Abita Opry Media

MEDIA - AO2016-10

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 Three Rivers Cooperative
This group is the latest addition to our house band lineup. Chris is a very versatile musician who knows and can surround himself with some of the finest musicians in this area. We never know what exactly Chris will bring to our stage. His versatility and exceptional skill has always given us a treat. He has performed bluegrass, country, Western Swing, and even Beatles songs with a country twang. We have decided to just trust him to bring whatever he chooses to our stage. We know it will be good and entertaining, and an audience pleaser.

Slick Skillet Serenaders
This group of young musicians wowed the audience outside the festival grounds at the Abita Springs Busker Festival last April. For those of you who don’t already know, Busking is playing out on the street for tips. That is a time honored tradition in New Orleans and the buskers are some of the finest musicians in New Orleans. As an added bonus, they perform traditional music. This group is a “Jug band” which is a very catchy rhythmic bluesy style that is a lot of fun to hear. Traditionally, someone play into a jug put the bass sound into the music. Today, a tuba often serves that purpose.

Get Back Band
Rick Ledbetter and his band are returning to the Opry after a too long absence. This is strong solid Country music. Rick has a very powerful voice and is well versed in several musical genres. He also has a strong background in radio broadcast journalism. We are glad he has agreed to return to our show and will be a real audience pleaser.

Messy Cookers
Traditional New Orleans Jazz has become an important part of our show, and some of the strongest performances on our stage have been delivered by some of the great Jazz bands we have had the good fortune to have here. This is a return performance by a strong group of young musicians who perform this great genre. Interestingly, our show started out featuring Country and Bluegrass music, but we discovered our audience loves New Orleans Jazz. It is also interesting to note that Country music greats like Jimmie Rodgers, the father of Country music, and Merle Haggard performed with New Orleans Jazz musicians.