It wouldn't feel right standing on stage singing songs at a time like this. My priority right now is to get back home and help rebuild my city.

I'm in Houston right now, getting ready to go to a farm in Lake Charles. I left my mom and my grandmother and her blind friend in a hotel lobby in Baton Rouge, so I've got to get them up to the farm. I grabbed my guitar, my dog and my girlfriend and got out. That was all I could do. I've got nothing left besides a little cash in my back pocket. It will take months for me to figure out a semblance of what to do.

They lived in eastern New Orleans and lost everything. I'm not going to ask them to come back and play for the tip jar.

[Besides the Hot 8, Le Bon Temps has featured Sol Fiya guitarist Chris Boone backing Anders Osborne. Osborne returns tonight with Galactic drummer Stanton Moore and keyboardist Rich Vogel. But the club is proceeding slowly. Keenan has advised members of the Soul Rebels Brass Band, Le Bon Temps' regular Wednesday act pre-Katrina, to remain in Houston until business picks up.] They lived in eastern New Orleans and lost everything, ... I'm not going to ask them to come back and play for the tip jar.

There is going to be expectations and big-girl responsibilities that she can pass on right now because she's not officially representing a company; she's not an ambassador for the sport as a professional. That becomes a different deal when it becomes a business. I think the pace is just a little too accelerated.

The rest of the state is doing all right.