Dusky Waters, co-founder of the Black Americana Festival along with fellow musician Teena May
Mothers of intention: The Black Americana Festival
Interview by Paul Oswell
Musicians Dusky Waters and Teena May produced last year's inaugural Black Americana Festival. We talked to Dusky about this weekend's gala fundraiser, which aims to make this September's festival an even bigger celebration.
Out All Day: Hi Dusky, how's things in your world right now?
Dusky Waters: They’re good! You know, just coming off of a very busy festival season. I performed on the first Friday of Jazz Fest, so that was really fun, and I had a bunch of people in town. Yeah, so, pretty amazing!
Last time we spoke, you were gearing up for the inaugural Black Americana Festival. Remind us what the motivations and concepts for the festival were.
So it was just over one day, September 28th, last year. We were blown away by the response! I co-founded it with Teena May, another Black Americana artist in New Orleans. Our initial concept was to celebrate what's happening in the city around black American music. I mean, for us, this is about reclaiming our own legacy and history, and ensuring that we're telling stories that are often silenced or written out of the narratives around how Americana and country and folk music came to be. In particular, we wanted to ensure that we were telling the true stories of the contributions of black artists historically, but also providing opportunities and platforms for contemporary black artists who are making music in this genre where it's often very hard to get a foothold or any sort of opportunity. You’re often seen as an “outsider” even when we know that we're not outsiders. We've always been here. We've always belonged in these traditions.
It seemed to be a huge success, but tell me how you felt it went!
Well, we initially thought this is gonna be small. Like, we're gonna have this at a coffee shop and just gonna have our friends! And then in a beautiful way, it just snowballed into a whole festival, and it was extremely successful. We hit the capacity of the Broadside Theatre, and ended up having their single highest performing day on record. Just a really big community response. And so we realized that people are interested, we're doing something, and we're so glad that our community feels as excited as we do.
You really tapped into something.
Exactly! And so since then, we've been hard at work, turning what was a project into an entity that can support and sustain this festival for years to come. We are very excited to return with our second festival this late September (26th and 27th), again, at the Broadside, an expansion of one day into two. We are also expanding the footprint of the festival. We're building a stage in the Broadside parking lot, taking over the entire campus!
You have a fundraiser for the festival coming up this Friday at the BK Historic House and Gardens. Why did you choose that venue?
A couple of reasons. One, I just sort of have a special relationship with them. Their director of of programming is this amazing black scholar named Nia DeCoux. She’s gone to the BK House and started revamping the programming. You know, it's a historic home in the French Quarter and there were definitely enslaved folks that worked and lived there. But I think that the house has a really spiritual feel and Nia is doing great work to tell those stories and to ensure that the legacy of enslavement is told in an uplifting and equitable way. And so I just love the work that’s going on. They've hosted other really cool educational and musical events at the venue over the past year. And secondly, it felt like a good space for us and it's just beautiful.
What can people expect on the day?
We were thinking about how we continue our mission around uncovered stories and uplifting voices, particularly because we do a lot of work around inclusivity with women songwriters. It's Mother's Day, so let's talk about the mothers of Black Americana. It's a good time to honor those people who helped create opportunities. Like, someone who opened doors for me as an artist when I just moved here was Lily Lewis. So, Lily is performing along with Charmaine Neville - another powerhouse performer and someone who has been active in our scene and community for a long time, and also Amethyst Star.
It sounds like an amazing evening! Let’s end by talking about what's happened for you personally as an artist since last year’s festival.
I think I'm just always sort of trying to keep telling my stories as an artist. The work with Black Americana Fest is deeply connected to that. I'm writing a new album, and it's very much connected to the stories and lessons that are coming up again for us as a society. I’m also thinking about some family stories. So, you know, I just feel like the work of Black Americana Fest helps me connect even more deeply to those themes. But it’s been a year of growth. We played Folk Alliance International Montreal this past February, and we were invited back to Jazz Fest and French Quarter Fest. We have some new representation, so hopefully we're going to be out on the road. But I’m just continuing to make music and stay on the sound and push myself as an artist. But it's been a great year for Dusky Waters and the Black Americana Fest!
The Mothers of Americana Gala takes place at The Historic BK House & Gardens this Friday, 7pm-10pm. For more information and ticketing CLICK HERE.
