On Mardi Gras morning, your eyes may feast on the intricate and elaborate beadwork of the Indians as they dance down the street, but the first thing you'll hear when they make their way toward you is the back line, known as "the rumble". Featuring seven GRAMMY-nominated musicians, The Rumble is more than just a band — it's an opportunity to be immersed in a wholly unique facet of New Orleans culture. Composed of Second Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. of the Golden Eagles, trumpeter Aurélien Barnes, trombonist José Maize Jr., bassist TJ Norris, guitarist Ari Teitel, keyboardist Andriu Yanovski, and drummer Trenton O’Neal, the group fuses iconic New Orleans funk in the vein of The Meters and The Neville Brothers — but updated, modern and vibrant befitting the next generation — with electrifying brass and the singular visual splendor of the Black Masking carnival tradition.  The Rumble's debut album, “Live at the Maple Leaf”, received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Regional Roots Album 2024. Their live show is a symphony of rich color and propulsive sound, with each member sharing vocal duties and engaging the audience in the classic Mardi Gras Indian-style call-and-response chanting. The group pays homage to trailblazers like Wild Magnolias and Golden Eagles, both of which featured the vocal stylings of Boudreaux’s father, Monk Boudreaux. The Rumble continues the fight to preserve the legacies and traditions of the community for the next generation while bringing new layers of depth to their live performance. The Rumble provides audiences with not only a top-tier musical event, but a chance to participate in a culture that, while deeply rooted in centuries-old tradition, is thriving and evolving through the active work of this next generation of bold and passionate culture-bearers.

DJ Soul Sister is an internationally-known, veteran DJ artist, whose broadcast programs and live performances feature only the music she loves: 1970s – mid-1980s soulful rarities in R&B, funk, disco, jazz, and more from her personal collection of thousands of vinyl records.   A native of New Orleans, Soul Sister has hosted her Soul Power show on WWOZ FM New Orleans for 25+ years, and has hosted internationally-aired radio programs on Sonos Radio and Worldwide FM, among others.   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 (mainstage DJ 2008-2010), 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, Switch, the funky Meters, Dumpstaphunk, Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers, Soul Rebels, Lettuce, Tower of Power, and more; and has also performed alongside DJ artists/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 lecturer.