Photography by Lori Wilson.
BRIDGET AND RYAN WORLEY planned a formal wedding in New Orleans with 250 guests, but they got married in September with 38 people attending the ceremony in Austin. Following a bridal shower at their home, Ryan surprised Bridget with a New Orleans-style second line around Winnetka Heights, musicians and all.
The pandemic meant they didn’t have exactly the wedding they wanted, but the Reveler’s Hall Band made it unforgettable.
“We both lived in Louisiana previously, and we love spending time in New Orleans,” Bridget says. “So this was the closest thing, and we had the best time.” Kevin Butler is a leader of the Reveler’s Hall house band, which formed around the same time the Bishop Arts bar opened, in March 2019.
Most of the members met performing in Butler’s other hustle, The Big Ass Brass Band.
That outfit played a four-month residency in Shanghai in 2017. That’s where they perfected their high-energy showmanship.
New Orleans jazz isn’t well known in China, Butler says.
“To break that barrier, we had to be larger than life,” he says. “And we started leaning into that because it catches people’s attention more than just sitting there and performing.”
Their gig as a house band introduced them to audiences in Oak Cliff, and when the coronavirus lockdown arrived, neighbors kept the musicians busy with intimate weddings, birthdays and porch parties. They were hired to perform outdoors for Winnetka Heights neighbors several times last summer. With colder weather, business has been slower for that, but they’re still performing their 2-5 p.m. shows every Saturday and Sunday in the Bishop Arts District.
