Louisiana Music Factory is an independent record and CD store located on Frenchmen Street in the
Faubourg Marigny
The Faubourg Marigny ( ; sometimes called The Marigny) is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
Its boundaries, as defined by the City Planning Commission, are North Rampart Street and St. Claude Avenue to the n ...
neighborhood of
. Its specialty is local music, and is well-known among music aficionados around the world. Its rich inventory of New Orleans and
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
music include CDs and vinyl of
traditional jazz
Trad jazz, short for "traditional jazz", is a form of jazz in the United States and Britain in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, played by musicians such as Chris Barber, Acker Bilk, Kenny Ball, Ken Colyer and Monty Sunshine, based on a reviva ...
,
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
,
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
,
zydeco
Zydeco ( or , french: Zarico) is a music genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers which blends blues, rhythm and blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native American people of Louisiana. Al ...
and
Cajun music
Cajun music (french: Musique cadienne), an emblematic music of Louisiana played by the Cajuns, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Although they are two separate genres, Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem w ...
, many of which are on local independent labels and hard to find outside the Louisiana region.
The store also holds weekly in-store performances throughout the year. Many performances showcase local artists, especially during the
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (commonly called Jazz Fest or Jazzfest) is an annual celebration of local music and culture held at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jazz Fest attracts thousands of visitors to New ...
period.
History
The store was opened in February
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
by founders
Jerry Brock and Barry Smith on North Peters Street in the French Quarter.
Brock had been known as one of the founders of the local community radio station
WWOZ
WWOZ (90.7 FM) is a non-profit community-supported radio station in New Orleans. It is owned by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. The station specializes in music from or relating to the cultural heritage of New Orleans and the sur ...
, and a producer who first recorded the
Dirty Dozen Brass Band
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a brass band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The ensemble was established in 1977, by Benny Jones and members of the Tornado Brass Band. The Dirty Dozen revolutionized the New Orleans brass band style by incorpo ...
.
In
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
, the store moved to a location on
Decatur Street within the French Quarter.
The Decatur Street store was two-storied, devoting the second floor to vintage vinyl. In 2001, Brock left the store to pursue other opportunities, and Smith became the sole owner.
[Gambit Weekly: A Decade at the Factory]
/ref>
The store suffered little damage by Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
in 2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
and was one of the first record stores to reopen after the storm.ASCAP - New Orleans Rising (Part Two)
/ref>
In March 2014, the store moved to its current location at 421 Frenchmen Street in the French Quarter, downriver from the Decatur Street location.
References
External links
Official website
Official FB Page
Official Twitter Page
Official Myspace Page
{{Coord, 29.95304, -90.06605, type:landmark_region:US-LA, display=title
Music of New Orleans
French Quarter
Music retailers of the United States
Companies based in New Orleans
Tourist attractions in New Orleans
1992 establishments in Louisiana