Best of the Beat January 31 HOB Line up

Once again, OffBeat celebrates the best in Louisiana music.

Once again, OffBeat will take over the House of Blues for our Best of the Beat, which this year takes place January 31. The evening starts at 6 p.m. with food in the dining room from some of New Orleans’ finest restaurants including Theo’s Pizza, the Flaming Torch, Mat & Naddie’s, Tomatillo’s, the Hookah Café, the Praline Connection, Aurora Catering, Hubig’s Pies, Whole Foods Market, the Joint, Juan’s Flying Burrito, and Slice. Then music starts in the Main Room at 7:30 with the New Orleans Bingo! Show and at 7:45 in the Parish with the city’s newest Latin soul combo, Los Po-Boy-Citos with guest Derek Huston. Over the course of the evening, we’ll pay tribute to our Lifetime Achievement honorees: Antoinette K-Doe, Maggie Warwick, Donald Harrison and Cherice Harrison-Nelson, Harold Battiste, and the Wild Magnolias’ Bo Dollis. This year, we’ll also award our first posthumous Lifetime Achievement in Music Award to the late James Booker, who passed away 25 years ago last November.

While the Lifetime Achievement honorees loom large at the Best of the Beat, both events are first and foremost opportunities to recognize excellence in Louisiana music, and as always, we need your help making these decisions. Who released the Album of the Year? Who’s the Artist of the Year? The Emerging Artist of the Year? In a year that saw excellent albums from Irma Thomas, David Egan, Sonny Landreth, Kenny Neal and Eric Lindell, what’s the Best Blues Album? As our feature “A Very Good Year” demonstrates, there are a lot of fine performers and performances to choose from.

Music Line Up

The Main Room

7:30: The New Orleans Bingo! Show

8:30: The Awards Presentation

9:15: Tribute to Bo Dollis with the Wild Magnolias, Bo Dollis, Jr., Monk Boudreaux and Donald Harrison

10:15: Little Freddie King

11:15: Tribute to James Booker with Jon Cleary, Joe Krown, John “Papa” Gros, Tom McDermott and Josh Paxton

12:15: Trombone Shorty and Orleans Ave.

The Parish

7:45: Los Po-Boy-Citos with Derek Huston

9:30: The Lost Bayou Ramblers

10:30: The Happy Talk Band

11:30: Rotary Downs