
"Every genre that is born from America has Black roots associated with it, from rock 'n' roll to blues to disco. The fingerprints of Black creators are all over what makes American music so unique."
Sidney Madden of NPR
Legacy Music Festival
Legacy Music Festival
The Legacy Music Festival (LMF) gives Black musicians based in the Chattanooga area a platform for their music, as too many gifted Black performers have voiced that they are rarely hired to perform at local events. With this festival we aim to demonstrate the diversity of musical talents that exist in our community from classical to reggae, rock and hiphop, soul, R&B, gospel, country, and more.
As the Chattanooga Festival of Black Arts & Ideas celebrates the extraordinary contributions of today's artists of African descent, it is vital that we look back and pay tribute to those artists who revolutionized Black music in America and beyond. For this reason, we ask that all musical acts that perform for the festival play music by those musicians in their genre that paved the way. From the African drummers whose beats formed the bases of American music rhythms, to the rock and rolling of Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Little Richard, the influence of Black music can be heard just about anywhere you listen.