As New Orleanians and Louisiana residents prepared to mark the 12th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, all too familiar images of the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey surfaced from Houston.

Now, the city that 12 years ago housed so many New Orleans refugees fleeing Katrina’s wrath watches in horror as families are pulled from rooftops by helicopters, main streets are turned into rivers, and highway overpasses are repurposed as boat launches.

It’s hard not to watch the scene unfold without wanting to help. Aid has poured in from across the country, with stars like J.J. Watt already starting a fundraiser, and Louisiana’s own “Cajun Navy” crossing the border to help with the water rescues.

None feel the pain of their sister city any deeper than the very same New Orleans residents who sheltered their twelve years ago. Anyone who evacuated to Houston for Katrina will tell you, there was no end to their generosity.

Amongst those refugees was LSU student and guitarist of Neutral Snap – J.P. Brown. Neutral Snap, touted as one of the best young bands in the country, is comprised of 5 New Orleans residents and Jesuit High School Grads, all of which attended LSU, and all of which who felt Katrina’s wrath directly.

“Houston will always be a part of me for that. My mother was eight months pregnant when we got there, and my little brother was born there just two days before Hurricane Rita devastated the area,” said Brown.

“In the midst of all that, we lost my grandmother to cancer. It was one of the most challenging moments of my life, and we wouldn’t have gotten through it without the support we got while we were in Houston.”

Brown’s future bandmate Joshua Latham also fled to Houston to escape Katrina’s path. In a statement released by the band, Latham said:

“The people of Houston showed us an authentic will to help people who were in the same situation as my family. We didn’t just lose power, property, and belongings. We lost our home, our memories, our sense of safety and security. Katrina took it from us without warning. Houston not only gave us shelter, but they gave us a sense of hope. I want to give everything I can to the people who gave us everything they had. As a musician, donating my music is the least I can do to help and give thanks for everything Houston gave the city of New Orleans. Giving our royalties also allows people all over the world to make a difference by just clicking play. Listens and streams turn into tangible help for people in need, giving us a unique and incredible tool to do some real good. But we can’t do it without your help, so please take the time to listen and help us spread the word so people from all over can help us make a difference with our music!”

Neutral Snap is going to be forgoing 100% of the royalties they earn on Spotify for streams on their album set to hit Spotify and iTunes by mid-September. They’ll also be including streams on their already released single, “Out of Formality,” even opting to donate revenues already earned on this song.

They’ll continue donating from streams received until the end of the year. In a first-of-its-kind move, Neutral Snap is allowing virtually anyone that wants to make a difference with the opportunity to do so. All you need is an internet connection and Spotify.

So next time you’re thinking about what you can do to help, or just rocking out in your car, throw “Out of Formality” on your playlist. Jam out to something that matters. Every play makes a difference, but each play only raises a marginal amount, so make sure you spread the word.

Or we could just put in on repeat on all the laptops in Middleton…

If music isn’t your thing, you can also donate $10 to the Red Cross by texting “HARVEY” to 90999.

Listen to “Out of Formality” now to start raising money, and don’t forget to click SHARE!

https://open.spotify.com/album/30baX2Y2XWzj3JYNYxl...