Abita Opry Media - 2012-05 featuring HUrray for the Riffraff, Joe & Julie Manuel, Pot Luck String Band, and Gaynelle Neville

MEDIA - AO2012-05

The Abita Springs Opry is a series of music concerts held six times a year and is produced by a nonprofit organization, Abita Opry Inc. The show has the mission of preserving and presenting Louisiana "Roots" music. Our music is played primarily acoustically, in its original form.

Our main thrust is old-time Country, Bluegrass, and traditional Southern Gospel music, but we often present other forms of traditional Louisiana music such as Cajun, Zydeco, Irish, or other types that reflect the many different groups of people who are part of our diverse culture.

Alynda Lee and Hurray for the Riffraff
Alynda and her group have a very interesting style of acoustic music played in the traditionally with a country-like flair. They have garnered some great notoriety in the New Orleans area and were one of the many New Orleans based bands that had a spot on the HBO series, "Treme". Alynda and her group are some of the extremely talented young people who have made their way to New Orleans and started by playing on the street for tips, but their talent and traditional style led them to become recognized as part of the great music scene in the Big Easy.

Joe and Julie Manuel
Joe has a very long history with the Opry going all the way back to our predecessor show, "The Piney Woods Opry". He appeared back then, with a group named "Skunk Whittlin'". He later joined the Piney Woods Opry house band, the "Evening Star String Band". He also assisted in starting up the Abita Springs Opry and headed up our initial house band, the "Abita Strings". Julie is a real audience pleaser who has a very rich voice and a wonderful stage presence. Joe is recognized as one of the best guitar and mandolin pickers in the area, and, along with his partner Phil Patterson manufacture superior hand made guitars at the Abita Springs Guitar Company.

Pot Luck String Band
This group, headed by long-time Abita Opry regular, Van Glynn, always brings a very strong traditional style to the stage. Van is a very talented multi-instrumentalist. He also has a very deep knowledge about the songs they present, and he offers some very informative vignettes of information about the history of the songs and the music itself. He is backed up by a very experienced group of musicians. They, like the other house bands, do a great job of kicking off the Opry shows in style.

Gaynelle Neville and the New Orleans Ladies