Tipitina’s in 2013
Ride by the yellow corner building at Napoleon and Tchoupitoulas these days, and you see a line of people spread out on the sidewalk to order coffee at a to-go window. Yes, coffee.
Since 1977, this has been the location of the iconic New Orleans’ music club, Tipitina’s. Originally intended to showcase the life’s work of Professor “Fess” Longhair, born Henry Roeland Byrd in 1918, at the end of his career, it quickly grew into one of the most beloved music venues in the city.
It has survived changing ownership and changing musical climates, as well as hurricanes, over the years, even briefly closing in 1984. But when the current owners, members of the band Galactic, bought it in 2018, they did not imagine the musical climate would change like it did on March 13, 2020.