Band: Determination kept music flowing in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina

NEW ORLEANS, LA (KTRK) -- Music has always transcended all lines of communication. When words fail, music speaks.

The Soul Rebels were born and raised in New Orleans. After Katrina annihilated the city, this band was one of the first to return home. Even with nobody to perform for, they played music as their city drowned.

"It was like a movie, like a little glimmer of light. You're like, I know these people are not at this place. When we got there, people didn't believe we were actually going to come," said band member Marcus Hubbard.

"Our music had a much more survivor tone. We were able to overcome this atrocity and it was about living life now and going forward," band member Lumar LeBlanc said.

"We've kind of giving people that outlet. Like, I don't have to focus on FEMA today, I don't have to focus on getting my house today," band member Erion Williams said.

Congo Square is the place where slaves and free people of color would gather on Sunday and make music. That distinctive New Orleans sound started there, and jazz was born from a need to lift off the chains of life; it's sustained by a need for survival.

Today, New Orleans has a band in every bar, musicians on every corner. But the Soul Rebels were always there.