While South Louisiana is known for jazz, Cajun, and zydeco music, North Louisiana’s influence on blues, rockabilly, and country music is well established by homegrown heroes like Jerry Lee Lewis, Huddie Ledbetter, and James Burton, and current stars like Kenny Wayne Shepherd. The northern part of the state has its own music trail, stretching from Carthage, Texas, west to Ferriday, Louisiana, with musical pit stops along the way.
Daniel Trush was 12 years old when a brain aneurysm changed life as he knew it. He spent the next two years in a wheelchair, and had to relearn how to walk and talk. Before the aneurysm, Trush played guitar and trumpet, and one thing that brought him a lot of joy during recovery was […]
“There really is a rift between athletics and arts at school, and I want to be an ambassador for how we can overcome some of those issues,” he says. “It puts a lot of pressure on young adults, especially when they have outside influences.” Utecht is the son of two athletes, but his mom was […]
Two years ago I moved to Ithaca, New York, and witnessed my first Porchfest. I immediately fell in love with the concept. So, I made it my mission to perform at one, which I did last year. Porchfest is an annual outdoor music festival in which bands and musicians perform on neighborhood porches. It can […]
Exiting the Boston’s “T” stop in Somerville, there was a different sound in the air on one crisp fall Saturday morning—spectators anticipated the start of something special, while performers milled around, practicing riffs on their drums and horns. Twenty-seven street bands had begun arriving on Friday, from as far away as Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Austin, Texas, to perform in events held throughout the weekend.
Six years ago, when Mike Orr made his first cigar box guitar, he wasn’t thinking about beginning a second career. He came across cigar box guitars while surfing the Internet one day, and decided to make one as a Christmas gift for his son. He studied the design and made it his own. Then, he […]
No athlete would think about starting a run, playing soccer, or climbing into a kayak without first warming up. Warming up muscles and joints, which means literally making them warm, increasing blood flow to them, and stretching them out, is crucial to avoid or heal an injury. Musicians must do the same. Drummers especially need […]
Standing in centerfield felt odd. Like many times before, Bernie Williams looked towards home plate and then glanced up at a crowd of 50,000 screaming fans ready for a season opener. He had never played in this stadium, but that didn’t explain the surreal feeling.
There aren’t too many hard and fast rules when it comes to singing. Most singers can feel and hear their problem spots. “If your voice feels good and sounds good, it probably is good. If it feels bad and sounds good, something is wrong,” says Jeannette LoVetri, director of The Voice Workshop in New York […]
Young or old, pro or amateur, it doesn’t matter: in a drum circle, no one is better than anyone else. There is no first chair or ranking system, and the performance aspect is centralized within the circle. No wonder drum circles are one of the most popular community groups, a place where beginners and professionals […]