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Crosstown Arts presents Marcella Simien in The Green Room.
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Friday, November 10, 2023
Doors open at 7 pm | Show begins at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $20
Marcella Simien was born into one of the first Creole families to settle St. Landry Parish. Daughter of two-time GRAMMY™ award winning Zydeco luminary Terrance Simien, Marcella was practically born onstage and grew up immersed in sound and performance. Visits to the family home from legends such as David Hidalgo of Los Lobos or Taj Mahal, who once sang her “Happy Birthday,” were not uncommon.
Simien holds a degree from Memphis College of Art, which is what originally brought her to Memphis, Tennessee. Feeling a kindred connection to the city’s rich history and bustling community of working musicians, she began planting the seeds of her South Louisiana heritage in the Bluff City. She has since forged her own pathways in the local, national, and international music scenes, following her heart as an artist while wielding the torch of a Creole dynasty.
Simien founded and serves as bandleader in Marcella & Her Lovers — a hybrid of classic Memphis soul with the freewheeling swagger of New Orleans funk. Featuring an ensemble cast of Memphis musicians, Simien emerges as an undeniably powerful frontwoman. With each angelic holler and pump of the Creole accordion, she reinvents the mold of Memphis music while giving a wink and a nod to her ancestors. In addition to Marcella & Her Lovers, Simien performs with Marcella & Les Vagues, Magnolias, and Terrance Simien’s Krewe De Monifique.
“One of the most soulful artists I’ve heard since the glory days of Memphis soul music. Her sound and stage presence is a constant reminder that soul music is still alive and well.”
— Boo Mitchell, GRAMMY Winning Engineer
“. . . she’s the daughter of zydeco great Terrance Simien, but she needs no pedigree to knock you flat.”
— Malcolm Jones, The Daily Beast
