Issue Articles — Features
The Folk Alliance celebrates creativity and supports traditions
The 32nd annual Folk Alliance International conference is coming to New Orleans. Running January 22 to January 26 at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, the conference includes keynote speakers Mavis […]
The Banjo: An unusual voice in the story of New Orleans music
The first banjo ever documented in New Orleans was in 1819. British-American architect Benjamin Latrobe illustrated the instrument as he witnessed it during a performance in Congo Square. It was […]
Accordion-making was considered a hobby, but Randy Falcon turned it into a business
Randy Falcon grew up in the French-speaking region of southwest Louisiana listening to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Dave Clark Five. He had little interest in his family’s […]
The complete list of nominees for the 2019 Best of the Beat Awards
The OffBeat Music and Cultural Arts Foundation’s Best of the Beat Nominations are in. We solicited nominations from musicians and many others in the music community. We then gave the […]
Lifetime Achievement in Music Education: Steve Masakowski
Steve Masakowski never focused on making teaching his career. While attending Boston’s Berklee College of Music he earned a Professional Diploma rather than a degree in music education. When pianist/educator […]
Positive Vibrations HeartBeat Award (Culture Bearer): Clarence “Delco” Dalcour
Best of the Beat Positive Vibrations HeartBeat Award (Culture Bearer) Clarence Dalcour, 71, is a soft-spoken man who as Big Chief Delco of the Creole Osceola displays old time […]
Positive Vibrations HeartBeat Award (Musician): Margie Perez
Margie Perez embodies what it means to be a working artist in New Orleans right now: she plays whenever possible, constantly expanding her reach with a variety of bands and […]
Lifetime Achievement in Music Business: Shirani Rea of Peaches Records
When Shirani Rea opened Peaches Records in 1975, she became an independent business owner with a humanist approach to her bottom line. The beloved record store, now located on Magazine […]
Christmas Gumbo: The ultimate New Orleans holiday playlist
New Orleans’ history of Christmas music actually begins fairly recently: For all the great records that came out of this city in the ’50s and ’60s, only a precious few […]
The Pogues plus Lost Bayou Ramblers equal Poguetry
When Spider Stacy and Cait O’Riordan from the Pogues meet the Lost Bayou Ramblers, they make Poguetry together. The Pogues, of course, are the Anglo-Irish folk-punk band from London that […]
