Sounds of the states

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Wendell Brunious on:

New Orleans jazz

“New Orleans was once one of the world’s busiest port cities, attracting people from countries such as France, Spain, Italy, the Philippines, Cuba and Mexico. Enslaved peoples from Africa were also brought here. And out of that variegated culture, jazz was born. It was influenced by classical and march music from Europe, and then later combined with African rhythms.

Blues, gospel, society music, African beats, marching music and ragtime are ever-present too. New Orleans’ music scene reflects the soul of its people and its ancestors.

Louis Armstrong (aka Satchmo) put jazz on the world stage, and we honour him everywhere here – there’s even a bronze statue of him in Louis Armstrong Park. There’s also the Satchmo Summer Fest at the New Orleans Jazz Museum every year in early August. The Jazz Museum is a special place, and we have such a rich history of music that its exhibitions change constantly.

Preservation Hall, in a historic French Quarter building, is the greatest place for live jazz. We play up front and there’s no ‘stage’ per se; it’s meant to be an intimate and collective gathering celebrating jazz. I would also pay a visit to The Palm Court Jazz Café (French Quarter) and Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro (Faubourg Marigny). Then take a walk down Bourbon Street or Frenchmen Street, or visit Jackson Square. It’s difficult to hear bad music in New Orleans!”

Wendell Brunious is a jazz trumpeter and the musical director at Preservation Hall, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Zia McCabe on:

Rebels and rockers in Portland, Oregon

“What really makes Portland’s music scene unique is that it’s heavily DIY. My family was part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804. It wasn’t easy for them to get to the Pacific Northwest; the people who made it here were rugged individualists. That mentality remains today. We’re all just a bunch of pirates and adventurers; except now, we’re making music instead of exploring the world.

The identity of this town comes from these renegade artists, and the music you’ll hear is so eclectic. In terms of the venues I frequent, there’s Lollipop Shoppe, where you’ll find outsider music and heavy metal. There could even be a square-dancing night. Laurelthirst Pub is the first place that I played with The Dandy Warhols; it’s a tiny bar geared towards alt-country. Mississippi Studios and the Alberta Street Pub are other great options. Then there are places like Bunk Bar – a sandwich shop by day that has great shows at night.

Pickathon, just outside town, is one of the coolest festivals in the world: you camp up in the woods and DJs play vinyl sets in between the bands performing. It’s zero waste, too. We’ve also got amazing record stores here – vinyl is alive and well. Music Millennium is the king of them all, then you have smaller ones like Jump Jump Music, which is mostly soul records.”

Musician and Oregon native Zia McCabe plays keyboard for alt-rock band The Dandy Warhols.

Eric Magnuson on:

Seattle’s grunge scene

“Seattle has always rocked. Grunge is a hybrid of clever songwriting and the many styles of rock ’n’ roll present in Seattle in the mid-1980s – heavy metal, garage rock, noise. But the influences of this region go back further than grunge. Seattle had a big jazz-era post-Second World War, when musicians like Ray Charles came here to cut their teeth. The isolation of the Pacific Northwest (where big tours seldom came) gave these musicians room to experiment on their own.

Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain is beyond iconic. He’s the Pacific Northwest’s Elvis. Jimi Hendrix is also essential. Other musicians who found their way in Seattle include Chris Cornell, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson, and Stone Gossard and Mike McCready from Pearl Jam – the list could go on.

My tours typically start at the historic Moore Theatre and finish at KEXP’s Gathering Space (KEXP was the first radio station to air a Nirvana song). We also visit former clubs like The Vogue, where Nirvana played their first major Seattle show.

Another institution I respect is MoPOP (Museum of Pop Culture), housed in a Frank Gehry-designed building. It functions as the quintessential archive for Pacific Northwest music history, and it has a long-standing and excellent Nirvana exhibit.

Seattle is one of the best cities to see live music, and I gravitate toward venues with deep local connections to this, like The Crocodile in Belltown and Neumos in Capitol Hill.”

Writer Eric Magnuson runs the Seattle Grunge Redux tour in Seattle, Washington.

