Louisiana Creole music
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The music of Louisiana can be divided into three general regions: rural south Louisiana, home to Creole
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 Old French (now known as cajun music),
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
, and
north Louisiana North Louisiana (french: Louisiane du Nord), also known locally as Sportsman's Paradise, (a name sometimes attributed to the state as a whole) is a region in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The region has two metropolitan areas: Shreveport-Bossier Ci ...
. The region in and around
Greater New Orleans The New Orleans metropolitan area, designated the New Orleans–Metairie metropolitan statistical area by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, or simply Greater New Orleans (french: Grande Nouvelle-Orléans, es, Gran Nueva Orleans), is a me ...
has a unique musical heritage tied to
Dixieland Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ( ...
jazz,
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 ...
, and
Afro-Caribbean Afro-Caribbean people or African Caribbean are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern African-Caribbeans descend from Africans taken as slaves to colonial Caribbean via the ...
rhythms. The music of the northern portion of the state starting at
Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of 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-sma ...
and reaching Shreveport has similarities to that of the rest of the US South.


Southern region

The music of rural south Louisiana features significant input from non-Creoles, most notably African Americans who are critical to the cultural/musical identity. Four main musical genres are indigenous to this area —
Creole music The term Creole music (french: musique créole) is used to describe both the early folk or roots music traditions of rural Creoles of Louisiana. Examples One possible definition of Creole folk music is this: melodies, sometimes including dance-re ...
(i.e. zydeco),
swamp pop Swamp pop is a music genre indigenous to the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and an adjoining section of southeast Texas. Created in the 1950s by young Cajuns and Creoles, it combines New Orleans–style rhythm and blues, country and western ...
, and
swamp blues Swamp blues is a type of Louisiana blues that developed in the Black communities of Southwest Louisiana in the 1950s.Malone, Evelyn Levingston, "Swamp Blues: Race And Vinyl From Southwest Louisiana" (2016). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertatio ...
. These historically-rooted genres, with unique rhythms and personalities, have been transformed with modern sounds and instruments. The southwestern and south central Louisiana areas herald many artists and songs that have become international hits, won
Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
awards, and become highly sought after by collectors. In southwestern Louisiana in the 1800s, the
fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
was the most popular
Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...
instrument and the music still carried clear influences from the Poitou region of France and the Scottish/Canadian influences of their earlier homeland. In the late 19th century
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
immigrants spreading outward from central and eastern
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
and New Orleans soon brought the
accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
as well. Creoles at the time sang a rhythmic type of song called
juré Juré () is a commune in the Loire department in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Loire department The following is a list of the 323 communes of the Loire department of France. The communes cooperate in the followi ...
. When accordion, fiddle and the triangle iron were added later, the music evolved into French music or form la la, a central component of Creole music. La la was primarily rural, played at house dances also known as ''la las'', and found in towns in the prairie regions like
Mamou Mamou (Pular: 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤥𞤵𞤲) is a city and sub-prefecture in a valley of the Fouta Djallon area of Guinea. Population 376,269 (2018 est),and the city is almost 98% Fulani tribe. Eunice Eunice is a feminine given name, from the Greek Εὐνίκη, ''Euníkē'', from "eu", good, and "níkē", victory. Eunice is also a relatively rare last name, found in Nigeria and the Southeastern United States, chiefly Louisiana and Georgia. Pe ...
and
Opelousas :''Opelousas is also a common name of the flathead catfish.'' Opelousas (french: Les Opélousas; Spanish: ''Los Opeluzás'') is a small city and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 190 were ...
. In 1901 (see 1901 in music),
oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
was discovered at
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and immigration boomed. Many of the newcomers were white businessmen from outside of Louisiana who attempted to force the Creoles and Cajuns to adopt the dominant American cultural forms, even outlawing the use of the
French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...
in 1916. Despite the law, many Creoles and Cajuns still spoke French at home, and musical performances were in French.


Creole music

The term "Creole music" is used to describe both the early folk or roots music traditions of French and Metis rural Creoles of South Louisiana and the later more contemporary genre called zydeco. It was often simply called French music or La La. It was sung in French
patois ''Patois'' (, pl. same or ) is speech or language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. As such, ''patois'' can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects or vernaculars, but not commonly to jargon or ...
by Creoles. This early American roots music evolved in the 1930s into a richer sound accompanied by more instruments. Creole pioneer
Amédé Ardoin Amédé Ardoin (March 11, 1898 – November 3, 1942) was an American Creole musician, known for his high singing voice and virtuosity on the Cajun accordion. He is credited by Louisiana music scholars with laying the groundwork for both Creole a ...
was the music's most influential figure and one of the earliest to make recordings, second only to the duo of Douglas Bellard and Kirby Riley. He has also been credited for greatly influencing the foundation of Cajun music. Creole music traditions in the US have been known to change and evolve as quickly as they were being replicated by white artists, the music of the Creoles also evolved into a more contemporary amplified sound that was later called zydeco, which is the indigenous music of the Creoles or "Creole music". Zydeco comes from French ''les haricots'', meaning snap or green beans as in ''les haricots (ne) sont pas salés'' (the beans are not seasoned (with salt pork) because times are hard right now). Zydeco fused the traditional Creole roots music sung in French with contemporary sounds of blues and rhythm and blues making it relevant, dynamic and constantly attracting a new generation of listeners within the Creole community as well as outside the community. This fusion was birthed in the Creole la la, jazz and blues halls (joints) of Frenchtown, Houston, Texas which were frequented by Creole immigrants from southwestern Louisiana.
Clifton Chenier Clifton Chenier (June 25, 1925 – December 12, 1987), was an American Creole musician known as a pioneer of zydeco, a style of music which arose from Creole music, with rhythm and blues, R&B, blues, and Cajun music, Cajun influences. He sang a ...
, born near
Opelousas :''Opelousas is also a common name of the flathead catfish.'' Opelousas (french: Les Opélousas; Spanish: ''Los Opeluzás'') is a small city and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 190 were ...
, Louisiana, is regarded as the "King of Zydeco" and was largely responsible for defining and popularizing the genre in the mid- to late 1950s and 1960s.


