Encyclopedia of Louisiana Musicians

Lafayette-resident Gene Tomko, an award-winning journalist, photographer and assiduous researcher with a long track record at Living Blues Magazine and others, has produced an essential addition to the impressively expanding music library of New Orleans and Louisiana. Familiar and unfamiliar artists are comprehensively documented for the benefit of what is now a worldwide audience for a still-vibrant regional music. The book is encyclopedic in nature, impressively encyclopedic in actuality. ~John Broven, author of Record Makers and Breakers

Through meticulous research and fact-checking Gene Tomko has gathered here an unprecedented body of knowledge about Louisiana’s rich musical traditions. Fans and researchers will turn to this volume in the knowledge that they’ll find definitive answers to their questions, and will relish simply reading through the carefully assembled entries. ~Scott Barretta, former editor of Living Blues

Gene Tomko’s comprehensive Encyclopedia of Louisiana Music proves how essential Louisiana’s music has been to the evolution of America’s music. A veteran chronicler of roots music, Tomko has assembled the most comprehensive book of Louisiana music ever created. It’s a must for fans, musicians, writers and scholars. ~John Wirt, author of Huey "Piano" Smith and the Rocking Pneumonia Blues

The major tributaries of Louisiana’s roots music history run deep and wide. As this book shows, they have been explored and defined by individuals of every region—each distinct yet part of the whole. Tomko’s meticulously researched biographical profiles ultimately tell the story, one character at a time, of that greater heritage. ~Roger Wood, author of Texas Zydeco

Louisiana has long merited an encyclopedia devoted to its great musicians. Gene Tomko has assiduously filled this need with his monumental, painstaking documentation of jazz, blues, Cajun/Creole music, zydeco, swamp pop, gospel, R&B, soul/funk, early rock and rockabilly. This goldmine for researchers is an invaluable addition to Louisiana’s musical library. ~Ben Sandmel, former drummer for The Hackberry Ramblers