RESOURCES

Louisiana's Legendary Musicians: A Select List

These 35 short biographies provide a sampling of legendary Louisiana musicians who maintain Louisiana music traditions or have been heavily influenced by them. It is not meant to be exhaustive. They are divided into the three major folk regions of Louisiana:

New Orleans
South Louisiana
North Louisiana

See the Three Major Folk Subregions of Louisiana map. Note that some genres are found in more than one region.

For more suggestions, refer to Some Louisiana Musicians. For an introduction to Louisiana traditional music, see The Treasured Traditions of Louisiana Music, by Ben Sandmel. For photographs of musicians and ensembles, instruments, venues, and dances, go to the Louisiana Folklife Photo Gallery and select "Music and Dance."