Local Music Historian Chris Brown sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:

0:34 1. Chris, you are the archivist of Centenary College and the Louisiana United Methodist Church. But today I would like to focus on a hobby of yours.

I don’t know anyone in our community who knows more about the history of music in Shreveport than you do.

When did your interest in Shreveport’s music history start. And what motivates you to continue unearthing it?

16:00 2. I want you to choose 2 of 3 of the following key figures of our musical past and tell us about them – Mira Smith, Dee Marais, and Stan Lewis.

39:15 3. Okay, now, if you would, please give me some history of Leadbelly and talk some about his worldwide importance.

50:08 4. About seven years ago I brought back the City Tennis Tournament because it had died and I thought it was important for us to continue to have it because it was rich with history and a critical part of our local sports past. A history by the way that we seemed to take for granted and so unconcerned with protecting and preserving.

For my last formal question, I would like for you to discuss the following. Why do we struggle as a city at knowing, preserving, and rallying around (with pride) our city’s rich musical past?