Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans, the city is still struggling to get back on its feet. Many residents who fled, especially the poorer ones, have not returned and probably never will. However, according to Art Neville, the musicians who provided New Orleans with its unique cultural identity have mostly returned.
"I think the music scene has recovered pretty well," he says over the phone from his home there, which he points out is on the same street where he grew up with his three famous brothers. "A lot of the musicians who left after the storm are back. There are a lot of places in New Orleans that keep 'em working. I mean, I make my living on the road, that's my thing. I could hang out in a club, but I like hanging out on the road."
At 70 years of age, Neville has the right to hang out wherever he likes, and the Neville Brothers are still popular enough to spend the better part of their year touring in style. "We travel pretty comfortably," he says in his mellifluous bass drawl. "We've got two buses. And when we fly we travel comfortably, too."