Interview by Paul Oswell
Musicians Dusky Waters and Teena May produced last year's inaugural Black Americana Festival. We talked to Dusky about this weekend's gala fundraiser, which aims to make this September's festival an even bigger celebration.
Out All Day: Hi Dusky, how's things in your world right now?
Dusky Waters: They’re good! You know, just coming off of a very busy festival season. I performed on the first Friday of Jazz Fest, so that was really fun, and I had a bunch of people in town. Yeah, so, pretty amazing!
Last time we spoke, you were gearing up for the inaugural Black Americana Festival. Remind us what the motivations and concepts for the festival were.
So it was just over one day, September 28th, last year. We were blown away by the response! I co-founded it with Teena May, another Black Americana artist in New Orleans. Our initial concept was to celebrate what's happening in the city around black American music. I mean, for us, this is about reclaiming our own legacy and history, and ensuring that we're telling stories that are often silenced or written out of the narratives around how Americana and country and folk music came to be. In particular, we wanted to ensure that we were telling the true stories of the contributions of black artists historically, but also providing opportunities and platforms for contemporary black artists who are making music in this genre where it's often very hard to get a foothold or any sort of opportunity. You’re often seen as an “outsider” even when we know that we're not outsiders. We've always been here. We've always belonged in these traditions.
It seemed to be a huge success, but tell me how you felt it went!
Well, we initially thought this is gonna be small. Like, we're gonna have this at a coffee shop and just gonna have our friends! And then in a beautiful way, it just snowballed into a whole festival, and it was extremely successful. We hit the capacity of the Broadside Theatre, and ended up having their single highest performing day on record. Just a really big community response. And so we realized that people are interested, we're doing something, and we're so glad that our community feels as excited as we do.
You really tapped into something.
Exactly! And so since then, we've been hard at work, turning what was a project into an entity that can support and sustain this festival for years to come. We are very excited to return with our second festival this late September (26th and 27th), again, at the Broadside, an expansion of one day into two. We are also expanding the footprint of the festival. We're building a stage in the Broadside parking lot, taking over the entire campus!
You have a fundraiser for the festival coming up this Friday at the BK Historic House and Gardens. Why did you choose that venue?
A couple of reasons. One, I just sort of have a special relationship with them. Their director of of programming is this amazing black scholar named Nia DeCoux. She’s gone to the BK House and started revamping the programming. You know, it's a historic home in the French Quarter and there were definitely enslaved folks that worked and lived there. But I think that the house has a really spiritual feel and Nia is doing great work to tell those stories and to ensure that the legacy of enslavement is told in an uplifting and equitable way. And so I just love the work that’s going on. They've hosted other really cool educational and musical events at the venue over the past year. And secondly, it felt like a good space for us and it's just beautiful.
What can people expect on the day?
We were thinking about how we continue our mission around uncovered stories and uplifting voices, particularly because we do a lot of work around inclusivity with women songwriters. It's Mother's Day, so let's talk about the mothers of Black Americana. It's a good time to honor those people who helped create opportunities. Like, someone who opened doors for me as an artist when I just moved here was Lily Lewis. So, Lily is performing along with Charmaine Neville - another powerhouse performer and someone who has been active in our scene and community for a long time, and also Amethyst Star.
It sounds like an amazing evening! Let’s end by talking about what's happened for you personally as an artist since last year’s festival.
I think I'm just always sort of trying to keep telling my stories as an artist. The work with Black Americana Fest is deeply connected to that. I'm writing a new album, and it's very much connected to the stories and lessons that are coming up again for us as a society. I’m also thinking about some family stories. So, you know, I just feel like the work of Black Americana Fest helps me connect even more deeply to those themes. But it’s been a year of growth. We played Folk Alliance International Montreal this past February, and we were invited back to Jazz Fest and French Quarter Fest. We have some new representation, so hopefully we're going to be out on the road. But I’m just continuing to make music and stay on the sound and push myself as an artist. But it's been a great year for Dusky Waters and the Black Americana Fest!
The Mothers of Americana Gala takes place at The Historic BK House & Gardens this Friday, 7pm-10pm. For more information and ticketing CLICK HERE.