Kristen Zschomler on:

The Minneapolis sound

“Minneapolis has a rich history of folk, punk, rock and country music, but there’s also a genre known as ‘The Minneapolis Sound’: a blend of R&B, jazz, funk, punk, new wave and rock ’n’ roll. Prince, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Morris Day and André Cymone all contributed to this unique music (which included a heavy reliance on LinnDrum machines and synthesisers). It dominated the airwaves in the 1980s and beyond.

No Minneapolis icon compares to Prince, and the city shaped his life and work. Duluth-born folk troubadour Bob Dylan also remained connected to Minnesota by re-recording songs at the Sound 80 Studio in Minneapolis’ Seward neighbourhood (where SoundAround offers tours).

Minneapolis has some of the best live venues in the world, including First Avenue, which is housed in a former Greyhound bus depot. Prince made it iconic when he featured it in his 1984 film Purple Rain – his famous ballad of the same name was also recorded live inside these walls.

The Dakota club is the place for jazz, soul, R&B and blues musicians. The Armory (housed in an armoury built in 1936) has been headlined by Jack White and Lizzo (a Prince protégé).
SoundAround Tours focus on places associated with Prince, Minneapolis Sound artists and the downtown music scene. You can download a geo-location-based app that’ll direct you to the sites, then audio files will tell you their stories.”

Kristen Zschomler is a historian and guide who co-founded SoundAround Tours and the International Centre 4 Prince Studies.

Lori Branch on:

Raising the roof
in Chicago

“In Chicago, we think of ‘house’ as both a culture and a genre, but it’s fundamentally a kind of electronic music. The term ‘house’ comes from Warehouse, a Chicago club that was popular in the late 1970s and ’80s, where resident DJ Frankie Knuckles was a pioneer of the genre. An old record store in the city called Importes, Etc started its own ‘Warehouse’ section and it grew from there.

Today, house music is thriving in the city, and we have a tonne of spots to experience it any night of the week. One great place is Smartbar, which has been around since the early ’80s. You can expect total immersion and total joy – you’ll go in and be swallowed up by the music.

We have a floating exhibition – Chicago: Home of House – that explores the history of the genre and is opening at Navy Pier on Memorial Day weekend in May this year. There’ll also be special shows and events to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first house record (Jesse Saunders’ ‘On & On’).

The Chosen Few festival happens in summertime at Jackson Park on the South Side. If you want to just walk around and learn about house music, it’s the perfect place to be. Plus, there’s also Chicago House Music Festival at Millennium Park in June.”

DJ Lori Branch is a long-serving house DJ in Chicago, Illinois, who also hosts the Vintage House radio show on WNUR.

Cristina Balli on:

Conjunto in San Antonio

“A lot of Mexican-Americans like to say that we didn’t cross the border; the border crossed us. In South Texas, Mexican Americans have lived a history of oppression, including persecution by the Texas Rangers in the early 20th century, and conjunto music is intertwined with that history. It’s part of America’s story.

Conjunto music is a hybrid of European and Indigenous Mexican rhythms and sounds. The Germans, Czechs and Poles brought the accordion to Texas, along with rhythms and dances like the polka, schottische, redowa and waltz. Mexicans who were living here quickly picked these up and combined them with their own music.

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center is one of the largest Latino arts organisations in the country. We have a Chicano fine art gallery, a Latino bookstore, and we also host the Annual Tejano Conjunto Festival in May – three days of music in Rosedale Park. We have special programming and a Conjunto Hall of Fame induction ceremony during that time too. The festival is important because it was the first of its kind to take this music beyond the cantinas and dance halls.

On most weekends you’ll find music at Bosmans on the Southside; it’s the real deal, and it’s been going for years. Check listings at venues like the Thirsty Horse Dance Hall and Saloon, Far West and The Grasshopper Club too.”

Cristina Balli is the executive director of the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Tiana Spotted Thunder on:

Lakota song in
South Dakota

“Our people are expressive in many different ways, and singing is a vital part of our culture. Indigenous Lakota music generally consists of vocables (vocalised sounds without any referential meaning). Our songs portray many emotions: they can praise, honour and uplift somebody or express mourning. We have drum circles and traditional handgame songs too.

