Colby Fox had the benefit of growing up in paradise: Destin, Florida. But when he flunked out of community college and joined the Navy, his ex-military Army dad wasn’t terribly supportive. He told Colby, he’d rather have a daughter in a cathouse than a son in the Navy.

Colby nonetheless persevered and won the old man over with his skills as a helicopter mechanic in the Arabian Gulf.

When the war was over Destin wasn’t much fun. So Colby decided he had to move, to some place he could get on one tank of gas. Tallahassee or New Orleans. Colby: ” I didn’t know much about day to day life in either of those places but I was learning lots of surprising things from all the podcasts I was finding on the Stitcher app on my phone. I couldn’t find many ‘local flavor’ podcasts about Tallahassee but the It’s New Orleans series was available then and I immersed myself in all the episodes. Happy Hour became my favorite because I really liked the premise. On nights when I couldn’t sleep (which were many back then) I would charge up my phone and walk down the beach, an episode in one direction then turn around and listen to another episode on my way home. I liked listening to Grant and Andrew talk to people who seemed as though they were ordinary New Orleanians but from what I was hearing, sounded like extraordinary people. I decided that I wanted to come live in a city that seemed to be so full of character.  So I did. The next pay day I drove to my friend’s house in Algiers Point and things got a lot better for me.”

Katie Brasted is doing what she can to save New Orleans. Katie is Executive Director of Woodlands Conservancy, the last remaining 25% of New Orleans wetlands that acts as a barrier between hurricanes and destruction. Before that Katie worked with schizophrenics in a mental institution in West Virginia. That’s where she met her husband.

Khris Royal drops by, taking a break from working with his band Dark Matter on new tunes for an album due out later this year. We take a sneak preview of a track called Step Children, partially inspired by jazz orphans and weed.

Andrew Duhon plays a track from his forthcoming album by request from Colby.

Photos at Wayfare by Catherine King.