The Stooges Brass Band has earned their rank as one of the elite brass bands in New Orleans.  The band consistently provides a welcome blast of true New Orleans spirit engaging audiences with their innovative blend of traditional New Orleans brass sounds, contemporary jazz and hip-hop beats.   Emerging onto the scene in 1996, the Stooges Brass Band has gained notoriety as a full-blown musical party immersing the crowd in a cut-loose vibe that is contemporary yet deeply rooted in the culturally rich musical legacy of New Orleans.  The band has shared the stage with: Ozomatli, Black Star (Mos Def & Talib Kweli), Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Shemekia Copeland, Pedrito Martinez Group, Galactic, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Ave, Big Sam's Funky Nation, The Funky Meters, and Jessica Simpson, among others.   The band is undeniably one of the hardest working bands out of New Orleans, and their dedication to their craft has made an impact. The Stooges Brass Band victoriously battled for the title of "Red Bull Street Kings: Best Brass Band" (the subject of the documentary Brass Bands of New Orleans: Red Bull Street Kings). Along with this auspicious title, the band won a recording and mentorship session at the Red Bull Studios in California.  The band also received the award for "Best Contemporary Brass Band 2011" at the Big Easy Music Awards.   The Stooges Brass Band continues to tour performing at venues  and appearing at famed festivals throughout the country such as New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Bonnaroo, South by Southwest, Utah Arts Festival, Discover Jazz, American Folk Festival, High Sierra Music Festival, , Great American Brass Band Festival, and more.  The Stooges Brass Band has also answered the call to serve as cultural ambassadors and were employed by the US Embassy to tour Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.  Other international appearances include the Edinburgh Jazz Festival, the Durham Brass Festival in the UK and Nuits D’Afrique, Tremblant Blues Festival in Canada.   Whether they're second-lining in the back streets of the Crescent City, or performing their spirited stage show, the Stooges Brass Band delivers an authentic New Orleans celebration.

Billboard Top 20 Recording Artist, Water Seed is a progressive innovative band that dares to bring musicianship, dexterity and creativity to Funk, Soul, R&B, Fusion, and Future Funk.   Spearheading the progressive R&B movement, Water Seed is reminiscent of the funkier side of the R&B genre. Mixing the sounds of James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, Prince and Earth Wind and Fire, Water Seed captures a modern sound that bridges the musical gap a la Bruno Mars, Mark Ronson and Childish Gambino.   Their ever-growing resume includes multiple performances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, two performances at the New Orleans Essence Festival, the Richmond Jazz Festival, the Flood City Music Festival, a three month residency in Russia, the Dogwood Music Festival, headliner at the Apollo Theater (sold out show), the Civic Theater in New Orleans, Tipitina’s in New Orleans, the BAM Cafe in Brooklyn, Nyc, Martyr’s in Chicago,The Mint in Los Angeles, The Legendary Bitter End in New York, and countless other venues and festivals throughout the world.

For the past four years Erica was the featured lead singer for Galactic. Soul singer and songwriter Erica Falls credits her unique vintage sound to her childhood growing up in New Orleans’ 9th Ward, where her parents introduced her to Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughn, and Whitney Houston.  Whether on stage or in the studio, she channels a sassy, soulful tone that recalls an earlier era.  But Erica cautions her fans: “Vintage soul is not about bringing the listener back to a time of authentic music, it’s about reminding them that it never went anywhere,” she says.  Erica’s debut 2011 album, Me, Myself & Music, showcased her singing, arranging, and songwriting talent, and introduced her to a wider audience in the world of neo-soul.  In the years since, Erica has recorded and performed with icons including Grammy®-winner Allen Toussaint, Sting, No Doubt, Joe Sample, Dr. John, Jennifer Hudson, and John Fogerty, among others.  Her show-stopping performances did not go unnoticed; Offbeat Magazine nominated Erica twice for Best Female Vocalist, and she won Best New/Emerging Artist at the 2018 Big Easy Awards.  In 2013, she was hand-picked by Lee Daniels to star in the lead singing role of the award-winning film The Butler.

George Ingmire aka DJ Crushed Velvet is a New Orleans-based radio programmer - covering everything from Bounce, Hip Hop, Brass Band, Soul & Funk to House, Electronic, Ambient & World music. His style as a DJ is eclectic and daring, bringing a mix of the well-known and the soon-to-be-loved. For eight years, he produced a nationally syndicated radio program, New Orleans Calling, about the music, food and culture of New Orleans. Every Wednesday afternoon, he’s the host of the New Orleans Music Show, a music and interview program, on WWOZ (wwoz.org) in New Orleans. In addition to music, George Ingmire works in film as sound recordist, working with Spike Lee on ‘When the Levee Broke’ and ‘If God is Willing and the Creek don’t Rise’ and in places that include Haiti, Peru, Columbia, and Mexico.  His film ’Think of Me First as a Person’ is in the National Film Registry (2006) and has screened worldwide.