DRUMMER & SMOKE: LAYLA MUSSELWHITE

Layla Musselwhite is a New Orleans-based singer songwriter and slide guitarist who draws on a rich musical legacy via her father, blues legend Charlie Musselwhite. Layla grew up on the road steeped in the music of the greatest artists of our time including Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Big Mama Thornton, and John Lee Hooker. While her music spans rhythm & blues, blues rock, folk, and soul, the touchstone is always the same—a deep understanding and respect for the early rhythms and melodies at the heart of the blues. Layla performs and records solo, duo, and with her full band of New Orleans heavyweights, The Cosmic Gentlemen. She’s recently graced stages at Jazz Fest, Big Sky Blues Fest, Crescent City Blues Festival, and the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise. Her 2023 album American Primitive is a collaboration with the New Orleans acoustic virtuoso Jimmy Robinson (Rolling Stone’s “Best of Fest” 2018.)

Drummer & Smoke is made possible by a Community Partnership Grant from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation.