DJ Soul Sister is an internationally-known, veteran DJ artist, whose broadcast programs and live performances feature her personal collection of thousands of vinyl records, which earned her a spot in the book Dust & Grooves: Adventures in Record Collecting. A native of New Orleans, Soul Sister has hosted her Soul Power show on WWOZ FM New Orleans for 30 years (as of 2025), and has hosted internationally-aired radio programs on Sonos Radio and Worldwide FM, among others. She has been a crate digger and vinyl collector ever since she was six years old. And as a DJ artist who self-produced her first event in 1997, her infamous sets and parties (such as the HUSTLE! party) led to her tenure as one of the longest-running DJ artists in her hometown. Notably, her sets only feature the music she loves, as she improvisationally and skillfully mixes, blends, and beat-matches vinyl-only selections of 1970s – mid-1980s R&B, funk, soul, rare groove, underground disco, jazz fusion, true school hip hop, and more. As a performance DJ, she is the first to win New Orleans’ prestigious Big Easy Entertainment Award for “Best DJ.” She has also performed everywhere from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Voodoo Music Experience, Essence Music Festival (2008-2010 and the festival’s first-ever mainstage DJ), BUKU Music & Art Project, Jam Cruise, Boiler Room, and Electric Forest. Soul Sister has opened for many of her favorite artists like George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, The Roots, Bootsy Collins, Maceo Parker, DaM-FunK, Average White Band, George Duke, Teena Marie, Doug E. Fresh, ConFunkShun, the funky Meters, Dumpstaphunk, Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers, Soul Rebels, Lettuce, Tower of Power, and more; and has also performed alongside DJ artist/producers such as Questlove, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Mannie Fresh, KON, Maseo (De La Soul), Low Down Loretta Brown (Erykah Badu), Rich Medina, Biz Markie, and others. She was even personally invited by George Clinton to DJ his 71st birthday party. Music artist Solange called her “wonderful” and “life given,” and dj artist King Britt said she was “the best…top 3 DJs for me.” Soul Sister’s mission is to share music, and is equally dedicated to educating about music, both as a writer/researcher and as a university instructor.

Proving that soul music can be exponentially greater than the sum of its parts, The Nth Power is on a mission to share the light. Formed during an impromptu late-night jam at Jazz Fest 2012 in New Orleans, the relentlessly funky and soulful band believes in music as a higher power tapping into an energy that is simultaneously sexy and spiritual, with songs that will inspire audiences to dance, groove, make love or just stand there with goose bumps. The trio hails from diverse musical backgrounds, races and creeds. Female powerhouse Nikki Glaspie was Beyonce’s world-touring drummer for five years before she joined Ivan Nevilles New Orleans funk outfit, Dumpstaphunk. Bassist Nate Edgar of Groovechild and John Browns Body perfectly compliments singer and guitarist Nick Cassarino who came from the Jennifer Hartswick Band and toured with Big Daddy Kane. The Nth Power’s 2013 independent EP, Basic Minimum Skills Test, showcases a first glimpse of the spark shared among the group, delivering gospel-style vocals with soul, jazz, funk and world-beat riffs in nearly mathematical fashion. They have followed up that release with a studio album in 2015 “Abundance” produced by Ira Schickman and live release “To Be Free” in 2016 recorded and mixed by Paul Diaz. “It’s my dream team,” said Glaspie, “each one of us is a songwriter, so when we get together, everything becomes that much stronger.” Beyond raw skill, however, Glaspie cites a deep spiritual connection as the glue that binds them together. “Music is what brought us together, but its the spiritual bond that makes us play so in touch with each other,” she explained. And at the core of their vibe is a deviously simple concept the healing power of love. The Nth Power’s inspirational sets have floored audiences at music festivals like Electric Forest, Bear Creek, Catskill Chill and North Coast Music Festival. The band has been relentlessly touring and writing for the past 4 years since their inception and continue to grow in their mission as they spread love and healing through music across the land. Although the band members are based across the East Coast, they maintain New Orleans as their spiritual home, and the celebratory essence of that city’s music culture is audible in each performance. Simply put, there is something pretty magical happening in this band, and they’re only just getting started. “Were going as far as you can go on the planet Earth and playing music,” explains Glaspie, “I don’t know how many times we’ve said it we are so blessed.” Together, The Nth Power wants to change lives through a message of musical love and understanding.