Cajun music

Cajun music is rooted in the music of the preexisting Creoles and the French-speaking Catholics of eastern Canada and became transformed into a unique sound of the Cajun culture. In earlier years of the late 18th century the
fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
was the predominant instrument and the music tended to sound more like early country music. Cajun music is typically a
waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...
or two step. Unlike the folk music of
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, it is not associated with the Celtic tradition. Famous Cajun musicians were Lawrence Walker, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, Aldus Roger, Marc Savoy, Wilson Savoy, Dewey Segura,
Wayne Toups Wayne Toups (born October 2, 1958, in Crowley, Louisiana) is one of the most commercially successful American Cajun singers. He is also a songwriter. Wayne Toups has been granted numerous awards and honors throughout his career including 2010 Fes ...
.


Zydeco

Early in the 1950s, zydeco evolved from the music of the Creoles in southwest and south central Louisiana. At an earlier period, Creole and Cajun music were more similar, but after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, this regional French music evolved into a distinct expression of the Creoles, Louisianians whose shared languages and culture transcend race. Along with the accordion, the second main instrument in a zydeco group is a corrugated metal washboard, called a Zydeco Rubboard or ''frottoir''. They made the music contemporary by adding electrical instruments (guitar and bass), keyboards, drumkit and even sometimes horns. The Creole Zydeco music of Grammy-winning artists
Queen Ida Ida Lewis "Queen Ida" Guillory (born January 15, 1929) is a Louisiana Creole accordionist. She was the first female accordion player to lead a zydeco band. Queen Ida's music is an eclectic mix of R&B, Caribbean, and Cajun, though the presence of ...
Guillory,
Clifton Chenier Clifton Chenier (June 25, 1925 – December 12, 1987), was an American Creole musician known as a pioneer of zydeco, a style of music which arose from Creole music, with rhythm and blues, R&B, blues, and Cajun music, Cajun influences. He sang a ...
,
Rockin' Sidney Sidney Simien (April 9, 1938 – February 25, 1998), known professionally as Rockin' Sidney, was an American R&B, zydeco, and soul musician who began recording in the late 1950s and continued performing until his death. He is best known for his ...
Simien,
Buckwheat Zydeco Stanley Dural Jr. (November 14, 1947 – September 24, 2016), better known by his stage name Buckwheat Zydeco, was an American accordionist and zydeco musician. He was one of the few zydeco artists to achieve mainstream success. His music gro ...
and
Terrance Simien Terrance Simien (born September 3, 1965) is an American zydeco musician, vocalist and songwriter. He and his group The Zydeco Experience won the Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album in 2008 and for Best Regional Roots Music Album in 2 ...
remain some of the most internationally recognized zydeco music.
John Delafose John Irvin Delafose (April 16, 1939 – September 18, 1994) was an American French-speaking Creole Zydeco accordionist from Louisiana. Early life Delafose was born in the unincorporated village of Duralde, Evangeline Parish, Louisiana, near Mamo ...
, Andrus Espree (aka
Beau Jocque Beau Jocque (born Andrus Espre; November 1, 1953 – September 10, 1999) was a Louisiana French Creole zydeco musician and songwriter active in the 1990s. Beau Jocque is known for his gruff vocals, his fusion of many musical styles into zyde ...
),
Boozoo Chavis Wilson Anthony "Boozoo" Chavis (pronounced CHAY-viss) (October 23, 1930 – May 5, 2001) was an American accordion player, singer, songwriter and bandleader. He was one of the pioneers of zydeco, the fusion of Cajun and blues music develop ...
,
Rosie Ledet Rosie Ledet (born Mary Roszela Bellard; October 25, 1971) is an American Creole Zydeco accordion player and singer. Her songs are known for their sultry and suggestive lyrics. She tours and records with her band, the Zydeco Playboys. Biograph ...
,
Chubby Carrier Roy "Chubby" Carrier is an American zydeco musician. He is the leader of Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band. Biography Carrier's father and grandfather both played zydeco music, and his cousins recorded under the name The Carrier Bro ...
,
Canray Fontenot Canray Fontenot (October 16, 1922 – July 29, 1995) was an American Creole fiddle player, who has been described as "the greatest Creole Louisiana French fiddler of our time." Early life Canray Fontenot was born in L'Anse aux Vaches, ne ...
,
Amédé Ardoin Amédé Ardoin (March 11, 1898 – November 3, 1942) was an American Creole musician, known for his high singing voice and virtuosity on the Cajun accordion. He is credited by Louisiana music scholars with laying the groundwork for both Creole a ...
,
Rockin' Dopsie Alton Jay Rubin (February 10, 1932 – August 26, 1993), who performed as Rockin' Dopsie (sometimes Rockin' Dupsee), was an American zydeco singer and accordion player who enjoyed popular success first in Europe and later in the United States. ...
,
Geno Delafose Geno Delafose (born February 6, 1971) is an American zydeco accordionist and singer. He is one of the younger generations of the genre who has created the sound known as the nouveau zydeco. His sound is deeply rooted in traditional Creole music ...
, Nathan Williams,
Keith Frank Keith Frank is an American zydeco musician from Louisiana, United States. Frank started his band, The Soileau Zydeco Band, in 1990 and is active as of 2016. He is the son of accordion player Preston Frank. Frank records on Soulwood Records. ...
,
Chris Ardoin Chris Ardoin (born April 7, 1981 in Lake Charles, LouisianaChris and Sean Ardoin Interview, Blues & Soul Records Magazine No. 53, 2003) is a zydeco accordionist and singer. He is one of the young artists that helped form nouveau zydeco, a new st ...
, Nathan Williams Jr., J Paul Jr.,
Cedric Watson Cedric Watson (born 1983) is an American musician. He has been nominated four times for Grammy Awards. Career Born in 1983, Cedric grew up in San Felipe, Texas surrounded by the blues, old soul, country, and zydeco music. Though hip-hop wa ...
and Jeffery Broussard are also other well known zydeco musicians.