I sing back-up vocals for two drum groups you can see live – Showtime and Midnite Express Singers. The Black Hills Pow Wow [in South Dakota] is also open to the public and is always a learning experience for those who have never been.

Many Lakota artists combine traditional musical elements with modern expression. The Oglala Lakota Artspace (an Indigenous-run cultural centre on the Pine Ridge Reservation) is one of the main places that I perform, and I love to sing contemporary music in my own language. Or I’ll often do a set of traditional songs, then save some R&B tracks for the end.

Also look out for Night Shield, a Lakota rapper from the Rosebud Reservation. He plays shows across South Dakota, too.”

Tiana Spotted Thunder is an Oglala Lakota recording artist from the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota.

Jeff Kollath on:

Memphis soul

“Memphis music is rooted in human experience. In the 19th century, enslaved Africans would bring crops from the rural Mississippi Delta to market in Memphis. It was around this time that Beale Street became a hub for Black music.

Memphis soul was born later, in 1957, when the legendary Stax Records opened. This record company was unusual in that it was a white-owned business in a virtually all-Black neighbourhood during a time of segregation. Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes were among the biggest stars to be signed up by Stax.

At Stax Museum of American Soul Music, you’re treading hallowed ground. It’s not the original studio building, but it’s an authentic recreation in the same location. It’s also one of Memphis’ ‘Big Four’ music attractions, which include the Memphis Rock ’n’ Soul Museum, Graceland (longtime home of Elvis Presley) and Sun Studio, where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis all recorded.

Full Gospel Tabernacle Church is another must-visit. This was established by soul singer Al Green, and it’s really the only place you can see him perform now.

In the Cooper-Young neighbourhood, Bar DKDC has some great line-ups. You might see a rare soul DJ set one night and power-pop the next. On Beale Street, Memphis musicians ply their craft every night at the Blues City Café BandBox. And GonerFest in September draws bands from across the world in genres from rock ’n’ roll to R&B.”

Jeff Kollath is the executive director of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, Tennessee.

Sheila Osorio on:

Bomba in
Puerto Rico

“Bomba is an art of self-expression that connects your mind and heart while you’re dancing. Originating from the ‘batey’ (sugar workers’ town), bomba was the only way that slaves could be ‘free’ from their sadness and mistreatment. It is our first rhythm, and it has existed for 400 years. It changes by region, but bomba music is always played with the barrel or drum.

Bomba means fighting and resistance; it’s our ancestral legacy. This folkloric, traditional and Afro-Boricua music has become our people’s and our country’s identity. Listening to the sound of the drums is a call to the spirit. When you dance, you are connecting with your surroundings.

Anyone who visits Puerto Rico can take a bomba workshop in our beachfront space at Puente Herrera in the town of Loiza. The class includes learning the history of bomba, how to use the bomba skirt and practising the five bomba rhythms most commonly played in the batey community.

If you want to just enjoy watching or listening to the music, there are other spaces that promote bomba activities. These include El Boricua in Río Piedras; Plaza de Armas and La Perla in Old San Juan; and El Imán Bar and Restaurant in Piñones.”

Sheila Osorio is the director of Taller de Bomba N’Zambi, which offers education and dance classes in bomba. She hails from Loíza, a cradle of Afro-Puerto Rican heritage.

Alaina Moore on:

Denver’s Red Rocks

“Red Rocks is an incredibly special place. It’s an amphitheatre that has been carved out between huge rock formations and it integrates seamlessly into the landscape just outside Denver. Playing there was as profound a life moment as you would expect. And when you’re in the crowd, there’s this sense of enraptured awe. For my first ever Red Rocks show I saw Björk, and I’ll never forget it.

Every genre of music is being made in Denver right now. A lot of transplants call the city home – and it’s also a college town, so it’s really eclectic. There are plenty of legendary venues on Colfax Avenue, a major artery in the city, including the Fillmore Auditorium, the Ogden Theatre and the Bluebird Theater. They all have great bands. Larimer Lounge (in the River North Art District) is another venue I like; it’s the kind of place where you can meet the artists at the merch table afterwards.

