“The blues is the truth. It’s an everyday reminder of your life, a different type of Gospel,” says Music Maker discovery artist Charles Jacobs. For 25 years, and usually 6 nights a week, Charles played up and down Bourbon Street wowing regulars and tourists with electrifying prowess on his guitar and a voice born deep […]

Music Maker next generation artist Lakota John will be play at the Coolidge Auditorium on Wednesday, August 7th at 12pm and at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage at 6pm as part of the Homegrown Concerts from the Library of Congress, Co-sponsored by the American Folklife Center. Both events are FREE and open to the public. […]

Sadly, Beverly “Guitar” Watkins passed away the morning of October 1st, 2019 due to complications from a stroke.  Though she has captured the rapt attention of audiences across the U.S. since the 1950s, the story of Beverly “Guitar” Watkins, the 80-year-old guitar-slinging grandma, actually begins in the early 1920s when a nationwide “blues craze” swept […]

Double Bang: Hot Bang! by Ironing Board SamIroning Board Sam will make another return to Jazz Fest at 2:50pm on Sunday, May 5 to celebrate their 50th Anniversary. His zany performance style has been enjoyed by audiences in New Orleans since 1970 – the same year that Jazz Fest was founded and the same year […]

Dr. Burt from Birmingham, AL was a dear friend and a great bluesman that only played house parties in and around his home. He was a Buddha like kind of man, his spirit soared, you felt like everything was alright in his presence. His mother was a friend of Coretta Scott King, Dr. Burt studied […]