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Davell Crawford, the “Piano Prince of New Orleans,” reflects on the tragedy of the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina and the complex emotions associated with that event 20 years later with the release of the single “The Walls of New Orleans". In a long heartfelt artist’s note explaining how and why he wrote the song Crawford admits, even 20 years later, “still, I cannot assemble the words to convey how I felt watching my city gasp for air under that turbid, murky brown water.” Crawford goes on to catalog the complex gamut of emotions he has experienced and still experiences related to Hurricane Katrina: sadness and mourning, physical and emotional loss, anger, pain, and ultimately a decision to believe in Faith in a time of extreme turmoil.

The song “The Walls of New Orleans” touches on these themes with a delicate arrangement primarily featuring guitar and piano, a warm vocal performance by Crawford, and backing vocals by The Davell Crawford Singers providing a lush gospel-tinge to the track. Mirroring the varied emotions explored in the themes of the song, it’s mood is both mournful and hopeful, reminiscent of the slower works of Roberta Flack (godmother of Davell Crawford), presenting a quiet, gentle beauty. With lyrics packed with metaphor, Crawford presents this song as a “survival hymn” addressed to the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, whose message can be appreciated by anyone going through difficult times. In his own words, “every note is a tear shed, but also a raised fist and a hand reaching back to pull someone else up and carry them beyond the walls.” It’s a reflection of one person’s experience that can hopefully help those wrestling with similar emotions, and encourage people to lift each other up in times of strife.

“The Walls of New Orleans” conveys the empathic message that a traumatic event such as Hurricane Katrina will bring forth many different emotions, and there is no simple way to summarize that experience and those emotions, but we can attempt to process through the creation of art and music–a skill Davell Crawford has been abundantly blessed with.

Crawford explains the line “but I still linger here / within these walls I’m with you dear,” is an address to his community, “to remind them that even when I’m gone, my heart will remain here, in New Orleans… always.” He expresses not just a love of New Orleans, but the love that exists in the people of New Orleans, “a love so strong and so stubborn, that the love somehow continuously finds a way to bloom out of the concrete and brick walls. A love so strong it blossoms from deep underwater higher than the leveled currents of the Mississippi.”

“I intentionally held the release of this song, “The Walls of New Orleans” for this very time 20 years after Hurricane Katrina,” Crawford affirms, “and now I am gifting it to you just as I planned—on my terms and conditions, and at the exact time God directed me to let it go and give it to you.”

Crawford concludes his message with a simple note of hope for the perseverance of New Orleans: “You’ll never drown a city that has learned to breathe underwater, and New Orleans is that very city.”

“The Walls of New Orleans” will be released on the 20th anniversary of the failure of the levees in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, August 29, 2025. It will be available as a digital download from the Basin Street Records website and on all major digital music streaming and download platforms.


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