New Orleans has given the world all kinds of music. We refer to ourselves as the birthplace of jazz. We’re one of the principal breeding grounds of funk, bounce, and brass band music. And then there’s a style of piano playing that’s so identifiably from here it’s simply called, “New Orleans piano.”

Generations of legendary New Orleans piano players became identified with the places they played. Fats Domino at the Dew Drop Inn. Professor Longhair at Tipitina’s. James Booker at The Maple Leaf. Today you can hear masters of New Orleans piano like Jon Cleary, Tom McDermott, Joe Krown, and others at clubs around town, like Chickie Wah Wah, The Bon Temps, and Buffa’s.

Or, you can hear them at your place. 

You can have an A-list New Orleans piano player show up at your place - with a grand piano - and play your birthday party, wedding, or just a random Friday night,  thanks to Jacques Ferland’s business,  Piano On A Truck.

Piano On A Truck is pretty much what it sounds like. It’s a grand piano on the back of a yellow, 1972 International pick-up truck.And it comes with, or without,  a piano player.

In our seemingly never-ending attempt to place order on a chaotic world, we like to categorize things into twos - either/or. Tall or short. Black or white. On the rocks or straight up. Today, for a lot of white-collar occupations, the either/or distinction is either working in the office or working from home.

Well, like so many things in life, it turns out there’s a 3rd way.

Billy Schell describes himself as CEO, owner and van driver of an apparel company called NOLA Shirts. NOLA Shirts designs and manufactures New Orleans themed Polo shirts, T-shirts, and hats, and sells them online or at various brick-and-mortar stores around New Orleans.

The “van driver” in Billy’s job description is a reference to the company’s headquarters which are also Billy’s living quarters – a Mercedes Sprinter van that’s been his principal home and office since 2021.

Around 5,525 years ago - it was probably a Thursday - in ancient Mesopotamia, the wheel was invented. To say it was a revolutionary invention is not just a bad pun, it’s also the understatement of several millennia. And just when you think every possible use of the wheel has already been thought of, along comes the 21st Century - and hashtag-van-life and Piano On A Truck, two New Orleans entrepreneurs discovering yet more places the revolutions of a wheel can take us.

Out to Lunch was recorded live over lunch at Columns in Uptown New Orleans. You can find photos from this show by Jill Lafleur at itsneworleans.com.

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