Having been in the business of promoting New Orleans and Louisiana music for over 25 years, I’ve seen its acceptance in the mainstream ebb and flow.

Having tourism officials recognize the value of using our music to attract visitors has been up-and-down. The last big push we had for music statewide ended when Mitch Landrieu stepped down as Lieutenant Governor to become mayor of New Orleans. Too bad. Our indigenous music, which defnes our culture statewide and particularly in New Orleans and in southwest Louisiana, is just another part of the “rich gumbo” (God, am I tired of that cliché!) that defnes our mix of cultures throughout the state. Music is not the focus, and that’s really too bad.

Last weekend I was driving to Pass Christian, Mississippi, to attend a wedding. Whenever you ride into a new state, there’s always a welcome sign. All of Mississippi’s welcome signs now state “Birthplace of America’s Music.”

Mississippi was the birthplace of the blues, certainly not all of American music. Just like Austin is the “Live Music Capital of the World.” If you convey a message to an audience often enough, it becomes embedded in their consciousness—even on a sign.

Pushing for change is no easy task. OffBeat has worked with New Orleans and state officials, encouraging them to use music as a marketing tool to attract people to the state. In New Orleans, it’s a no-brainer. In western Louisiana (Cajun/zydeco country), it’s pretty obvious too. Baton Rouge is all about blues, and the northern part of the state is inextricably tied to rockabilly, the birth of rock ‘n’ roll and country music. But it still hasn’t sunk in that Louisiana is way more of a musical birthplace than Mississippi, and unless you convey that message, the concept does not exist.

So why aren’t we telling potential visitors this constantly, consistently and clearly?

I hate to say this because Louisianans tend to think that they are superior to their Mississippi neighbors, but it appears that Mississippi has had the foresight to do some pretty interesting niche marketing. There are some in the state who don’t like the fact that their state’s new tourism message is now entrenched in promoting their state as an historic center of American music. I think the campaign’s pretty smart, considering that Mississippi certainly doesn’t have as much to offer, tourism-wise, as Louisiana, and especially New Orleans (sorry, friends throughout the rest of the state—it’s just the way it is).

Mississippi’s strategy makes Louisiana look ridiculous. Our state’s new slogan is “Pick Your Passion.” Huh? Are there really hundreds of thousands of people who are passionate about hunting quail who will “flock” to Louisiana to satisfy this burning passion in “Sportsman’s Paradise” (a previous marketing slogan for the state)?

“Pick Your Passion” sounds sophisticated, but it’s way too broad. It’s like advertising Las Vegas with the phrase, “What Happens Here Is Great.” Compare that with “What Happens Here Stays Here.” Which slogan connotes a party town?

The key word in 21st-Century marketing is “niche.” You certainly can’t please all your constituents at one time, but if you use the right marketing and advertising tools, you can increase visitors/tourism as a whole. Then, everyone wins big-time.

On the up side, New Orleans has another window of opportunity nationwide, with the success of Treme. Not only does this show depict the city’s culture in as authentic a way as it’s ever been shown, but our music is the linchpin of the storyline. More people than ever will be able to have a glimpse of what makes New Orleans unlike any other city in the world, and be able to hear our music, see it being created, and to the performances of musicians they might never get to see unless they visited the city. It’s surprising, though, that the public sector tourism people haven’t picked up on this thread. Is it because Treme’s action centers on the day-to-day life and music of musicians and, for the most part, the types of people tourists aren’t supposed to see?

The lives of musicians and the world they inhabit are hard-scrabble, and they have to hustle from day to day to make ends meet. The life of any artist is pretty much the same, except for the very, very few who become popular and affluent enough to actually get wealthy making their art. I continue to applaud Treme and its creators for having the guts to show it like it is and to expose our art, music and culture to an international audience. The show’s been green-lighted for a third season, and I’m thrilled.

Over the two decades I’ve been in this business, there also seems to be a lot more interest in jazz from (thank God!) the younger generation. Jazz is sometimes perceived as old folks’ music, and it is so far from that. There are many young bands and entrepreneurs who are exploring and interpreting jazz in a new, fresh way (I think of bands like Meschiya Lake, the New Orleans Moonshiners, Irvin Mayfield, Trombone Shorty, Big Sam, and many, many more). I haven’t seen that in a long time, and it’s about time. We have hotels that are offering real jazz in clubs on a regular basis (Jeremy Davenport at the Ritz-Carlton; Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse at the Royal Sonesta, and the I Club that will open soon at the J.W. Marriott hotel on Canal Street). Bravo to these new torch-bearers who are carrying on the New Orleans jazz torch! We need more of you.