Swing Out

Swing out can be classified as a cross between the music genres of southwest Louisiana including Zydeco and Southern Soul. It is especially popular in the Acadiana region, being that so many artists originate and perform in this part of the state. Its popularity has caused an expansion of the music throughout the southern portion of the United States. Swing out music is usually produced and doesn't involve the use of live instruments unlike zydeco. Notable artists include Tucka James, Roi "Chip" Anthony, "Lysa" Harrington, and AudiYo.


Swamp blues

Swamp blues developed around
Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of 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-sma ...
in the 1950s and reached a peak of popularity in the 1960s. It generally has a slow tempo and incorporates influences from other genres of music, particularly the regional styles of
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 ...
. Its most successful proponents included
Slim Harpo Slim Harpo (born James Isaac Moore; January 11, 1924 – January 31, 1970) was an American blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spiri ...
and
Lightnin' Slim Otis Verries Hicks, known as Lightnin' Slim (March 13, 1913 – July 27, 1974), was an American blues musician who played Louisiana blues and swamp blues for Excello Records. The blues critic ED Denson ranked him as one of the five great bl ...
, who enjoyed a number of
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 ...
and national hits and whose work was frequently covered by bands of the
British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on b ...
.R. Unterberger, "Louisiana blues", in V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra, S. T. Erlewine, eds, ''All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues'' (Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books, 3rd edn., 2003), , pp. 687-8.


Swamp pop

Swamp pop came about in the mid-1950s. With the Cajun dance and musical conventions in mind, nationally popular African American music genres such as rock, pop, country, and R&B songs were re-recorded, sometimes in French. Swamp pop is more of a combination of many influences, and the bridge between zydeco, New Orleans second line, and
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
. The song structure is pure rock and roll, the rhythms are distinctly New Orleans based, the chord changes, vocals and inflections are R&B influenced, and the lyrics are sometimes French.
Clarence "Frogman" Henry Clarence Henry II (born March 19, 1937), known as Clarence "Frogman" Henry, is an American rhythm and blues singer and pianist, best known for his hits " Ain't Got No Home" (1956) and " (I Don't Know Why) But I Do" (1961). Career Clarence Henry ...
's " (I Don't Know Why) But I Do" and "On Bended Knee" (both Bobby Charles compositions).
Phil Phillips John Philip Baptiste (March 14, 1926 – March 14, 2020), known as Phil Phillips, was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his 1959 song, " Sea of Love". Biography Baptiste was encouraged to pursue a career as a singer after a scho ...
' gained big hit "
Sea of Love Sea of Love may refer to * ''Sea of Love'' (film), a 1989 American thriller film * "Sea of Love" (Phil Phillips song), a 1959 song by Phil Phillips and The Twilights, covered by many performers * "Sea of Love" (The National song), 2013 * ''The S ...
". Swamp pop also left its imprint on the related but distinct genre known as "
swamp blues Swamp blues is a type of Louisiana blues that developed in the Black communities of Southwest Louisiana in the 1950s.Malone, Evelyn Levingston, "Swamp Blues: Race And Vinyl From Southwest Louisiana" (2016). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertatio ...
", including
Slim Harpo Slim Harpo (born James Isaac Moore; January 11, 1924 – January 31, 1970) was an American blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spiri ...
's classic " Rainin' in My Heart". Swamp blues/Swamp pop/Swamp R&B type songs such as the Cookie and the Cupcakes hit "Mathilda", Johnnie Allan's "Mathilda" and Dale & Grace "I'm Leaving up to You".
The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
' covered
Barbara Lynn Barbara Lynn (born Barbara Lynn Ozen, later Barbara Lynn Cumby, January 16, 1942) is an American rhythm and blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. She is best known for her R&B chart-topping hit, " You'll Lose a Good Thing" ( ...
's "You'll Lose a Good Thing" and "Oh Baby (We Got A Good Thing Goin')".