Even the Museum of Contemporary Art has performances – usually a combination of national and local acts. It’s really cool!”

Alaina Moore is one half of husband-and-wife indie-pop duo Tennis, formed in Denver, Colorado.

Ed Bailey on:

Keeping music live in Austin

Whatever kind of music you want to listen to – blues, zydeco, funk, Tejano – there’s a club for it somewhere in this town. We call ourselves the ‘Live Music Capital of the World’.

South Congress neighbourhood is home to The Continental Club – which is a historical landmark – as well as juke-joint C-Boy’s Heart & Soul. In Downtown, you’ve got Antone’s, which has been foundational to the blues scene. You’ve also got places keeping the Texas two-step alive, with The Broken Spoke being the granddaddy of them all. Elsewhere, Mohawk, in the Red River Cultural District, brings in all kinds of bands – Iggy Pop played there once. And Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater is the kind of big venue where you’d see national touring acts.

Another of Austin’s legacies is its singer-songwriter tradition; people like Townes Van Zandt and Jerry Jeff Walker are legendary. There’s a very important club called the Saxon Pub that has open-mic nights giving up-and-coming artists a shot.

Austin City Limits Music Festival takes place downtown in Zilker Park in October. We’ve had Billie Eilish, Al Green, Willie Nelson and local bands like the Black Pumas perform – one of my favourites from last year was Little Simz. We also have a free summer event called Blues on the Green, while the South by Southwest festival in March is another amazing experience.”

Ed Bailey is vice president of brand development at the Austin City Limits TV show and a founder of the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Texas.

Kathy Blackman on:

Rocking Cleveland

“Moondog Coronation Ball is considered the world’s first major rock concert, and it was hosted in Cleveland in 1952. The local WMMS radio station – where a guy named Alan Freed was a DJ – was doing some really cutting-edge stuff, bringing in all sorts of rock acts. Freed coined the term ‘rock and roll’ on the show.

This was the main reason why they chose to have the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame here in Cleveland. It’s got some really cool exhibits, and they just opened one on ‘Revolutionary Women in Music’. There’s also a major expansion going on (to be finished in 2026). Elsewhere in the city, the Boddie Recording Co – our first African American-owned recording studio – just got Cleveland landmark status.

Music clubs anchor our neighbourhoods. We own The Grog Shop in Coventry, which started in 1992. We’re a gritty little club with a lot of heart, and we play all kinds of musical genres: we’ve had everybody from Oasis to Bruno Mars, to Machine Gun Kelly perform here. Then there’s Happy Dog on the West Side – they have great rock and roll – and also No Class, which is an old-school, grungy punk club.

The Agora Theatre has lots of history – it’s in a beautiful restored building – and the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern is great too. The Cleveland Museum of Art also curates an amazing concert series in summer at the Transformer Station.”

Kathy Blackman owns Grog Shop, a 400-seat music venue in Cleveland, Ohio.

Carroll McMahan on:

Tennessee’s country legends

“East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia and Northern Georgia have always been a part of country music history. The mountains here were settled by the Scots-Irish, who brought their ballads and musical instruments from their home countries. There were also influences from gospel and the blues, so it’s a real merging of cultures.

You can’t talk very long about East Tennessee and Sevierville without mentioning Dolly Parton. We’re very proud of her. She grew up in a rural area, but Sevierville was her closest town and The Pines Theater was where she had her first paid performance. Walking tours in downtown Sevierville tell stories of Dolly’s childhood – in fact, we’re working on a new one that’ll include places like the Old Kilpatrick’s Drug Store, where she used to go for hot dogs.

Dollywood is the place to go for Dolly fans. The theme park has rides and attractions, plus there’s lots of live entertainment and seasonal festivals. There’s always live music there, from country and gospel to more contemporary stuff.

