Each December 24th, along the Mississippi River above New Orleans, families gather around massive bonfires–some shaped as log cabins or animals–to light the way for Santa Claus or Papa Noel. It’s a holiday tradition that goes back to colonial times along what is now called the Côte des Allemands, the German Coast. I caught up with CJ and his young son CJ Jr. who were tending to a big bonfire on the levee in Lutcher, LA.

When you think about music in New Orleans, you probably think of jazz or blues, or maybe funk and bounce. Christmas carols? Not so much. But many musicians in New Orleans have deep roots in the church.

Margaret Dauphin, the mother one of the victims killed during the 2025 New Year's Day Bourbon Street attack, speaks with the Historic New Orleans Collection about what she'll remember about her son.

Songwriter and singer Joan Shelley prefers to make music in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky rather than the industry centers of Nashville and New York City. She’s recorded a series of well-crafted contemplative albums with guitarist Nathan Salsburg at home in Louisville, at Jeff Tweedy’s Loft in Chicago, and even in Iceland. You’ll find references to rivers, waterways, and oceans in her songs and albums. We began asking her what the Ohio River means to her.

This week we remember the late Raul Malo, who passed away on December 8, 2025. Raul Malo was born in Miami to Cuban parents. In 1989, he started The Mavericks. Named for going against the grain, the Mavericks began in the punk and alternative scene and eventually found great success in country music, incorporating Latin, rockabilly, and pop sounds. By 2000, the group parted ways and Raul Malo pursued a solo career in LA. He joined Los Super Seven with Joe Ely, Freddy Fender, members of Los Lobos, Max Baca, Doug Sahm, and others. In 2012, Malo reunited with the Mavericks, releasing several albums and touring widely. In 2020, they released En Español, an album entirely in Spanish. Making a record like this took Raul many years of listening within and outside his family.

Christmas has come early for fans of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, as organizers released the lineup for the 2026 edition on Thursday (Dec. 11) — a month earlier than usual.

John Mayall and his band the Bluesbreakers pioneered British blues rock, introducing it to a larger audience. They included musicians who went on to join legendary bands like Cream, Fleetwood Mac, and the Rolling Stones. Mayall moved to the states in 1968 and had a discography of 70 studio and live albums. Before he passed in 2024, John called Los Angeles home and his favorite climate for living, but it was in Macclesfield, Cheshire where he first heard the blues.