North Louisiana music

The region's location, bordered by
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
on the west and the
Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo ...
on the east has not led to the development of "locally stylized" music. Traditional and modern
country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
has been dominant, creating its own country stars, like
Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...
, Jimmie Davis,
Tony Joe White Tony Joe White (July 23, 1943 – October 24, 2018), nicknamed the Swamp Fox, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1969 hit "Polk Salad Annie" and for "Rainy Night in Georgia", which he wrote but which was first ma ...
, and
Andy Griggs Andrew Tyler Griggs (born January 31 1973) 1973) is an American country music artist. He has released three albums for RCA Records Nashville ('' You Won't Ever Be Lonely'', '' Freedom'', and ''This I Gotta See'') and a fourth ('' The Good Life'' ...
from Northeast Louisiana, and
Trace Adkins Trace may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Trace'' (Son Volt album), 1995 * ''Trace'' (Died Pretty album), 1993 * Trace (band), a Dutch progressive rock band * ''The Trace'' (album) Other uses in arts and entertainment * ''Trace'' ...
,
Kix Brooks Leon Eric Brooks III, better known by his stage name Kix Brooks (born May 12, 1955), is an American country music artist, actor, and film producer best known for being one half of the duo Brooks & Dunn and host of radio's ''American Country Co ...
, and
Hank Williams Jr. Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of southern rock, blues, and country. He is the son of ...
from Northwest Louisiana. However, North Louisiana's lasting contribution to the world of popular music was the radio program The ''
Louisiana Hayride ''Louisiana Hayride'' was a radio and later television country music show broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana, that during its heyday from 1948 to 1960 helped to launch the careers of some of th ...
'', which started broadcasting in 1948 on KWKH in Shreveport.
Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...
,
George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...
,
Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...
,
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
and nearly every other country legend, or future country legend alive during the 1950s stepped on stage at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. They performed, many for the first time on radio, on a signal that covered much of the southeastern US. The original production of the show ended in 1960, but re-runs and the occasional special broadcast continued for a few years. The ''Louisiana Hayride'' was regarded as a stepping stone to The ''
Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...
'', the legendary radio show from WSM in
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
. Northern Louisiana in the 1950s had a
country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...
scene, many of whose artists (the Lonesome Drifter) were recorded by local
Ram Records RAM Records is an independent record label established in 1992 by Andy C with the help of his friend Ant Miles. It specialises in drum and bass. The label and business is run by Andy C and business partner Scott Bourne (Red One). Ram Records ...
. Later,
Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...
produced
The Residents The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music vi ...
,
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Kenny Wayne Shepherd (born Kenny Wayne Brobst; June 12, 1977) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He has released several studio albums and experienced significant commercial success as a blues artist. Life and career Shepherd wa ...
, and Sunday Mass Murder. Shreveport native Danny Johnson a veteran of the industry gracing the stages and recordings of Rod Stewart, Rick Derringer, Alice Cooper, and Alcatrazz. (Eddie Van Halens) Private Life, Danny Johnson and the Bandits, and Axis. He has been the guitar slinger for the last 16 years for Steppenwolf.
Jeff Mangum Jeff Mangum (born 24 October 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who gained prominence as the founder, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of Neutral Milk Hotel, as well for his co-founding of The Elephant 6 Recording Company. Ma ...
, founder of
Neutral Milk Hotel Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed in Ruston, Louisiana, by musician Jeff Mangum. They were active from 1989 to 1998, and again from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock ...
and
The Elephant 6 Recording Company The Elephant 6 Recording Company is a loosely defined musical collective from the United States. Notable bands associated with the collective include the Apples in Stereo, Beulah, Circulatory System, Elf Power, the Minders, Neutral Milk Hotel, ...
was born in
Ruston, Louisiana Ruston is a small city and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is the largest city in the Eastern Ark-La-Tex region. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 21,859, reflecting an increase of 6.4 percent ...
.


New Orleans music

In the 19th century, there was already a mixture of French, Spanish, African and Afro-Caribbean music. The city had a great love for
Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
; many operatic works had their first performances in the New World in New Orleans.


