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Category: Louisiana

A group of women dancing outside a Buddhist temple

AFC’s Community Collections Grants: Documenting Lao New Year in Iberia Parish, Louisiana

Posted by: Michelle Stefano

Below is an excerpt of a guest post on the Library’s Of the People blog comprised of notes, observations, and an interview by Sami Haggood (Project Assistant Director) with Phanat Xanamane (Project Director) on their project, the Louisiana Lao New Year Archive, as part of a blog series featuring the 2022 awardees of the AFC’s Community …

Two men seated, one playing guitar, the other playing fiddle.

“No One Can Ever Forget It”: Stavin’ Chain’s Performance of “Batson”

Posted by: Stephen Winick

Note: This is the second in a series of posts about the murder ballad “Batson.” This one discusses the performance recorded by John A. and Alan Lomax from a trio of musicians including Wilson Jones, a.k.a. Stavin’ Chain, in 1934. A little while back, I presented for the first time anywhere a version of the …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

The Battle of New Orleans Bicentennial

Posted by: Stephen Winick

When I woke up this morning, my Facebook feed was full of pictures of people dressed in colorful uniforms that naval or military units wore 200 years ago.  Many of these pictures are of personal friends, who have made their way from the cold snowy north down to New Orleans and are now dressed up …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Guess Who’s Turning 100?

Posted by: Stephen Winick

Whether you’ve been a follower of Folklife Today from the outset, or you’ve only recently joined us, we’d like you to help us celebrate a milestone: this is our 100th post! And what better way to mark that point on our journey than to announce a centennial celebration? So I’m pleased to announce AFC’s 2015 …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

The Lomaxes’ 1934 French Louisiana Recordings Go Online

Posted by: Stephen Winick

The following is a guest post by Joshua Caffery, who was the John W. Kluge Center’s Alan Lomax Fellow until April 2014.  Caffery is a scholar of vernacular traditions in Louisiana, as well as an archivist and a musician. He is the author of Traditional Music in Coastal Louisiana: The 1934 Lomax Recordings, and the …