My name is Arthur Severio, and welcome to Quiet Conversations: The Upstairs Lounge Fire.

I left home with a suitcase filled with dreams, a pack of brand-new Fruit of the Loom underwear, two pairs of 501s, and some shirts that weren’t exactly made for a fat kid like me. My mama had stuffed a twenty-dollar bill in my pocket just in case I wanted a snack and a Diet Coke from the vending machine for my ride into the Crescent City.

My brother met me at the downtown Greyhound bus terminal to take a United Cab back to his French Quarter apartment. It was 1983, and I was only 17. I was so happy because I had finally reached the place that I had dreamed about to get me through those endless days of doing little more than surviving. Soon I met Marcy Marcelle who was scheduled to perform that night at the Upstairs Lounge.
In these Quiet Conversations, I talk to people whose lives were touched either in their personal experience or using their artistic talents to describe that night.