If you were already on a world tour at 18, you must have been playing harmonica for some time already.

Yes, I started, I'm about 13 years old.

This is Patrick Williams.

He's a New Orleans guy through and through.

Grew up here, never left the city until his band went on tour in Japan.

It was a culture shock because I never been out of the country. never left the city until his band went on tour in Japan.

It was a culture shock because I never been out of the country before that was my first time leaving the city of New Orleans

growing up in the housing projects

and going over there and being treated like royalty, you know?

It was a culture shock, man, a good experience.

Patrick plays in New Orleans with Rock and Dobsie Jr. and the Zytoco Twisters. Up until March,

things were going just fine. We had three to four gigs a week, man, and we were doing

weddings. We were doing corporate events, private parties.

So I really didn't have enough time for the wife, you know, but she understands.

And then the pandemic hit.

Down here in New Orleans, that's what we thrive on.

We thrive on the conventions to tourism here.

So if there's not a major convention in town of 30,000 or 40,000 people, then we're not

rolling.

We're in a standstill.

I met Patrick through an organization called Feed the Second Line. It's run by one of the

Mardi Gras crews, the crew of Red Beans. Feed the Second Line started as Feed the Front Line

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