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Sea level rise and land loss is affecting communities all over the world, not just in Louisiana. But Louisiana has one of the first communities that will…

When a group of Mid-City residents proposed opening a school four years ago that would be racially and economically diverse, they were greeted with doubt.…

Allen Toussaint says he'd rather let his piano do the talking. Lucky for us.Toussaint's fingers have done the talking on song after song for more than 50…

In a 13-minute speech kicking off the 2013 legislative session, Gov. Bobby Jindal said he still wants the legislature to get rid of the income tax in

Joe Ely, a native of West Texas, absorbed the honky-tonk, western swing and rock ‘n’ roll of his youth. He ran away from home at age sixteen to see the world and play music. He later returned to Lubbock and formed the Flatlanders with friends Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, eventually landing in and leading Austin’s cosmic cowboy scene. Before he passed in December 2025, Joe Ely divided his time between the road and the Lone Star State.

Mona Lisa Saloy is a folklorist, poet, professor, and in 2021 was named Louisiana Poet Laureate. Her poems document and celebrate Creole culture in New Orleans, food, language, music, and more. She's written about sidewalk songs, jump-rope rhymes, hand-clap games, and the Black oral tradition of toasting. Mona Lisa's poetry grew from her youth in New Orleans' Seventh Ward, where music was a major part of life.

Pianist Jeff Little takes fiddle melodies and flat-pick guitar leads that he grew up hearing and plays them on the piano in lightning-fast runs. Emerging as a prodigy and player in North Carolina, Jeff Little went on to work as a Nashville session man. Toured with country artists, including Keith Urban and John Michael Montgomery, and continued his solo gig. After twenty years in Nashville, he returned to Appalachia as an educator. Jeff told us about his mentors at his dad's music shop in the Blue Ridge.

When Tanya Tucker was just thirteen, she had something most teenagers couldn’t even imagine: a recording contract with Columbia Records and the studio guidance of Country’s leading producer: Billy Sherrill. In 2019, over 45 years later, Tanya returned to the studio with the help of singer Brandi Carlile to record While I’m Livin’, an album filled with songs that speak to her personal history. Tanya Tucker’s road to Nashville started in Wilcox, Arizona, where she lived with her parents. Her dad worked as a welder, following jobs across the Desert West but he always dreamed Tanya would become a country singer, encouraged her talent, and sought opportunities to share his young daughter’s tremendous voice. I asked Tanya about those early days singing on stage.

Each year Mardi Gras Indians greet the day on the city streets to sing and strut. This has been going on since the late 19th century. The call and response sounds of the Indians often carry the Congo beat, fundamental in New Orleans' musical fabric. The beloved Indian Chief Monk Boudreaux has been masking Indian for more than 70 years. We visited him at home where he quietly sewed his new suit.

Christian Parish Takes the Gun, also known as Supaman, is an Apsáalooke rapper from Crow Agency, Montana. Supaman grew up in and out of foster care with alcoholic parents. He turned to hip-hop to escape from struggles he faced on the reservation. His music draws on a connection from urban style and words to cultural and spiritual life as a Native American. Supaman preserves his culture with his music and fancy dancing to express himself and uplift those around him.