Ship'scat is correct in that the working class "Yats" tend to stretch out "New Orleans" to the same 4-syllable length as the uptown Mardi Gras royalty crowd. The accents are different, but I can't convey the difference by phonetic spelling.

The amazingly close similarlity of the common urban-New-Orleans "Yat" accent to that of Brooklyn/Bronx/Jersey was explained to me once thusly: the same nationality groups immigrated at about the same time to N.O. and to New York (and other port cities of the northeast), so they exerted the same influence on colloquial American English in both areas, despite the geographical separation. Makes sense to me.

Mike West isn't the only local musician to hit the road for summertime, when it's really hot humid and miserable hereabouts. There's pretty much a mass exodus; in fact, when I first saw Jed's thread-title "New Orleans Music in July '04," I expected to see some local performer's nationwide itinerary, bringing N.O. music to your town, or whatever. It's so bad that several usually-busy nightclub/venues have closed their doors for the next couple of months.

Also, by the way: Mike West, when in town for the cooler 9 or 10 months, gigs regularly not only at Margaritaville, but also at the French Quarter "other" Irish pub besides O'Flaherty's, the Kerry on Decatur Street.