For more than 50 years, the Old South Jamboree brought the sounds of classic country music to Livingston Parish. On Sept. 19, the City of Denham Springs invited the public to take a trip down memory lane with a new exhibit at Old City Hall honoring the venue and its place in the parish’s musical history.
The Old South Jamboree opened in Walker in 1969 and provided weekly live country music entertainment until March 2020. Established stars and performers who went on to become some of country music’s biggest names appeared there, including Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Faron Young, Marty Robbins, Ernest Tubb, Jerry Lee Lewis, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr., and Conway Twitty.
From its opening, the venue presented classic country acts, drawing both local and touring musicians. The Jamboree’s schedule typically featured shows on the first and third Saturdays of the month, making it a familiar part of the Walker community’s live music calendar throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
“It’s part of the history of this parish and all of the individuals that performed there were from all over the parish and all over the south as far as the local talent,” Robert Reynolds stated.
The Old South Jamboree became a country music tradition that preserved the sounds and styles of the genre’s golden era. Its long-running shows helped sustain local interest in traditional country music even as the music industry evolved.
In the years after the Jamboree closed, the building fell into decline. Its legacy, however, lives on through recordings, fans, and events such as the Old City Hall exhibit, which keeps its music and memories alive. Recognizing the Jamboree’s influence on Livingston Parish’s deep connection to country music, the exhibit honors its legends and celebrates the traditions it represented.
Carlton Jones described the exhibit as being “kind of a send off for the Old South” adding that “we do appreciate it” for its influence on the parish’s country music scene.
Page Dew, who was instrumental in getting the Old South Jamboree broadcast on a Baton Rouge radio station in the 1970s, added that he “never thought I would see this kind of a day.”
To mark the exhibit’s opening, Robert Reynolds, Carlton Jones, Page Dew, and several others performed live music outside Old City Hall.
