Bruce Sunpie Barnes

Bruce Sunpie Barnes, a song-writer, accordionist, and harmonic player, has traveled the world playing music based in the Afro-Louisiana tradition with his band Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots. For a number of years, he also toured with Paul Simon and Sting. In addition to many full-length albums of original and traditional music, he is the co-author of the Neighborhood Story Project books Talk That Music Talk: Passing on Brass Band Music the Traditional Way (2014) and Le Kér Creole: Creole Compositions and Stories from Louisiana. A founding interpretive park ranger with the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, he has developed musical programs for a wide-range of audiences and participants. He is also the Big Chief of the Northside Skull and Bone Gang, and a member of the Black Men of Labor Social Aid and Pleasure Club.