Valerie Francis embodies the voice of the greatest singers of our country, those today and those who went before. For those of us who remember the beloved Mahalia Jackson, Valerie's voice brings the spiritual back to us with even greater intensity and cadence. Listen to her sing the upbeat and the sorrowful in this selection and others.

Listen to Natchitoches' own, Johnny Earthquake and the Moondogs, do bunches of stuff with that down home sound with an upbeat mood.

Trini Trigg, country western star with his downbeat music and his upbeat attitude was the star attraction at the Natchitoches Jazz Festival on April 5, bringing an enthusiastic crowd to its dancing feet.

Listen to the great sounds of Hardrick Rivers, Natchitoches blues and jazz singer and trumpeteer as he presents some of his best sounds for the jazz festival.

Listen to the down home gospel sounds straight from the church to your heart, that will bring you to your knees and tears to your eyes as you remember the good times, the bad times, the joy and the sorrows, and all that means when celebrating God in the best of gospel in the South.

Your whole body quivers to the music of Hardrick Rivers, the soulful singer of Central Louisiana, whose blast from the past with his horn and voice, will keep you rocking and humming for days. Come back again and again and listen and tell all your friends to listen too.

Dorothy Presley, one of Natchitoches, Louisiana "Treasures", talks about the need to help the poor in our communities and what it means to her to have a young African American as a strong contender for the Presidency of the United States.

Louisiana is known for its food and its funtimes. Nothing is more special than the music. It gets your feet dancing and your heart thumping. In Natchitoches, Louisiana, "the little New Orleans" of North Central Louisiana nothing beats Steve Wells. He plays that piano like nobody else, sings with style, and makes music with "instruments" that play right from his personal lungs. Listen to him make like Louis, as in Louis Armstrong, and just sit back and laissez le bon temps roulez--let the good times roll!

Pretend that you are sitting on a street corner in New Orleans at the famous Cafe du Monde, sipping great coffee and eating beignets. Look over and see the horse and buggies as they get ready to take their passengers around Jackson Square. See the artists hang their paintings along the fence; the mimes entertain the crowds. And then right in front of your eyes, the magic of the music of New Orleans, on the famous street of jazz and joy.