The Story Behind Every Song On Kassi Valazza’s New Album From Newman Street

When I get a hold of Kassi Valazza at her New Orleans apartment, she’s only been home for about 12 hours. She just flew in from Portland, where she lived for most of the past decade, to play a homecoming gig at the famed Laurelthirst Pub. Before that, she was in Australia for three weeks, opening for the folksinger John Craigie. (Valazza didn’t get to meet a koala, like every other band on your Instagram feed seems to when they tour Australia, but she did meet a quokka: “They come right up to you, and you can pet them, and they’re very cute.”) She’s exhausted. That’s the gig.