Country music is really evolving. Lainey Wilson (originally from Louisiana) is so popular, and so is Kelsea Ballerini out of Knoxville. There are so many live venues beyond Sevierville, too. Knoxville has a load, and Ole Red (inspired by the Blake Shelton song) is a favourite in Gatlinburg. Then, of course, there’s the legendary Nashville and its Bluebird Café, where Taylor Swift was discovered.”

Carroll McMahan is a historian, tour guide and native of Sevierville, Tennessee.

Ku’uipo Kumukahi on:

The power of real Hawaiian music

“The Hawaiian language was banned in 1896, when the US government occupied our nation. The music and poetry of Native Hawaiians is the only thing that kept our language intact. To perpetuate the mele (traditional Hawaiian song) is to take that knowledge and bring it forward.

Instruments introduced to Hawaii include the ukulele from Portugal and guitars from Spain. It’s sometimes hard to find real Hawaiian music on the islands today. But organisations like the Hawaiian Music Perpetuation Society are preserving this culture through events and programming. I work with Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa, where we have the Ho’okela Hawaiian Heritage and Culture Center (which includes hula dance workshops and ukulele lessons). There’s also the free Kilohana Hula Show at Waikīkī Shell Amphitheatre.

The Queen’s Arbor (run by Kai Coffee) is a great place for seasonal performances. You can sit right by the beach, have coffee, watch the waves and hear real Hawaiian music.”

Ku’uipo Kumukahi is an award-winning musician from Hilo, Hawaii. She is also the current president of the Hawaiian Music Perpetuation Society.

Emily Estefan on:

Miami's Cuban Heart

“You can sense the pulse of Cuba in Miami, Florida. You’ll hear Spanish everywhere. And it’s this Latin tradition that makes the city and its music so special. The sound is infectious.

Due to the various hardships Cubans experienced in their own country, many had no choice but to come here – but they continued to exercise their culture. My dad was one of those people who played the accordion just to eat.

Today, Calle Ocho is an amazing street in Miami’s Little Havana neighbourhood. You’ll see people playing dominoes and restaurants serving cafecito (Cuban espresso) and rice and beans. There’s an old Cuban nightclub called Ball & Chain, which is dope. Jazz legends like Chet Baker and Nat King Cole passed through this salsa club – and now you can hear Latin jazz performers and DJ sets. It’s an example of how we want to connect to our roots but grow and explore in different ways.

Outside of Calle Ocho, Lagniappe is a cool wine-and-cheese place in the Wynwood neighbourhood that has great line-ups. The Montreux Jazz Festival was in Miami for the first time this year, and there’s also the GroundUP Music Festival in Miami Beach (February), which has drum circles and acapella by the ocean.”

Emily Estefan was born in Miami Beach, Florida, and is a musician whose styles include jazz and funk. She is the daughter of Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan and musician and producer Emilio Estefan.

Dr G Preston Wilson, Jr on:

Nashville’s Fisk
Jubilee Singers

“The Fisk Jubilee Singers are a student musical group from Fisk University dedicated to the performance and preservation of the African spiritual. Some early spirituals were work songs, used by enslaved peoples as an outlet during harsh labour; others were songs of hope and Christianity.

The African spiritual is important because it’s a mixture of the Western classical canon and the expression and creativity of the Black experience. There would be no other type of expressive music without it – no country, no jazz, no gospel.

Nashville’s Fisk Jubilee Singers were really the world’s first touring pop sensation too – from the 1870s on, they crossed oceans to perform. They’re the reason Nashville is known as ‘Music City’. When Queen Victoria saw them perform, she said they must be from a ‘City of Music’.

To hear a concert, be sure to check out our website. We recently had our solo debut at the Grand Ole Opry and we’ve performed at the Ryman Auditorium and Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

I’d also recommend the National Museum of African American Music, which focuses on the musical contributions of African Americans, from gospel to hip hop. It’s really interactive: you can put on headphones, become a rapper and record a track.”

Dr G Preston Wilson, Jr is director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers in Nashville, Tennessee, and was a member of the group from 2006 to 2010.

