Getting from the Silicon Bayou to the Silicon Hills will feature less layover starting this fall. Southwest Airlines is adding a nonstop flight from New Orleans to Austin, Texas, Louis Armstrong International Airport announced today. The flights, which should contend for the elusive most musicians per airplane status, will begin in November, 2013.

George Clinton parked his mothership here in the '70s, but it takes a while to get a key to the city. "The first ever landing was here in New Orleans in October 1976 at the Municipal Auditourium," DJ Soul Sister said of Dr. Funkenstein's vessel. "A lot of people don't know that." While it's been a while since the last landing, the funk legend constantly plays New Orleans, especially during JazzFest. As of of Sunday night, May 5 will be set aside to further strengthen the Crescent City's Mothership Connection with Clinton.

Around New Orleans, the JazzFest hangover is in full effect. But a handful of Crescent City culinary craftsman went right from the busy weekend up to New York City for the annual James Beard Foundation Awards (livestream here) . As is usually the case at the "Oscars of the food world," the pickers didn't leave out New Orleans as Chef Tory McPhail of Commander's Palace brought home some hardware, and Emeril was honored for his philanthropy.

The first lesson every festival-goer must learn is that at any standard large event, it is, by necessity, only sort of about the music. Behind every moment spent actually enjoying a band, there's a trek through an impossible crowd, or $5 spent on a Coors Light. Or a half-hour wait outside the porta-potties. This is especially true at Jazz Fest, where your correspondent repeatedly found himself immersed in the sheer spectacle of it all.

Bullets flew on the I-10 in the early morning hours of Monday. In the end, one man was dead and another man was injured in an incident that apparently involved two separate cars, New Orleans police said. About 2:55 a.m., police received a call about multiple shots fired on the interstate in the westbound direction near the Metairie Road exit.

NOPD released a sketch of the man who they believe robbed two people while waiting for the streetcar on Canal St. this week. About 11:30 p.m. Monday, a 27-year-old man and woman aged 22 and 24 were waiting at at the streetcar stop at the intersection of Canal and N. Lopez Sts., when a man approached with his right hand in his pocket.

“Are you going to the Fest?” is probably New Orleans’ most popular question right now. That said, it’s almost impossible to find friends on a packed afternoon at Jazz Fest unless you literally walk into them in line for a $6 beer.

by Anisa Peraica

It's Lemonade Day in Louisiana, when we remember a drink associated with warm weather and childhood. During Jazz Fest season, it can be associated with money. One freckle-faced entrepreneur in particular has made a niche for himself in the Bayou St. John community. 10 -year -old Lyle Usdin, along with some of his neighbors, have made a tradition out of selling lemonade at the corner of Ursulines and Lopez streets for the past three years during Jazz Fest season.

Stumbling onto a Native American village after hours basking in the Jazz Fest sun (or rain) might have you thinking hallucination.  Worry not.  Trading electric guitar strums for the steady beat of tribal drums and blue tents for tan teepees, this year’s cultural exchange pavilion pays homage to the Native Americans.  

There will be crowds and mud on JazzFest's second Saturday, but we know you don't have to think twice about heading over to the Fair Grounds. While you're awaiting the final hour pile up of Fleetwood Mac, Frank Ocean and Phoenix, check out a little fife, hip-hop and, from out of left field, Norah Jones. Here's today's non-headliner picks: