Momma Tried plans to make its first robotic gestures starting with its next issue. The New Orleans-based art magazine by Theo Eliezer and Micah Learned made its debut in print-only form, and issue 3 will also be print-only, but the sense that media companies banking on hard copies are whistling in the graveyard has prompted Momma Tried to factor technology into its future.

[Updated] Hip-hop now occupies the place rock ’n’ roll once did in a number of ways. It has been the soundtrack for teenage rebellion (I’d argue that EDM does that now), and it has been around long enough that it’s clearly not a fad. But it hasn’t been around so long that it enjoys widespread cultural respect. For that reason among others, its history has been only occasionally and selectively told, and The NOLA Hip-Hop Archive hopes to remedy that.

Part of the fun of covering a scene is watching artists develop. When Kelcy Mae released Pennies in Hand in 2011, it had "MFA student" written all over it. The songs were ambitious and singer/songwriter Kelcy Wilburn has enough voice to sell them, but she was a writer first so there were words fitted into all available spaces.

In 2012, Hurray for the Riff Raff recorded My Dearest, Darkest Neighbor to help pay for the release of Look Out Mama. The stripped-down collection of covers was a premium for contributors to the Look Out Mama Kickstarter campaign. Now, the album has found a second life. It will be released through iTunes and other online retailers July 1 by Mod Mobilian/This is American Music.

[Updated] With one week to go, Alexandra Scott is hoping for your support for a recording project. As she explains in this video, she had set aside money to record new material - money she had to spend on her dog when he became ill. She can tell the rest of the story, but she is in the last week of a fundraising campaign at IndieGoGo.com.

This year, I've been working with The Oxford American and the Louisiana Office of Tourism on the "Louisiana Soundtrack Experience," and we'll be in downtown Lafayette Saturday with a panel discussion with Lost Bayou Ramblers' Louis Michot, Yvette Landry, folklorist Barry Ancelet and writer Herman Fuselier, and a concert by Corey Ledet, and C.C. Adcock and the Lafayette Marquis with guests from Lil' Band o' Gold.

News about Kickstarter campaigns to fund upcoming releases from Bantam Foxes and Kelcy Mae, and a preview from AM & Shawn Lee's new album, due out next month.

Today, Lily Keber's Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the documentary Bayou Maharajah on the life and music of James Booker will come to a conclusion. The good news is that the campaign has reached its official goal of $15,000, so the film will reach completion.

One of the best things about my last few years at OffBeat was working with its art director, Elsa Hahne. During that time, she started her project, "The Gravy," in which she interviewed New Orleans musicians about their history with food and cooking.