DUSKY WATERS AND THE BLACK AMERICANA FESTIVAL 2025, NEW ORLEANS: INTERVIEW
Dusky Waters and the Black Americana Festival. Right: Sunny War
BLACK AMERICANA FESTIVAL 2025: AN INTERVIEW WITH DUSKY WATERS
Dusky Waters is a musician from New Orleans, and one of the founders of the Black Americana Festival. 2024's inaugural, one-day event went so well that the second iteration has expanded into a two-day event, taking place this week at The Broadside, on Friday Sept 26th and Saturday Sept 27th. We stole a few minutes' of Dusky's very precious time as she finalizes preparation for 2025's big event.
Out All Day: Hi Dusky, I’m sure you’re having a busy week! Thanks for taking time out to chat - how is the preparation going?
Dusty Waters: It's going pretty smooth so far, especially considering that this year is a pretty big expansion for us! I have most of the ducks in a row!
It's about a year since I spoke to you in the run up to last year's festival. How's your year been, musically?
My year's been good. After the festival last year, I released a new song, House on King Street. I went on tour with my band, and then we had a really busy festival season last spring. Also, as a part of the festival-related activities, I curated and produced a songwriter series at Snug Harbor this summer called Southern Nights. So it's been a very full year.
After the panoramic success of last year's inaugural festival, what were your immediate ideas on how to expand it?
I think we were really excited and a little surprised, even at the response there was to the first festival. We had 1,500 people come out, which was amazing! We weren't sure how many people would show up, so we definitely felt like there was some genuinely good energy around the conversations that we're having. We knew that we wanted to expand the educational pieces, like our Roots of Rhythm panel series, but also a lot of artists reached out, saying that they didn’t know this existed and that they wanted to play. So we immediately knew that we had to get bigger and accommodate more people!
I was going to ask about those artists. It's a much bigger bill this year. Is it out of town people or people from the city; what's the mix this year?
Our goal is to always stay 80/20 per cent local to national acts, and I think we're doing a pretty good job with that. So we've got some national headliners coming in, and a huge roster of incredible local talent. It’s definitely still a local festival.
Tell me a bit more about the events happening around the music, because I know you have plenty going on as well as the performing artists.
Yes, we have the Roots of Rhythm panel series on Friday. There's a conversation between poet laureate Mona Lisa Saloy, Don Flemons and Sunny War. It's called ‘What We Carry’ and it’s about their journeys as artists in their traditions. Then on Saturday, our educational focus for this year is the Chitlin Circuit. We'll be hosting a panel facilitated by Bruce Sunpie Barnes, in conversation with the owners of historic black venues such as the Dewdrop Inn, and talking about what it means to tour as black artists then and now. Thinking about how the Chitlin Circuit shaped Americana and the stories and lessons that we want to carry forward that are still really relevant today.
All of that sounds amazing! I actually want to ask you if you learned any lessons from doing the festival last year, or indeed if there were any surprises?
I'm learning lessons every day, to be honest with you (laughs)! I think there's so much that goes on behind the scenes in organizing an event like this. It makes me feel really appreciative and grateful to live in a city that puts on so many amazing festivals. There are so many moving parts. I think we've learned a lot about what our vision for programming is. So we have our panels, we have the music, but there's also a really strong folk art component. There's a visual arts gallery that's really important to us. So we're starting to learn and solidify as we grow, and work out what our special sauce is as a festival. This year, we became a nonprofit, so we just learned all the things about running that. There's a steep curve there, the less exciting things behind the scenes but things that matter.
You’re back at the Broadside. It’s obviously a venue that works for you. What do you like so much about it?
Yes, they’re amazing. There's the gorgeous outdoor stage, and there's the indoor pavilion. So we loved it because we already had two stages built in. The Broadside supports a ton of community efforts. I feel like they're becoming the home of a lot of community festivals, which is really cool, and they're just awesome people to work with. Because they own the Broad Theatre as well, on Saturday, we're flipping the biggest theater into a stage, which I am really excited about. It actually was kind of a happy accident. We thought that everyone has been through a lot this year, and we were figuring out a way to offer more music, but maybe scale it back a little bit. And so we pitched this idea of flipping the theater space into a stage! So I'm really excited to see how that goes. I think it's gonna be really fun, and it makes me excited for the future.
So let’s just say I'm a local who missed last year's festival, and I’m thinking about maybe coming to this year's. Tip me over the edge and tell me what I'm going to miss out on if I don't get a ticket!
OK! The Black Americana Festival is extremely joyful. It’s a day of community. I had it described to me last year as a warm hug. So if you want to come and have a great time, but also just feel very much surrounded by love, that's what our festival is. You'll see and hear amazing musicians, and hopefully, you'll learn something new about the history of these art forms and the people creating right now. Maybe it will challenge something that you thought you knew. Maybe you'll go home and feel a little bit different and tell someone something that you learned at the festival. Oh, one more thing: this is a Friday and Saturday festival, not a Saturday and Sunday event!
That’s perfect, Dusky! Thanks again and have a wonderful festival this year!
