I am a New Orleans-based author, record and event producer, folklorist, and musician. Much of my work focuses on American vernacular music, with special emphasis on Louisiana, about which I have written the books: Zydeco!, with photographer Rick Olivier, and the critically acclaimed Ernie K-Doe, The R&B Emperor of New Orleans. I have contributed to national publications including The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, Esquire, and Rolling Stone, to academicand music journalism anthologies, and to various regional magazines. I received the Keeping the Blues Alive in Literature Award from the Blues Foundation in Memphis in 2015, a Lifetime Achievement award from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities in 2018, and a Spirit of Folk Award from Folk Alliance International in 2020. Between 1973 -1981 I worked, for eleven months in total, as a deckhand on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, an experience which informs my writing about river culture and canoeing. From 1976 – 1982 I played drums with such noted African-American blues musicians as Junior Wells and Sunnyland Slim, in Chicago. From 1987 – 2005, in Louisiana, I played drums with and managed the historic Cajun swing band The Hackberry Ramblers, producing the group’s Grammy-nominated album Deep Water and co-producing the PBS documentary Make ‘Em Dance: The Hackberry Ramblers’ Story. I continue playing today. I produce the Music Heritage Stage, the interview/oral history venue at the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. and I am the festival’s programming consultant for blues and R&B, country music, Cajun music, and zydeco.
Additional Notes:
I own a small record company, Hot Biscuits, and a music publishing company, Opera Music BMI, with holdings of 43 master recordings of songs, and publishing on 106 songs, including blues, Cajun music, western swing, rock, and more. This material is available for licensing.
In 2021 I graduated from Tulane University with a master's degree in musicology. My thesis is entitled From 78s to Compact Discs: An Analysis of the Recordings by the Hackberry Ramblers, 1935–2004, and the Socio-Cultural Contexts in Which Their Music Evolved.