Early African, Caribbean and Creole music

Unlike in the
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
colonies of what would become the
USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
,
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n
slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
s and their descendants were not prohibited from performing their traditional music in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. The African slaves, many from the Caribbean islands, were allowed to gather on Sundays, their day off, on a plaza known as
Congo Square Congo Square (french: Place Congo) is an open space, now within Louis Armstrong Park, which is located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street north of the French Quarter. The square is famous for its ...
. Permitted as early as 1817, dancing in New Orleans had been restricted to the square, which was a hotbed of musical fusion, as African styles from across America and the Caribbean met and danced in large groups, often in circle dances. The Congo Square gatherings became well known, and many whites came to watch and listen. Nevertheless, by 1830, opposition from whites in New Orleans and an influx of blacks elsewhere in the U.S. caused the decline of Congo Square's prominence. The tradition of mass dances in Congo Square continued sporadically, though it came to have more in common with minstrelsy than with authentic African traditions. Caribbean dances known to have been imported to Louisiana include the calenda, Congo, counjai, and
bamboula A bamboula is a type of drum made from a rum barrel with skin stretched over one end. It is also a dance accompanied by music from these drums. History Originating in Africa, the bamboula form appears in a Haitian song in 1757 and bamboula beca ...
. Louis Gottschalk was an early 19th-century White Creole
pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
and
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...
from New Orleans, the first American musician/composer to become famous in Europe. A number of his works incorporate rhythms and music he heard performed by African slaves. In addition to the slave population,
antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ...
New Orleans also had a large population of
free people of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (French: ''gens de couleur libres''; Spanish: ''gente de color libre'') were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not ...
, mostly Creoles of mixed African and European heritage who worked as tradesmen. The more prosperous Creoles sent their children to be educated in France. They had their own dance bands, an opera company, and a symphony orchestra. The community produced such composers as Edmund Dede and Basil Bares. After the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
many Creole musicians became music teachers, teaching the use of European instruments to the newly freed slaves and their descendants.


Jazz

Probably the single most famous style of music to originate in the city was New Orleans jazz, also known as
Dixieland Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ( ...
. It came into being around 1900. Many with memories of the time say that the most important figure in the formation of the music was
Papa Jack Laine George Vital "Papa Jack" Laine (September 21, 1873 – June 1, 1966) was an American musician and a pioneering band leader in New Orleans in the years from the Spanish–American War to World War I. He was often credited for training many musici ...
who enlisted hundreds of musicians from all of the city's diverse ethnic groups and social status. Most of these musicians became instrumental in forming jazz music including
Buddy Bolden Charles Joseph "Buddy" Bolden (September 6, 1877 – November 4, 1931) was an African American cornetist who was regarded by contemporaries as a key figure in the development of a New Orleans style of ragtime music, or "jass", which later c ...
,
Bunk Johnson Willie Gary "Bunk" Johnson (December 27, 1879 – July 7, 1949) was an American prominent jazz trumpeter in New Orleans. Johnson gave the year of his birth as 1879, although there is speculation that he may have been younger by as much as a dec ...
and the members of
Original Dixieland Jazz Band The Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB) was a Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their " Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz record ever issued. The group composed and recorded many jazz standards, the ...
. One of early rural blues, ragtime, and marching band music were combined with collective improvisation to create this new style of music. At first, the music was known by various names such as "hot music", "hot ragtime" and "ratty music"; the term "
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
" (early on often spelled "jass") did not become common until the 1910s. The early style was exemplified by the bands of such musicians as
Freddie Keppard Freddie Keppard (sometimes rendered as Freddy Keppard; February 27, 1890 – July 15, 1933) was an American jazz cornetist who once held the title of "King" in the New Orleans jazz scene. This title was previously held by Buddy Bolden and suc ...
,
Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a gen ...
, "King" Joe Oliver,
Kid Ory Edward "Kid" Ory (December 25, 1886 – January 23, 1973) was an American jazz composer, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of New Orleans jazz. He was ...
. The next generation took the young art form into more daring and sophisticated directions, with such creative musical virtuosos as
Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
,
Sidney Bechet Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong. His erratic temp ...
, and
Red Allen Henry James "Red" Allen, Jr. (January 7, 1908 – April 17, 1967) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose playing has been claimed by Joachim-Ernst Berendt and others as the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstr ...
. New Orleans was a regional
Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...
music composing and publishing center through the 1920s, and was also an important center of
ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...
.
Louis Prima Louis Leo Prima (December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and trumpeter. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he forme ...
demonstrated the versatility of the New Orleans tradition, taking a style rooted in traditional New Orleans jazz into swinging hot music popular into the
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
era. He is buried in New Orleans. Contemporary jazz has had a following in New Orleans with musicians such as Alvin Batiste and Ellis Marsalis. Some younger jazz virtuosos such as
Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awar ...
and
Nicholas Payton Nicholas Payton (born September 26, 1973) is an American trumpet player and multi-instrumentalist. A Grammy Award winner, he is from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also a prolific and provocative writer who comments on a multitude of subjects, inc ...
experiment with the avant garde while refusing to disregard the traditions of early jazz. Continuing development of the traditional New Orleans jazz style, Tom McDermott,
Evan Christopher Evan Christopher (born August 31, 1969) is an American jazz clarinetist and composer. Biography Background His first musical training was at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts. After high school, he studied saxophone at the Universi ...
, New Orleans Nightcrawlers. Harry Connick Jr. was raised in New Orleans and attended
Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans is a Private university, private Jesuit university in New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name o ...
.


