Category: Music

After 3 years of neglecting music, Governor Blanco finally appointed 15 people to serve on the Louisiana Music Commission, see the list here. Within a week, the governor then announced that she was not running for re-election. Thus, the new LMC has less than a year to somehow re-start, re-staff, relocate and (presumably) craft legislation to fix what the current administration has broken. Good luck.

The first meeting is scheduled for April 26 at 1:30PM in the Hainkel room in the basement of the Capitol (I had a hard time finding this out despite the fact that the LMC is subject to the state’s Sunshine Laws requiring public notice of meetings), at a time when at least 6 of the new members will find it difficult to attend, that week being the start of the state’s 2 biggest music events, Festival International and the N.O. Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Among many questions that should be raised are: what is the LMC budget? What is the status of the LMC files, plans and reports? Why did the current administration abandon the LMC website and allow the domain name to be lost? Why is there no LMC office in the New Orleans area, as decreed by law? How can the current LMC be effective if their tenure likely will be a year or less? There are more questions and I’m sure some of the new members will have plenty to both ask and say. I plan to be there.

So, considering the governor appointed 2 members who spent 14 years undermining the work of the LMC, and Lynn Ourso, who titles himself Director despite Louisiana law which indicates that he is not legally holding the position, I wonder what this group can and will do. And it will be equally fascinating to see how these particular members assert themselves. If the past is any indication, these 2 members are sure to say and do something interesting, if not outrageous.

I will don my armor, attend the meeting and return here to tell the story.

For those of you who care enough to read some of the missing reports and plans, here are a few good documents that I saved. I greatly appreciate any feedback and/or time you spend reviewing these detailed papers.

LMC Summary Report 1992-2003

LMC Strategic Plan 1998-2003

LMC 1992-2003 Comprehensive Report

As Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and her administrative leaders head into the final year of her first term, music continues to languish.

When the Blanco admininstration assumed power three years ago, you could hear the air hissing out of the Louisiana Music Commission (LMC) as it’s funding shrank with each new fiscal budget. Now, nearly a year after the end of the unprecedented 14 year run of Chairman Ellis L. Marsalis Jr., whose impeccable leadership was tapped by 3 governors, Governor Blanco still has not made appointments to the board.

According to the website of the Louisiana Department of Economic Development (LDED), Lynn Ourso, who held the job of Executive Director more than twenty years ago, has again assumed the position. However, since state statutes that create the LMC clearly note only the board hires (and fires) the director, how can Ourso legally hold the job? LA R.S. 25:315 also states, “The Louisiana Music Commission is hereby created within the Department of Economic Development and shall be domiciled in the greater New Orleans area.” Ourso works out of the offices of LDED in Baton Rouge.

The Blanco administration began dropping the ball with the LMC long before the tragic flooding and devastation of the storms of 2005. What hurts now is how state and local government continues to miss the enormous opportunity caused by the worldwide outpouring of support and assistance for music in Louisiana. Fortunately for musicians, private sector institutions are doing an amazing job.

Like tens of thousands of people, I lost my belongings to the flood, including 3 guitars, 3 amps, a piano and decades of personal musical history. I feel blessed to have received assistance from NARAS/Music Rising, which helped me replace some of the instruments I lost.

Thousands of musicians like me are being helped by private organizations. Nevertheless, there was and is a role for state and local government. Via the LMC, the state should be providing resources, information, coordination and LEADERSHIP. It hasn’t happened.

The Blanco Administration, and LDED Secretary Mike Olivier, acting on bad advice from power-hungry people with strong conflicts of interest, crippled then dismantled the LMC. Now there is no strategic plan to restore, renew and rebuild music in Louisiana. As this administration heads into an election year, will music continue to be mishandled?

The Blanco administration’s plan for music is clearly overdue. And if current polls hold true through election day, it might be too late for them to take effective action.

Is LA R.S. 25:315 no longer a binding statute? It would be nice to hear a legal opinion on the matter.

Peace on Earth and Happy Holidays to All!

In case you didn’t know, I worked at the Louisiana Music Commission from 1992 to 2005. I was Assistant Director from 1994-2005. It was an amazing time to be involved in both Louisiana music and technology. We started our website in August 1997 and I was the webmaster. We were the first state agency to post our strategic plan online and worked to provide public access to all our written documents, reports, plans and other useful data. We also provided news, information and links to tons of data, cool sites and historical archives. When the folks at the Louisiana Department of Economic Development decided to get rid of me in May 2005, they didn’t bother to interview me or otherwise allow me to assist them in transitioning the office. Thus, all the LMC computers and data were essentially thrown out.

Three years of dutifully entered music by Louisiana artists was tossed. 14 years of contacts, information and data was disposed of via the state’s surplus property system. Nobody in charge cared about the information. Nobody in charge cared about the work. And today, apparently nobody in charge of state government cares much about music.

During our tenure at the LMC, we spent 10 years working to eliminate the Amusement Tax on live music in New Orleans and succeeded. We strove to pass legislation that would solve problems and stimulate the industry. One of those laws invloved how workers compensation is paid. The state’s main workers comp agency, LWCC, without warning started telling live music clubs that they had to pay workers comp on the musicians and bands that played their clubs. Since the vast majority of clubs hire musicians on an irregular basis, they did not need to pay into this system. Liability insurance adequately covers whatever might happen to a band in the case of accidents. Workers comp is for regular employees, not irregular contractors.

It took a couple of years, but we finally amended state law to clarify how workers comp was to be paid by music venues. And the LMC website provided links to the law in case anyone questioned it. But, today, there is no LMC website and no link to the law. Which is sad because LWCC is again trying to hit struggling clubs with fees for musicians. And it’s going to cause music clubs to close. Thanks to the boneheads at the Louisiana Department of Economic Development, ready access to the needed information is gone and nobody at LDED knows a damn thing about this law.

I’m pissed. These idiots threw out 8 years of archives on the web. 8 years of news of passings, of events, of issues, of Louisiana’s music history. And now the people who orchestrated the elimination of my job and of the work Ellis Marsalis, Bernie Cyrus and our staff aren’t even there to pick up the pieces.

It’s shameful that Governor Blanco, Lt. Gov. Landrieu and LDED Secretary Olivier have allowed this to happen. And it’s a shame that offBeat and other music and news publications didn’t delve deeper into the demise of the LMC.

I don’t intend to sit idly by any longer.