I started writing this song three Mardi Gras ago as I was standing on a parade route and someone intercepted a cool strand of beads headed my way. I commented to the person next to me, "Some like to catch and some like to throw!" And so it began. I only got around to working on the song around Mardi Gras time each year. Two years ago I added the verse about the Big Chief while watching the Uptown Indians gather and last year wrote the first verse after deciding the song should take the listener on a day long strange trip that is Mardi Gras Day. Then last summer I got together with Matt Clark who helped me chart the song so I could hear it outside my head for the first time. It was then I decided it had to be recorded with a brass band. That's where Matt Perrine came in. I had done a Threadhead Friday gig with Paul Sanchez and Matt was on the gig, too. I was so impressed with the fact that he had only one day to learn my songs and came in with prepared charts! What a pro! I proposed the idea to have some fellow Threadhead Records artists on it and asked him to arrange the horns. I recorded a demo of it on my laptop using my keyboard for all the sounds. (Matt says the horns sounded like something out of a Bollywood movie! And let’s not talk about the tuba sound!) He made some calls and got the players together. As luck would have it, he had a recording session at Word of Mouth studios one morning and I had lucked into working an evening shift that day. I walk in and I was blown away by the players he gathered; a couple of Nightcrawlers, an Iguana, and Shamarr. Oh my! Matt passed out the charts and I told the guys I wanted this to sound like a big parade going by. Gerald French led the way with some funky beats and away we went! The Freak Show part at the end was a spontaneous jam with Craig Klein throwing in some bad a** adlibs! The following week I had Al "Carnival Time" Johnson come in with the 30x90 girls. Al is such a gem to work with. He's so humble. He kept saying "Am I doing this ok?" Of course he was doing this ok! It's like Shamarr said "He's the one in the Hall of Fame!” Terri, Jeanine and Yvette threw in some dreamy harmonies that put this song on a whole new level. I'm so happy with how the song turned out. It's even better than what I had in my head these past three years. Everyone on it shines through! Even the graphics by Jeremy at Whyarts are exactly what I envisioned. Turns out I'm glad that jerk took my beads. ~ Margie Perez Margie Perez & the King Cake Babies: Margie Perez, composer, vocals Al "Carnival Time" Johnson, vocals Matt Perrine, sousaphone, horn arrangements Craig Klein, trombone, rugalator, megaphone Brent Rose, saxophone Gerald French, drums and percussion Shamarr Allen, trumpet Joe Cabral, saxophone Matt Clark, banjo Terri "Sticky-T" Cranford, background vocals Jeanine Duhe, background vocals Yvette Watkins, background vocals