BATON ROUGE, La. (press release) – Prior to the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards ceremony Sunday, Feb. 10, in Los Angeles, the Louisiana Office of Tourism kicks off GRAMMY Week on Thursday, Feb. 7 with an event celebrating and showcasing this year’s 12 Louisiana nominees who garnered 19 GRAMMY nominations.
A Night on the River is a special media event held at the GRAMMY Museum in downtown Los Angeles. The Louisiana Office of Tourism will host this event in partnership with Visit Mississippi and Memphis Tourism with fresh seafood provided by the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. The gathering celebrates contributions of musicians from Louisiana, Mississippi, and the city of Memphis showcasing their influences on American music.
“I am so proud of all of our Louisiana musicians. They represent what is great about our state and is one of the many ways how Louisiana feeds your soul to others across the country and around the world,” said Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser in a press release about the event. “I am especially proud of music teacher Mickey Smith, Jr. from Maplewood Middle School in Sulphur who is one of ten finalists for the 2019 Music Educator Award.”
“We’re thrilled to partner with our fellow tourism leaders in Memphis and Mississippi. Our partnership with the Mississippi Blues Trail recently honored Louisiana-native and blues legend Buddy Guy with a historic marker in his hometown of Lettsworth. He’s among this year’s Louisiana nominees too,” added Lt. Governor Nungesser.
This year’s GRAMMY Awards Show will also feature the induction of New Orleans legend Fats Domino’s fifth song into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame. The 1957 classic “I’m Walkin’,” written by Dave Bartholomew, is one of 25 songs being inducted this year, bringing the total number of recordings on display to more than 1,100. Other Fats Domino songs already included in the GRAMMY Hall of Fame are “Ain’t It a Shame Blueberry Hill,” “Blueberry Hill,” “The Fat Man,” and “Walking to New Orleans.”
Louisiana musicians nominated for the 61st GRAMMY Awards include:
Buddy Guy; Lettsworth – Best Traditional Blues Album
Lauren Daigle; Lafayette – Best Contemporary Christian Music Album and Best Contemporary Christian Music Song
PJ Morton; New Orleans – Best Pop Duo/Group Performance with Maroon 5, Best R&B Album, Best R&B Performance and Best Traditional R&B Performance
Sean Ardoin; Lake Charles – Best Regional Roots Music Album and Best American Roots Performance
Mary Gauthier; New Orleans – Best Folk Album
Cha Wa; New Orleans – Best Regional Roots Music Album
Jon Batiste; New Orleans – Best American Roots Performance
Christian Scott; New Orleans – Best Instrumental Album
Terence Blanchard; New Orleans – Best Instrumental Composition
Koryn Hawthorne; Abbeville – Best Gospel Performance/Song
Dominique Jones aka DOE; Shreveport – Best Gospel Performance Song
Brian Blade; Shreveport – Best Jazz Instrumental Album with Wayne Shorter Quartet and with Joshua Redman, Ron Miles and Scott Colley
