Marcella Simien

Join Levitt Shell for FREE shows in the 2021 Orion Free Music Concert Series. Picnic baskets, beverages, blankets, and lawn chairs are always welcome. Food and beverages are for sale in the ShellEats community area. Dogs on a leash are welcome in designated areas. Levitt Shell is a nonsmoking facility. Click here to learn more about the visitor experience.

About the artist:

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 Gumbo, Grits & Gravy, Marcella & Les Vagues, Magnolias, and Terrance Simien’s Krewe De Monifique. Recently, Simien made her New York City debut at Joe’s Pub and her London debut as a duo with Mark Black of Sweet on drums. She signed with a new management team, Yonas Media, in June of 2020.

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