Photo: Kim Welsh

This is what I’m starting call the week of “the cube”: on Wednesday the Jazz Fest announced its stage schedules, and on Wednesday, the French Quarter Festival put out their official brochure with their stage schedules.

If anyone is interested in coming to New Orleans for the music, well, festival season is coming upon us pretty fast.

Concurrent to the first weekend of Jazz Fest (April 22-26) is Festival International de Louisiane in Lafayette, and that’s a whole other world of music.

Look, I didn’t get into publishing a music magazine for nothing: music permeates this city and the state, especially in Cajun country.

Of course, locals love festivals, but the draw of superior music, food and culture continues to appeal to visitors from around the world.

There’s just so many things that everyone loves about our music. IF I had my way, there would be a music festival every week..oh wait, there pretty much is a music festival every week somewhere in New Orleans!

One thing that we’re missing the boat on however, is that so many people who live here, and many who visit, don’t understand how deeply music is ingrained in our culture. So many journalists and visitors to New Orleans have landed in my office wanting to know more about the whys and hows of music here. And yet, there’s nowhere to send them.

We are sorely lacking an edutainment facility—a music museum—that can inform and entertain the masses about our music.

We have thousands of kids and young people who also need to know about our culture.

I’m thrilled that $20 million was donated to the World War II Museum. But who is the person who is going to step up to donate some seed money to create music museum? We are so long overdue for an education entertainment facility that’s devoted to the broad spectrum of jazz, brass bands, funk, R&B, soul, Mardi Gras Indians,country, singer-songwriter, Cajun, zydeco, gospel music that’s such a part of who we are.

If you’re reading this, and you want to create a lasting legacy for the future of New Orleans’ musical heritage by helping to create a museum, just give me call. Who cares enough about our music to do it?