As another year draws to a close, many folks in South Mississippi turn their attention as soon as Christmas is over towards Mardi Gras and all the festivities associated with that annual affair.
And for the second straight year, live music fans can look forward to keeping the good times rolling just weeks after Fat Tuesday with a popular artist that is returning to South Mississippi again.
Multi-Grammy Award nominee Marcia Ball, a Mardi Gras as well as a Jazz Fest icon in New Orleans, is coming to The Grand Magnolia Ballroom in Pascagoula for the first time ever. She is set to headline “Laissez les bons temps rouler” on Saturday, March 18th.
The show is part of the ongoing Grand Magnolia Music live music series, which kicks off in 2023 with the legendary Bellamy Brothers on Friday, March 3rd. Tickets for both shows are already on sale at both www.grandmagmusic.com as well as in-person at Scranton’s Restaurant in Pascagoula.
“I still love the feel of the wheels rolling,” Ball said, “And the energy in a room full of people ready to go wherever it is we take them.”
Ball, who has played over 20 times at Jazz Fest, was described once by USA Today as “a sensation, a saucy singer and superb pianist… where Texas stomp-rock and Louisiana blues-swamp meet.”
The Boston Globe said her music is “an irresistible celebratory blend of rollicking, two-fisted New Orleans piano, Louisiana swamp rock and smoldering Texas Blues from a contemporary storyteller.”
Rolling Stone magazine said of Ball: “Playful, good-time blues and intimate, reflective balladry…her songs ring with emotional depth.”
She is also a member of the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame, The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame, and she was named the 2018 Texas State Musician Of The Year.
She is still widely sought after on the music festival circuit all across the United States and has appeared many times on national television over the years, including the PBS special In Performance At The White House along with B.B. King as well as Austin City Limits and HBO’s Treme. She also appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman with The New Orleans Social Club, where she not only reached millions of people but also helped to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina.
And she’s coming to Jackson County. Don’t forget that.
Ball was born in Orange, Texas but raised in Vinton, Louisiana. In addition to USA Today, The Boston Globe, and Rolling Stone, Ball has been featured in numerous other national publications including Billboard and The New York Times which said of her, “Marcia Ball sings in a husky, knowing voice about all the trouble men and women can get into on the way to a good time.”
A portion of the proceeds from every Grand Magnolia Music show benefits Dixie Adoptables Animal Rescue in Lucedale.
Sponsors for Grand Magnolia Music are Roy’s Bar and Liquors Unlimited in Pascagoula, Burnham Drugs and Riverside Dental in Moss Point, The Grand Magnolia Ballroom and Suites, Scranton’s Restaurant and Catering, Cathead Vodka, The Beau Rivage and Lagniappe Weekly of Mobile.