New Orleans blues

The blues that developed in the 1940s and 1950s in and around the city of
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
was strongly influenced by jazz and incorporated Caribbean influences, it is dominated by piano and saxophone but has also produced major guitar bluesmen. Major figures in the genre include Professor Longhair and
Guitar Slim Eddie Jones (December 10, 1926 – February 7, 1959), better known as Guitar Slim, was an American guitarist in the 1940s and 1950s, best known for the million-selling song " The Things That I Used to Do", for Specialty Records. It is listed in t ...
, who both produced major regional, R&B and national hits. Louisiana blues created a specialized form of blues music sometimes using zydeco instrumentation and slow, tense rhythms that is closely related to
New Orleans blues New Orleans blues is a subgenre of blues that developed in and around the city of New Orleans, influenced by jazz and Caribbean music. It is dominated by piano and saxophone, but also produced guitar bluesmen. Characteristics As a style, New ...
and
swamp blues Swamp blues is a type of Louisiana blues that developed in the Black communities of Southwest Louisiana in the 1950s.Malone, Evelyn Levingston, "Swamp Blues: Race And Vinyl From Southwest Louisiana" (2016). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertatio ...
from Baton Rouge.


R&B/gospel

Alan Toussaint composed or produced many songs, including "
Mother-in-Law A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship. A person is a child-in-la ...
", " I Like It Like That", "
Fortune Teller Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115-116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical w ...
", " Ride Your Pony", "
Get Out of My Life, Woman "Get Out of My Life, Woman" is a song written by Allen Toussaint and first recorded by Lee Dorsey. It reached number five on the U.S. ''Billboard'' R&B chart and number 44 on the Hot 100 singles chart in 1966. Background In a song review for Al ...
", "
Working in the Coal Mine "Working in the Coal Mine" is a song with music and lyrics by the American musician and record producer Allen Toussaint. It was an international hit for Lee Dorsey in 1966, and has been recorded by other musicians including Devo in 1981. Lee Do ...
", "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky", "Freedom For the Stallion", "
Yes We Can Can "Yes We Can Can" is a funk song written by Allen Toussaint, popularized when it was recorded by the American R&B girl group the Pointer Sisters. Background "Yes We Can Can" was originally recorded as "Yes We Can" by Lee Dorsey on his albu ...
", and " Southern Nights". He was a producer for hundreds of recordings, for example " Right Place, Wrong Time", by his longtime friend
Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from ...
("Mac" Rebennack), and "
Lady Marmalade "Lady Marmalade" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan, originally for Nolan's disco group. The song is famous for the repeated refrain of " ''Voulez-vous coucher avec moi''?" in French as part of the chorus, a sexually suggestive line t ...
" by Labelle. The Meters,
Lee Dorsey Irving Lee Dorsey (December 24, 1924 – December 1, 1986) was an American pop and R&B singer during the 1960s. His biggest hits were "Ya Ya" (1961) and " Working in the Coal Mine" (1966). Much of his work was produced by Allen Toussaint, with ...
, Ernie K-Doe gained hit songs. New band
Galactic Galactic is an American jam band from New Orleans, Louisiana. Origins and background Formed in 1994 as an octet (under the name Galactic Prophylactic) and including singer Chris Lane and guitarist Rob Gowen, the group was soon pared down to a ...
released jazz funk album. The city also has a rich tradition of
gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...
and spirituals;
Mahalia Jackson Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to t ...
was the most famous of New Orleans' gospel singers. She is buried in Metairie.
The Dixie Cups The Dixie Cups (formerly known as The Meltones) are an American pop music girl group of the 1960s. They are best known for a string of hits including their 1964 million-selling record "Chapel of Love", " People Say", and "Iko Iko". Career ...
had a #1 Hot 100 hit with "
Chapel of Love "Chapel of Love" is a song written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector, and made famous by The Dixie Cups in 1964, spending three weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.Whitburn, Joel (2009). ''Top Pop Singles 1955-2008'' ...
" in 1964. They also recorded the song "
Iko Iko "Iko Iko" () is a much-covered New Orleans song that tells of a parade collision between two tribes of Mardi Gras Indians and the traditional confrontation. The song, under the original title "Jock-A-Mo", was written and released in 1953 as a sin ...
" about
Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fat ...
. In the 1950s, New Orleans again influenced the national music scene as a center in the development of
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 ...
. Important artists included
Fats Domino Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New O ...
(d. 2017),
Snooks Eaglin Fird Eaglin Jr. (January 21, 1936 or 1937 – February 18, 2009), known as Snooks Eaglin, was an American guitarist and singer based in New Orleans. In his early years he was sometimes credited under other names, including Blind Snooks Eaglin, ...
,
Dave Bartholomew David Louis Bartholomew (December 24, 1918 – June 23, 2019) was an American musician, bandleader, composer, arranger, and record producer. He was prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century. Originally ...
, Professor Longhair, and Huey "Piano" Smith. Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. (born November 21, 1940), better known by the stage name
Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from ...
a New Orleans-born singer/songwriter, pianist and guitarist whose music combined blues, boogie woogie and rock and roll. Dr. John cited Professor Longhair as one of his musical influences and has recorded a number of his compositions, most notably "
Tipitina "Tipitina" is a song written and made famous by Professor Longhair. The song has been widely covered, and the Professor Longhair version was recorded in 1953 for Atlantic Records. "Tipitina" was first released in 1953. A previously unreleased ...
". 1980s new style of "street beat" brass bands combining the jazz brass band tradition with funk and hip hop was spearheaded by 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 ...
, then the
Rebirth Brass Band The Rebirth Brass Band is a New Orleans brass band. The group was founded in 1983 by Phillip "Tuba Phil" Frazier, his brother Keith Frazier, Kermit Ruffins,Skelly, RichardAllMusic Profile Retrieved 2013-02-9 and classmates from Joseph S. Cla ...
.


