Melissa Weber

Melissa A. Weber is a historian and educator whose areas of interest and expertise include the music and culture of her native New Orleans, 20th-century Black American popular music, and archives.

She holds an M.A. in musicology from Tulane University and received a B.A. in communications and English writing from the University of New Orleans (now LSU New Orleans).

In addition to teaching at Loyola, Weber works full-time at Tulane University Special Collections, where she serves as curator of the Hogan Archive of New Orleans Music and New Orleans Jazz.

Weber's writing has appeared in a variety of music journalism and scholarly publications, and she has presented her research at conferences and symposia of the American Musicological Society, International Association for the Study of Popular Music, National Council for Black Studies, Society for Ethnomusicology, Society of American Archivists, and the Pop Conference, among others.

For over three decades, Weber has been a volunteer host on community radio station WWOZ-FM New Orleans, where her program Soul Power with Soul Sister features music from the personal vinyl collection she began building as a child. As a live DJ artist under the moniker DJ Soul Sister, she has performed alongside artists including Questlove and George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic. She was the first DJ to receive a Big Easy Entertainment Award and has won the honor twice. Her performances have included the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Essence Festival, BUKU Music + Art Project, Jam Cruise, Boiler Room, Electric Forest, and numerous other events and venues.