Eric Gales is a blues firebrand. Over 30 years and 18 albums, his passion for the music and his boundless desire to keep it vital has never waned, even when his own light dimmed due to his substance struggles. Throughout it all, he continued to reinvigorate the art form with personal revelation in his lyrics and bold stylistic twists in his guitar playing and songwriting. Five years sober, creatively rejuvenated, and sagely insightful, Eric is ready for the fight of his career. Aptly, he calls his masterful new album, out January 2022 on Provogue/Mascot label Group, Crown. Here, Eric opens like never before, sharing his struggles with substance abuse, his hopes about a new era of sobriety and unbridled creativity, and his personal reflections on racism. The songs are delivered with clarity and feature Eric's personal experiences and hope for positive change. In addition, the 16-track collection boasts his finest singing, songwriting, and his signature guitar playing that burns throughout. Produced by Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith, this is Eric at his most boldly vulnerable, uncompromisingly political, and unflinchingly confident. Crown was forged in tragedy but rises triumphantly. The day before Eric left Greensboro, North Carolina to Los Angeles, California to work with Joe and Josh, he heard the news about the George Floyd murder. As a Black man in America, he had a lot on his mind when he touched down in Music City to write songs for Crown. “What made George Floyd any different than me?,” Eric asks. “As I began to chat about this to Joe and Josh during preproduction, raw and unnerved emotion came out of me, and Joe furiously scribbled down notes about it all. These songs came from those outpourings. They’re about my life, and what’s happening in the world right now. When it came time to sing, I had to take breaks between vocals to cry and let it out. I was sharing my experiences as a Black man, and my private struggles. This is me letting the world know what I’ve been through.” Since 1991, the Memphis-born guitarist has blazed a path reinvigorating the blues with a virtuosity and rock swagger that have him being heralded as the second coming of Jimi Hendrix. He was a child prodigy with bottomless talent and fierce determination, and at just 16 years-old released his debut, The Eric Gales Band, on Elektra Records. He’s earned high praise by guitarists’ guitarist and household name axe men such as Joe Bonamassa, Carlos Santana, Dave Navarro, and Mark Tremonti. In addition, he has held his own with some of the greatest guitarists in the world, including Carlos Santana at Woodstock 1994, Zakk Wylde, Eric Johnson, and a posse of others as a featured guest touring with the Experience Hendrix Tour. The story behind Crown dates back to the early 1990s when as teenagers Eric and Joe were both hailed as blues wunderkinds and torchbearers. Eric is three years older than Joe, and Joe used to open for Eric. The pair went on to very different lives and careers, but Eric’s full potential was hampered by his substance abuse issues. “While I was dealing with my affliction, Joe’s career skyrocketed. I put myself in the backseat through my drug addiction. The world knows me, but the world doesn’t know me,” he says. In 2009, Eric hit bottom and served jail time at Shelby County Correction Center for possession of drugs and a weapon. Eric and Joe reconnected grandly in 2019 when Joe invited Eric to play with him onstage at a blues cruise encore performance. It was the first time the guys had played live together onstage in 25 years, and it has since been named one of the most explosive guitar duels ever, amassing over 3 million plays on YouTube. “There was always a brotherhood with us. When we reconnected, Joe said to me, ‘You’re a badass guitarist; it’s your turn to get your seat at the table to wear your crown’,” Eric recalls. Shortly after their iconic face-melting jam, Eric approached Joe to produce him. Eric reveals: “We cried when we talked about it, he said ‘you have no idea how long I waited for you, now I am going to do my part to lift you where you’re supposed to be.’” Crown finds Eric stepping up to receive his due.

Tony Hall is an American bassist, guitarist and vocalist from New Orleans. He is a founding member of Dumpstaphunk. His work includes affiliation with New Orleans artists Harry Connick Jr., Dr. John, the Neville Brothers, Aaron Neville, Jean Knight, June Yamagishi, Shannon McNally and the Meters.

