Lou Hill is a musician and music/media entrepreneur born and based in New Orleans. You may know him as the drummer, vocalist, and songwriter of the local Billboard-charting funk band Water Seed, his current and long-term project. A true multi-hyphenate artist-entrepreneur, Hill sustains his music career in roles of songwriter, performer, producer, tour manager, and has created opportunities for other musicians as well. Lou is also a lead presenter of The Ella Project’s Crescendo music business intensive program.

Leroy Hill and The Ella Project were initially connected by a mutual friend in the music industry. Leroy wanted to publish an album featuring his brother’s recordings from 2015, which was originally intended as the debut of Leroy’s label, Black Trumpet Productions. As the flagship artist of the label, Leroy’s brother - gifted young musician Travis Hill, aka “Trumpet Black”, had already achieved success with international tours and prestige when he died suddenly…

Local cultural advocates received some good news recently with the City Of New Orleans bringing in Howie Kaplan to manage the City’s new Nighttime Economy Office. Success has a thousand parents, and along with Jan Ramsey of OffBeat, Micharel Bracy of Music Policy Forum, and Former Councilmember Kristen Palmer, The Ella Project has been deeply engaged in this issue for five years, (see the slide deck of our 2019 presentation to the New Orleans City Council), and we’re thrilled to see this positive step to protect and grow both our neighborhoods and our live music scene. This started with the idea that night time businesses are simply different, and we have an entire system of regulation that’s set up for daytime businesses. Code enforcers at City Hall aren’t expected to answer the phone at 2:00 a.m. But you know who does? NOPD, and they are neither trained code enforcers, nor people with a lot of spare time to dive into noise disputes or street buskers. The results of this have been predictable, and we’re excited to see our city try a new approach.

In early childhood Barriane already knew that she was an artist, describing herself as self-taught prior to kindergarten. Relying on YouTube tutorials and art books gifted by her supportive parents, Barriane became acquainted with drawing. Primary education focused on academics, and she later explored painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, and media arts at NOCCA….

Sullivan Dabney is a professional drummer and vocalist born, trained, and based in New Orleans. For five decades-plus, he has performed in bandleader and support roles, debuting his first band during high school, The Orientals, and starting his long-term project, Sullivan Dabney Muzik Jazz Band, in 1972.

It all begCathy Anderson is a New Orleans-based harpist who performs in both music venues and healing environments. As a freelance musician adaptable to a wide range of performance, Cathy has worked with outfits including the New Orleans Opera, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre and Saenger Theatre productions. ins with an idea.