Abita Opry Media

MEDIA - AO2016-11

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.

The Steve Anderson Group
This is our longest lasting house band. Steve is a local self-taught musician who knows how to deliver those old-time country classics. Our house bands appear regularly at the show to set the stage and get the show going, and develop their own fan base. Steve is well loved by our audience. He is accompanied by other Opry regulars including Bobby Belloni on bass, Jan Biggs on guitar and vocals and Anne Hibbs on fiddle.

Peter, Paul and Mary Review
Perhaps, there is no musician who has appeared more on our stage than Gina Forsyth. She is one of the most versatile musicians in this area, and can perform with anyone who needs a great fiddle player, singer or guitar picker. When we heard that Gina had teamed up with two other musicians to perform all the great songs performed by the great folk trio, Peter, Paul, and Mary, we immediately got in touch with the group to invite them to appear on our stage. Every once in a while, we present something a little different, but always entertaining. Folks like myself (I don’t want to say old) will have a hard time avoiding singing along.

The Bagasse Boys
For those of you who don’t know, bagasse is the sugar cane fiber that is left after the juice has been squeezed out, but knowing these guys, an obvious play on words is highly suspected. This is a very entertaining group that has previously appeared on the Opry stage. They perform a style of bluegrass that goes beyond the traditional norm for that genre. We heard them recently, and were so impressed at how far they had progressed; we had to book them in.

Big Easy Playboys
Zydeco is a very unique Louisiana form of music. It was invented in Acadiana north of Lafayette around Opelousas. It features elements of Cajun music and a strong blues influence. It is the contribution of the French speaking African American and Creole population of Southwest Louisiana. The hard driving and high spirited unique Louisiana music form makes listeners want to get up and dance or clap their hands, and it is always infectious. It also is a great example of the richness that diversity brings to our cultural heritage.