The plan is to “introduce things about Louisiana you don’t even know,” The Oxford American publisher Warwick Sabin said this afternoon at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.

Warwick Sabin, Terrance Simien and Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne

Sabin and Louisiana Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne shared the stage to announce that the state will partner with the Arkansas-based Southern culture magazine to produce the magazine’s 2012 music issue and accompanying CD, as well as a series of music and culture-oriented events around the state in 2013.

“We are honored that our musical heritage will be featured in The Oxford American‘s illustrious Southern Music issue,” Dardenne said.

The Oxford American will be 20 years old this year, and the first music issue was published in 1997. Sabin’s promise is based on editor Mark Smirnoff’s history of drawing attention to “hidden gems,” according to Sabin. “That’s what we’re most excited by.” This issue—due out in December—will be The Oxford American‘s fourth music issue spotlighting a specific state.

“I think this is one of the greatest things to happen to Louisiana music,” Terrance Simien said when called to the mic. “Everywhere we go, people want to know about the music.”