The Black Americana Festival 2025 takes place this week at The Broadside, with full programs on Friday Sept 26th and Saturday Sept 27th. Click here for more details, line ups and ticketing information.
MIA BORDERS: THE MUSIC THAT MADE ME
NEW MUSIC RELEASED IN NEW ORLEANS, REVIEWED: SEPTEMBER 2025
Out All Day: Hi Dusky, I’m sure you’re having a busy week! Thanks for taking time out to chat - how is the preparation going?
Dusty Waters: It's going pretty smooth so far, especially considering that this year is a pretty big expansion for us! I have most of the ducks in a row!
It's about a year since I spoke to you in the run up to last year's festival. How's your year been, musically?
My year's been good. After the festival last year, I released a new song, House on King Street. I went on tour with my band, and then we had a really busy festival season last spring. Also, as a part of the festival-related activities, I curated and produced a songwriter series at Snug Harbor this summer called Southern Nights. So it's been a very full year.
After the panoramic success of last year's inaugural festival, what were your immediate ideas on how to expand it?
I think we were really excited and a little surprised, even at the response there was to the first festival. We had 1,500 people come out, which was amazing! We weren't sure how many people would show up, so we definitely felt like there was some genuinely good energy around the conversations that we're having. We knew that we wanted to expand the educational pieces, like our Roots of Rhythm panel series, but also a lot of artists reached out, saying that they didn’t know this existed and that they wanted to play. So we immediately knew that we had to get bigger and accommodate more people!
I was going to ask about those artists. It's a much bigger bill this year. Is it out of town people or people from the city; what's the mix this year?
Our goal is to always stay 80/20 per cent local to national acts, and I think we're doing a pretty good job with that. So we've got some national headliners coming in, and a huge roster of incredible local talent. It’s definitely still a local festival.
Tell me a bit more about the events happening around the music, because I know you have plenty going on as well as the performing artists.
Yes, we have the Roots of Rhythm panel series on Friday. There's a conversation between poet laureate Mona Lisa Saloy, Don Flemons and Sunny War. It's called ‘What We Carry’ and it’s about their journeys as artists in their traditions. Then on Saturday, our educational focus for this year is the Chitlin Circuit. We'll be hosting a panel facilitated by Bruce Sunpie Barnes, in conversation with the owners of historic black venues such as the Dewdrop Inn, and talking about what it means to tour as black artists then and now. Thinking about how the Chitlin Circuit shaped Americana and the stories and lessons that we want to carry forward that are still really relevant today.
All of that sounds amazing! I actually want to ask you if you learned any lessons from doing the festival last year, or indeed if there were any surprises?
I'm learning lessons every day, to be honest with you (laughs)! I think there's so much that goes on behind the scenes in organizing an event like this. It makes me feel really appreciative and grateful to live in a city that puts on so many amazing festivals. There are so many moving parts. I think we've learned a lot about what our vision for programming is. So we have our panels, we have the music, but there's also a really strong folk art component. There's a visual arts gallery that's really important to us. So we're starting to learn and solidify as we grow, and work out what our special sauce is as a festival. This year, we became a nonprofit, so we just learned all the things about running that. There's a steep curve there, the less exciting things behind the scenes but things that matter.
You’re back at the Broadside. It’s obviously a venue that works for you. What do you like so much about it?
Yes, they’re amazing. There's the gorgeous outdoor stage, and there's the indoor pavilion. So we loved it because we already had two stages built in. The Broadside supports a ton of community efforts. I feel like they're becoming the home of a lot of community festivals, which is really cool, and they're just awesome people to work with. Because they own the Broad Theatre as well, on Saturday, we're flipping the biggest theater into a stage, which I am really excited about. It actually was kind of a happy accident. We thought that everyone has been through a lot this year, and we were figuring out a way to offer more music, but maybe scale it back a little bit. And so we pitched this idea of flipping the theater space into a stage! So I'm really excited to see how that goes. I think it's gonna be really fun, and it makes me excited for the future.
So let’s just say I'm a local who missed last year's festival, and I’m thinking about maybe coming to this year's. Tip me over the edge and tell me what I'm going to miss out on if I don't get a ticket!
OK! The Black Americana Festival is extremely joyful. It’s a day of community. I had it described to me last year as a warm hug. So if you want to come and have a great time, but also just feel very much surrounded by love, that's what our festival is. You'll see and hear amazing musicians, and hopefully, you'll learn something new about the history of these art forms and the people creating right now. Maybe it will challenge something that you thought you knew. Maybe you'll go home and feel a little bit different and tell someone something that you learned at the festival. Oh, one more thing: this is a Friday and Saturday festival, not a Saturday and Sunday event!
That’s perfect, Dusky! Thanks again and have a wonderful festival this year!
The Black Americana Festival 2025 takes place this week at The Broadside, with full programs on Friday Sept 26th and Saturday Sept 27th. Click here for more details, line ups and ticketing information.
MIA BORDERS: THE MUSIC THAT MADE ME
NEW MUSIC RELEASED IN NEW ORLEANS, REVIEWED: SEPTEMBER 2025