Country music

Sammy Kershaw Samuel Paul Kershaw (born February 24, 1958) is an American country music artist. He has released 16 studio albums, with three RIAA platinum certifications and two gold certifications among them. More than 25 singles have entered the Top 40 on the ...
, Eddy Raven, Jo-el Sonnier, and the band River Road are all Acadiana natives who went on to score national fame and sell millions of records via the major labels in Nashville.


Rock/pop

Significant New Orleans rock band, and alternative bands include
Zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zeb ...
, The Radiators,
Better Than Ezra Better Than Ezra is an American alternative rock band based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and signed with The End Records. The band formed in 1988 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and consists of Kevin Griffin (vocals and guitar), Tom Drummond (bass g ...
(singer
Kevin Griffin Kevin Michael Griffin (born October 1, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Better Than Ezra. His songs have been performed and recorded by artists such as Taylor ...
graduated from
Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
in 1990),
12 Stones 12 Stones is an American hard rock band, formed in 2000 in Mandeville, Louisiana, and currently consisting of Paul McCoy, Eric Weaver and Sean Dunaway. History The band members met in Mandeville, Louisiana, a small city north of New Orleans, ...
, and
Cowboy Mouth Cowboy Mouth is an American band based in New Orleans, Louisiana known for fusing alternative rock with album-oriented rock, roots rock, and jam band influences. Formed in 1992, the band saw early mainstream success in the 1990s, including th ...
. Popular alternative rock bands include
Mutemath Mutemath (sometimes styled as MuteMath or MUTEMATH) is an American alternative rock project founded by American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer Paul Meany. Originally co-founded as a band with Darren King in 2002, Me ...
and Meriwether. Louisiana is known as the most important place for the development of a style of heavy metal:
sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge or sludge doom) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated through combining elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. It is typically harsh and abrasive, often featuring shouted vocals, heavi ...
. Two of its founding acts,
Eyehategod Eyehategod (also abbreviated and referred to as EHG) is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana who formed in 1988. They have become one of the better known bands to emerge from the NOLA metal scene. Their core lineup has r ...
and Crowbar, are from
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
, where the genre's most important scene can be found. Other notable sludge metal bands such as
Acid Bath Acid Bath was an American sludge metal band from Houma, Louisiana, active from 1991 to 1997. Acid Bath combined doom metal roots with influences from hardcore punk, death metal, gothic rock, and blues to create the band's unique sound. Th ...
, Down,
Soilent Green Soilent Green is an American extreme metal band formed in 1988 in Chalmette/ Metairie on the suburbs of New Orleans, Louisiana. Described as a sludge metal and grindcore band, the group blends elements of death metal, black metal, hardcor ...
and Choke are based in Louisiana. Blackened death metal band
Goatwhore Goatwhore is an American extreme metal band formed in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1997. Biography Goatwhore was formed by guitarist/backing vocalist Sammy Duet, who was previously the lead guitarist for Louisiana sludge metal band Acid Bath. The ...
are from New Orleans.
Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...
(from Kentwood) has had four #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including the dance-pop song " ...Baby One More Time" from 1999.
Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...
has two #1 hits on the Hot 100, including "
Lollipop A lollipop is a type of sugar candy usually consisting of hard candy mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. Different informal terms are used in different places, including lolly, sucker, sticky-pop, etc. Lollipops are availa ...
" from 2008. The rapper Juvenile had a #1 hit on the Hot 100 with "
Slow Motion Slow motion (commonly abbreviated as slo-mo or slow-mo) is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger in the early 20th century. This can be accomplished through the use o ...
" ft.
Soulja Slim James Adarryl Tapp Jr. (September 9, 1977 – November 26, 2003), better known by his stage name Soulja Slim, was an American rapper and songwriter. He is perhaps best known for featuring on the U.S. number one hit "Slow Motion". Early life Jam ...
, from 2004 and a #1 album on the Billboard 200 with '' Reality Check'' in 2006.
Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...
has had 25 songs that have reached #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart, including "
Live Like You Were Dying ''Live Like You Were Dying'' is the eighth studio album by American country music artist Tim McGraw. It was released on August 24, 2004, by Curb Records and was recorded in a mountaintop studio in upstate New York. It entered the ''Billboard'' 2 ...
" from 2004. R&B singer
Frank Ocean Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean ...
had a #1 album on the Billboard 200 with ''
Blonde Blond (male) or blonde (female), also referred to as fair hair, is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can ...
'' in 2016.
YoungBoy Never Broke Again Kentrell DeSean Gaulden (born October 20, 1999), known professionally as YoungBoy Never Broke Again (also known as NBA YoungBoy or simply YoungBoy), is an American rapper. Between 2015 and 2017, he released eight independent mixtapes and steadi ...
from Baton Rouge had a #1 album in 2019.


