“I love making people smile. Make ‘em happy. Music can do that for you.”
Education.
Preservation.
Today the Foundation sponsors a Blues Education program, a Blues Music History Project, an annual Blue Carpet Blues Gala, and the annual Baton Rouge Blues Festival.
Baton Rouge, home of the Swamp Blues.
Swamp blues originated in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Swamp blues crossed the Atlantic to Europe, helping to birth the British Invasion as artists like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, The Kinks and Eric Clapton performed music inspired by artists Slim Harpo, Henry Gray and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. Today, legendary south Louisiana musicians like Tabby Thomas and his son Chris Thomas King, Tab Benoit, Larry Garner, Big Luther Kent, Kenny Neal and his brother Lil Ray Neal tour the globe, bringing joy to blues fans everywhere.
Mavis Staples, 2019 BR Blues Festival performer