I find myself in the awkward role of artist attempting to eulogize a critic. The temptation of vengeance is strong, but Robert Fontenot merits better.
The New Orleans music world is deeply saddened at news of the passing of writer Robert Fontenot over the holidays. A native of New Orleans, Fontenot began writing for Offbeat, the city’s premier music monthly, in 1997, a year before he earned his journalism degree from UNO (he received his Masters in Mass Communication from LSU in 2002). For almost a quarter-century, he chronicled the music of his home town in the magazine’s pages, as well as contributing to Blues Revue, Audience and Rock and Rap Confidential.
Fontenot’s knowledge of New Orleans music and its many offshoots made him a demanding critic. If an artist’s work impressed him, he was generous with praise (he once compared me to Dylan and Ochs, for hilarious example). If not, his dissections-without-anesthesia were equally unsparing.
A couple of years back, his dismissal of one artist’s release and a trend in local music he felt it represented caused a social media backlash, then a backlash-to-the-backlash, that became stories in themselves. The original review, which Offbeat removed from its website when the controversy erupted, can be read here, should you wish; Holly Devon’s reporting on the tempest and meta-critique of the critic from Antigravity (here) offered a more nuanced view of the contretemps and its author:
“Throughout his body of work, in statements such as these, Fontenot clearly shows that he is not trying to crush artists so much as hold them to a higher standard… After reading dozens of his reviews, many of which are admiring— and all of which display a painstaking attention to the music—it is this author’s opinion that as a New Orleans native, Robert Fontenot is motivated by a fierce and protective love of the New Orleans musical tradition.”
While written in a different time and context, I think Ms. Devon’s comment perfectly encapsulates Fontenot’s perspective on his craft. I can add nothing, except to say when he reviewed your stuff, praise or pan, you knew he’d actually listened.
Respect.