Hip-hop

Beginning in the mid-1990s, New Orleans became a hub of
Southern hip hop Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Memph ...
. First with
Master P Percy Robert Miller Sr. (born April 29, 1967), known by his stage name Master P, is an American rapper, record executive, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of the record label No Limit Records, which was relaunched as ...
and his
No Limit No Limit may refer to: Music Record labels *No Limit Records, a record label founded by Master P * No Limit Forever Records, a record label founded by Romeo Miller, son of Master P Albums * ''No Limit'' (Art Pepper album), 1977 * ''No Limit'' ...
clique based out of the 3rd Ward, then later came the Cash Money clique who popularized a unique semi-melodic
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 ...
n style of rapping to the hip hop mainstream.
Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...
became one of the most prominent New Orleans rappers. The city has also been a center of
Southern hip hop Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Memph ...
, and the birthplace of mainstream
Bounce music Bounce music is a style of New Orleans hip hop music that is said to have originated as early as the late 1980s in the city's housing projects. Popular bounce artists have included DJ Jubilee, Partners-N-Crime, Magnolia Shorty and Big Freedi ...
which originated in Baton Rouge.


Recordings

Small, local record labels proliferated from
Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
to New Orleans, specializing in recording and distributing local acts. Labels such as ''Jin, Swallow,
Maison de Soul Maison de Soul is a Louisiana-based Zydeco and blues record label. It was founded in 1974 in Ville Platte, Louisiana by Floyd Soileau and remains under his ownership. It is one of four record labels under Soileau's Flat Town Music Company umbr ...
,'' and ''Bayou'' continue to record and distribute Creole music, and other south Louisiana music. Many of the original versions of classic songs are still being made and distributed. One of the most successful label owners was
Floyd Soileau James Floyd Soileau (born November 2, 1938) is an American record producer. Biography Soileau was born in Faubourg, a small community between Ville Platte and Washington, Louisiana. He grew up speaking Cajun French and did not speak English ...
. Soileau started as a local DJ in
Ville Platte, Louisiana Ville Platte is the largest city in, and the parish seat of, Evangeline Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 7,430 at the 2010 census, down from 8,145 in 2000. The city's name is of French origin, roughly translating to "flat t ...
in the mid-1950s, and soon decided he would rather help make music than play it. He started most of the labels listed in the previous paragraph. He and his record shop are important pieces of Louisiana's music history.


See also

*
Louisiana Music Hall of Fame The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame (LMHOF) is a non-profit hall of fame based in Baton Rouge, the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana, that seeks to honor and preserve the state's music culture and heritage and to promote education about the state ...
in Baton Rouge *
List of songs about New Orleans This is a list of songs set in or about New Orleans, Louisiana. 0-9 * "1220 Lyons Street" by Idris Muhammad * "35th Street Blues" by Jelly Roll Morton * "912 Greens" by Ramblin' Jack Elliot A * "A Little Lovin'" by Neil Sedaka * "A New Orl ...
*
Indigenous music of North America Indigenous music of North America, which includes American Indian music or Native American music, is the music that is used, created or performed by Indigenous peoples of North America, including Native Americans in the United States and Abori ...
*
List of people related to Cajun music This is a list of notable Cajun musicians, Cajun music instrument makers, Cajun music folklorists, Cajun music historians, and Cajun music activists. List of Cajun musicians This is a list of musicians who perform or performed Cajun music. Th ...


References


Bibliography

*Russell, Tony (1997). ''The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray''. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. p. 157. . * Blush, Steven (2001). '' American Hardcore: A Tribal History''. Los Angeles, CA:
Feral House Feral House is an American book publisher founded in 1989 by Adam Parfrey and based in Port Townsend, Washington. Early history The company's first book was '' The Satanic Witch'' (1989; originally published in 1971 by Dodd, Mead & Company) by A ...
. .


External links


Satchmo.com

ImLAonline.org

Gumbo Radio, "Louisiana's music and then some"

OffBeat magazine of "Louisiana music and culture"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Music Of Louisiana
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 ...
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 ...