Roger Stolle on:

Blues in the
Mississippi Delta

“Field-recordist Alan Lomax called the Mississippi Delta ‘the land where blues began’. This region is as close as you can get to the ‘birthplace’ of this music. Blues is an

African-American artform – survival music that grew out of the cotton fields. There is no rock ’n’ roll without the blues. Elvis grew up dirt poor in Tupelo, where he was no stranger to juke joints.

There are over 200 markers on the Mississippi Blues Trail. Among those I recommend visiting is Dockery Plantation, where early Delta blues legend Charley Patton lived on and off for years. We also have fabulous museums across the state, from the small-but-mighty Highway 61 Blues Museum (Leland) to the multimillion-dollar BB King Museum (Indianola). Artefacts at Clarksdale’s Delta Blues Museum include what’s left of Muddy Waters’ childhood home.

In Clarksdale there are blues shows 365 nights a year at places like Red’s Lounge, Ground Zero Blues Club, Bad Apple Blues Club, Bluesberry Cafe, Hambone Art Gallery, Delta Blues Alley Cafe and Shack Up Inn. Our Juke Joint Festival in April is epic too. Other spots to visit in town are my Cat Head blues store, the Bluestown Music guitar shop, Deak’s harmonica store and the monument to the Robert Johnson’s ‘Crossroads’ mythology.”

Roger Stolle is a writer and producer dedicated to the preservation of the blues. He owns Cat Head Delta Blues and Folk Art in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Chris Joslin on:

Kentucky bluegrass

“Most consider Bill Monroe to be the father of bluegrass music. And the name of his group (the Blue Grass Boys) was intentional. He was saying: ‘I’m from the Bluegrass State of Kentucky.’

Bluegrass is a derivative of early country music, and typically played on acoustic instruments – guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass and fiddle. Its roots are in the rural South. In the early 1900s, in western Kentucky, a community’s two social centres were square dances or the church. There was no television, no radio. Folks like Bill Monroe were playing the music that came naturally to them.

We at the Bluegrass Hall of Fame and Museum tell the story of the genre’s genesis, its journey, and look at today’s artists. A favourite exhibit is our ‘Pickin’ Parlor’, where we have a whole wall of instruments that are meant to be played. Pick up a fiddle and pull the bow across it; take a banjo and strum it. We host ROMP Festival in June, which draws names like Dierks Bentley and Molly Tuttle. There’s also a festival in Lexington called Railbird Festival – it’s got a roots focus and lots of Kentucky artists.

I’d suggest visiting the Bill Monroe Homeplace in Rosine. You can visit his gravesite as well as the Rosine Barn Jamboree – a live concert every Friday night that’s usually got some bluegrass.”

Chris Joslin is the executive director of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky.

John R Preckwinkle III on:

The bird songs of Palm Springs’ Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians

“Bird singing is the retelling of the migration story of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians through song. Traditionally it would take place in the wintertime, during our Nukil ceremony, after a person’s death. With this song, our people would be laid to rest. First, the creation story would be told in a week-long process; then, on the final three nights, the bird song would occur.

It’s the tale of our migration. We were told to leave our homeland by our creator after we killed him, so we went off in search of a new home. According to our stories, we travelled the Earth three times, and this journey took hundreds of years. Upon the third revolution, we arrived at our new home – which was also our first home. Bird songs are sung with a gourd-rattle accompaniment, made from materials found in our canyons.

There are two events in Palm Springs that tourists can attend. The first is the Kewet, a Native American learning day and market in November. Here you can buy traditional handcrafted items such as jewellery – and our songs are showcased throughout the day. The other is called Singing The Birds, which takes place in late January or early February. Both events happen at Palm Springs High School.”

John R Preckwinkle III is a bird singer and member of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, who are based in Palm Springs, California.

Jir Anderson on:

The sounds of New Mexico’s pueblos

“We’re still very tied to our culture in the pueblos of New Mexico: our traditional songs, our ceremonies, our dances. And I was at the centre of that when growing up on the Cochití Pueblo (one of 19 self-governing Tribal towns in New Mexico).

