Maybe you’ve seen Xeno Moonflower performing in the French Quarter, or at any of the various open-mics across town.
The Baltimore-native who now calls New Orleans home sat down with us to tell us how he got into music and what sets him apart from other performers.
How’d you get into music?
“Music has been around all my life. My mom kept me in church. My father is a DJ. So it’s kind of always been around me.”
What about street performing, how’d you get into that?
“I started in Atlanta, and I took it to the road and landed here in New Orleans.”
What would you call your kind of music?
“I call it feel-good music, but to dumb it down even more, acoustic soul. It’s all in the music. I put everything in the music. If music doesn’t make you feel anything, then it’s not the right type of music. Music is supposed to evoke some type of emotion. I focus on that. All my music is about feel. Everything that I write is about feeling. It’s basically transferred into how I perform, to how I stroke the guitar, to how I hold the note or shorten the note. It’s all one thing, like one connection.”
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Where can people usually catch you performing?
“They can catch me in the Quarter, normally. — That’s sporadic throughout the week. The only day that I do have a set is Sunday around 10 in the French Quarter in front of Cafe Beignet, or they can catch me at any reoccurring open mic like at Jazz Market on Wednesday. I’m a real flowy person, I don’t really force anything. You can catch me here one minute, then I’m gone somewhere else.”
Xeno Moonflower is one of the featured artists performing Thursday, Oct. 24 for Very Local’s NOLA Sounds Showcase at The Shop at the Contemporary Arts Center. Also performing will be Nondi, and the performance will be hosted by Q93’s Sheba Songz.
