Gulf Coast

Saucier resident Bernadette Goodness began learning the traditional dances of her native Philippines while attending high school in her hometown of Davao City. Traditional dance is part of physical education classes in the Philippines, just as square dancing used to be in many American schools. Francisca Reyes Aquino had conducted systematic research on Philippine national

Many of the immigrants from Mexico to Mississippi’s Gulf Coast attend Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, which welcomes many international parishioners. There’s a Filipino mass every Wednesday evening, and a Spanish-language mass every Monday, at which Mario Garcia, Lalo Herrera, and Leopoldo Villegas sing and play their guitars, along with a rotating crew of

Charles Fairley, Jr., was born in 1932 on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in Moss Point. He began playing saxophone at eight years old and received his first instrument, an alto saxophone, from his paternal uncle Ollie John “Boss” Tatum, who had worked in minstrel shows with artists including Bessie Smith. Fairley later received a tenor

Driskill Mountain is one of the top bluegrass bands in Mississippi, though the two senior members of the group live over the border in Louisiana. The band got its name several changes of personnel back. The senior members of the band are Adolphus Warren and Vic Watts, both of whom both sing and play guitar.