Traditional music in the pueblos is kind of a sacred space. It’s mostly based around seasonal solstices and has ties to the Catholic church in some cases. There are lots of community vocals and there is always some sort of dance correlating to those songs. We ask for blessings and retell our histories. In many songs you’ll find references to places that have been sacred to us since time immemorial. In Cochiti, for example, we started the year off with our buffalo dances.

Some ceremonies are just for Tribal members; others are open to the public. You can check the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center website to find out about events. It’s about interacting with the community, having conversations and just enjoying the experience. Leave your camera in the car.

I’m now based in Albuquerque, and through Native Guitars Tour my mission is to support contemporary Native musicians. We have regular events across the country, including in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Our concerts include displays by Native fashion designers and art vendors from across Indian Country.”

Musician Jir Anderson runs Native Guitars Tour, a collective that nurtures Indigenous American musicians. His own sound is rooted in rock and blues.

Kern Brantley on:

Detroit’s musical legacy

“I grew up in the era when Motown Records was in Detroit, so you could see Smokey Robinson or The Temptations driving around. The music came from the city. Strings and horns from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra were added to R&B and gospel – and that’s what created the Motown sound.

The Motown Museum is amazing. You learn how producer Berry Gordy started Motown with an $800 loan. At the end of the tour, you wind up in the studio where the magic happened. They have the piano that Stevie Wonder played. Martin Luther King recorded his ‘I Have A Dream’ speech on Motown Records too.

Motown left Detroit abruptly – but that’s when this incredible underground hip-hop scene grew. Some of the best rappers in the world, like Eminem and Tee Grizzley, come from Detroit.

Saint Andrew’s Hall is one of the first places Eminem played.
Detroit is still a mix of gospel, jazz, R&B and rock and roll. For jazz, I’d go to Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, one of the USA’s oldest jazz clubs. Techno was created in Detroit, too, and the TV Lounge is a great place for that.

We also have the Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre – a beautiful waterside venue where you can see Canada from the stage.”

Bassist Kern Brantley has served as the musical director for Beyoncé and Mary J Blige, and played alongside Lady Gaga and Aretha Franklin. He’s a musical director at the Motown Museum in Detroit, Michigan.

Corey Ledet on:

Louisiana’s zydeco and Cajun country

“Zydeco is basically like a big pot of gumbo: it’s got about 100 different ingredients. It’s the music of the Black French Creole peoples here in Louisiana, and it’s heavily influenced by the blues, as well as a little jazz, rock ’n’ roll, funk and gospel.

You’ll hear the accordion, the washboard, drums and bass guitar. Some zydeco bands also have a horn set. The fiddle and the triangle are more common in Cajun music, which originated with the Acadian settlers.

In this part of Southern Louisiana, you’re always close to this culture: you hear the Creole language (Kouri-Vini) spoken and the music is on the radio.

There are festivals for anything and everything too – a Rice Festival, Frog Festival, Crawfish Festival, Zydeco Festival – and there’s music at them all. I’d also recommend Buck and Johnny’s restaurant in Breaux Bridge, which has a weekly ‘Zydeco Breakfast’ with music, dancing and a special menu.”

Corey Ledet and His Zydeco Band perform shows across the country. He lives 24km east of Lafayette in Parks, Louisiana.

Jerod Impichcha’achaaha’ Tate on:

Native Oklahoma’s classical arts

“American Indians are known for staying anchored in traditional ways, while being very modern people. Our ancient music and our contemporary music are equally important, and Oklahoma’s Indian Country is saturated with fine art, in all genres.

In Oklahoma City, I often go to the Civic Center to see the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. Together with Canterbury Opera, they will be performing my opera, Shell Shaker – which is sung in the Chickasaw language – later this year (27 Oct).

Also in the city, there’s the University of Central Oklahoma Jazz Lab. It’s a place I love to go to because it has so much diversity. We have events at the First Americans Museum too (a cultural centre dedicated to Oklahoma’s 39 distinct Tribal Nations). During summer, the public can come and hear the youth learn traditional powwow songs.”

Jerod Impichcha’achaaha’ Tate is a Chickasaw classical composer who creates symphonic works based on Indigenous American history and culture. He lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.