Decade upon decade, Skerik remains the tireless steward for one of modern music's most diverse, adventurous & passionate bodies of work. Skerik's world is one where dialogue flows freely between wildly disparate strains of musical thought... where no borders exist between jazz & sludge metal, where elements of Congolese soukous dialect might find their way onto the million-selling records of an alternative rock band, where an avant-garde electronic translation of Ornette Coleman's deepest & darkest fantasies (shared with a select few listeners in a small club) easily attains the same level of satisfaction & meaning as an exuberant explosion of jazz/funk catharsis (shared with hordes of sweaty festival crowds all over the world). It is a world where all sounds may communicate freely with each other, so long as they all originate from true inspiration & good faith. They may encounter friction & chaos along the way, eventually emerging in a shared harmonious understanding... or perhaps they might remain in friction & chaos, screaming in musical hellfire until the next chapter begins. Safety is never guaranteed in these woods, but boredom will never rear its head. That's a promise. It all began in Seattle when a precocious young man took his first few steps on tenor & baritone saxophone, inspired in equal measure by his love for jazz (as inherited from his father), the grittier side of funk/r&b and the experimental corners of rock. An apprenticeship spent working in a wide variety of bands in London, Paris & the South Pacific further expanded his ears & ambitions, and he returned home in the late 1980s armed with a full set of 10,000 hours and an insatiable work ethic that continues unabated to this day. Back in Seattle, Skerik "accidentally" found himself joining the amazing rock duo SadHappy in 1990 (recording two studio albums & embarking on countless live adventures with the band), and the following year saw the first of many such honors when he won "Best Horns" from the Northwest Music Awards in 1991.  Ever restless, Skerik teamed up with Matt Chamberlain in 1993 to form the singular Critters Buggin, alongside luminaries such as Brad Houser & John Bush (later to be joined by Mike Dillon). Critters' blend of rock, funk, jazz, industrial & African influences established an utterly unique presence in the explosion of improvisation-focused music that emerged in the 90s, and Skerik's pioneering incorporation of harsh & abrasive electronic elements ensured that the band's output was distinguished by a confrontational edge that wasn't often encountered among the mellow hippie friendliness of the day. Skerik was inducted into the "Seattle Jazz Hall Of Fame" by Earshot Jazz in 2017, and he is the recipient of numerous awards including "Best Horns" (1991 Northwest Music Awards), "Northwest Jazz Instrumentalist Of The Year" (2003 Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Awards) and "Northwest Alternative Jazz Group Of The Year" (2012 Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Awards, as bestowed upon his group Bandalabra). All totaled, Skerik has contributed to more than 200 records as a saxophonist and/or keyboardist, and his music has seen worldwide placement in feature films, independent films, TV shows, theater & dance pieces. He continues to make Seattle his primary home (now owning & operating his own studio in the city), and regularly embarks on tours around the world with his ever-expanding cast of collaborators & new things to do.

He goes by many names. a-waz. waz. my dawg. ya boy. the forever hang. Egyptian born, American raised, all soul, and all hang. alex was born in alexandria, egypt and raised in savannah, georgia. performing music is alex's way of taking you out of what may have been a depressing day and into what might be the wildest night of your life. alex regularly performs and tours the world with Dumpstaphunk. he also leads a few different ensembles of his own, the very good™ brass; a 15 piece fully improvised brass band with rotating drummers, and Dusk Dept., his own band. alex also throws the funkiest party in Los Angeles and New Orleans every monday at his series called Very Good™ Mondays. besides performing live music and studio recording, a-waz is also a skilled composer and arranger and is also known for his professional grade written music and charts. for more information, click the contact tab above to reach out to him for his services. alex has a thing for throwing parties too. google 'alex wasily’s funk party 15.' go ahead, he'll wait for you here to check it out. alex is currently based in Los Angeles and splits his time between Chicago and New Orleans…but really he likes to consider his home(s) as either LAX/Burbank Airport, the delta sky lounge in concourse A at hartsfield-jackson airport in Atlanta or a bar called lincoln station (#foreverhang) in chicago. a-waz (alex) is a slave to the hang and the hang is real - catch him sometime soon, he’s active on social media. (@alexwasily) he studied at DePaul University and has his bachelor’s degree in jazz studies where he studied with Tim Coffman, Charlie Vernon, Mark Fisher, Kelly Sill, Bob Lark, Tom Matta, Bob Palmieri, Ron Perillo, Mark Colby, Kirk Garrison, Cliff Colnot, Michael Lewanski, and Erica Neidlinger. alex is an endorsed King Trombones Artist (Conn-Selmer), AMT (Applied Microphone Technology) artist, an AR Resonance Mouthpiece artist, an AVID Sibelius™ Arranger, and currently rocks a vintage King2B Liberty trombone.

Dominique "DominiqueXavier" Taplin is a highly sought-after musician, and have been performed with many accomplished artists. He was one of Prince's last keyboard players before he passed away. Currently performing and touring with Toto, Ghost Note, Daley, and Snoh Aalegra.