July 27

Southern Soul and Blues singer Isaac “Big Ike” Martin was born Isaac Martin on July 28, 1949, in Lake Charles, Louisiana. One of his earliest, fondest recollections was of his mother and three aunts w...

Highly respected creole fiddler Creole fiddler Canray Fontenot died on July 29, 1995 after a lengthy battle with lung cancer and diabetes. His family was originally from the Duralde area, where his fa...

Eddie Shuler, renowned pioneering Southwest Louisiana recording engineer, died on July 23, 2005 at the age of 92 at Emory East Side Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia of complications from a recent heart at...

Skipper Lee Frazier, Houston radio disc jockey, record label owner, businessman, and promoter, was born on July 31, 1927 in Magnolia Springs, Texas to James Frazier and Dora Lee Traylor. For over 22 y...

Lucky Philip Dube' (pronounced doo-bay), known to the world as Lucky Dube' was born on August 3, 1964. Lucky Dube was a South African reggae musician. He recorded 22 albums in Zulu, English and Afrika...

Soul singer Louis "Big Lou" Washington Sr was born on Monday, August 4, 1941 in Opelousas, Louisiana. He was the fourth child of Nathan Washington and Stella Moore-Washington. "Big Lou" Washington beg...

Henry Lee Williams, known to the Southern Soul and Blues Nation as Lee "Shot" Williams was born on May 21, 1938 in the small country town of Lexington, Mississippi.He grew up singing in local gospel g...

On October 18, 2007, South African reggae singer, Lucky Dube was killed in the Johannesburg, South Africa suburb of Rosettenville shortly after dropping two of his seven children off at their uncle’s...

The Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Festival, the world’s oldest and first Zydeco Festival, was started on September 4, 1982 on a farmer’s field in the Plaisance community on the outskirts of Opel...

Freddie "Big Roger" Collins, native of Bayou Chicot, Louisiana and Houston Bluesman died on October 2, 2001 at the age of 66."Big Roger" Collins hosted a blues show on KPFT in Houston, and organized "...

Bo Diddley’s “Pretty Thing” becomes a Top Forty hit in January 1956. One of Bo Diddley’s best-known songs, “Pretty Thing,” inspired a British band to name itself the Pretty Things.

Gerald Dunnaway, drummer for the Zydeco Boneshakers, was born on January 16, 1958 in Lake Charles, Louisiana.