Will Buckingham is a New Orleans-based researcher, educator, writer, and musician. His doctoral dissertation was the first book-length study on the Isleño décima, a unique tradition of Spanish folk song from St. Bernard Parish, in over twenty years. He founded the Institute for Public Ethnomusicology in order to leverage his research and experience to reach wider audiences and work to sustain this beautiful and threatened tradition.

Will has over ten years of experience teaching in higher education, and his work spans diverse interests in archival studies, history, and music. Will has presented his research at conferences and meetings all over the world. His research has been published in the Jazz Archivist and Louisiana History, and he also reviews books for the anarchist magazine Fifth Estate. He is also a professional bassist, specializing in Latin music and jazz and has performed all over Louisiana and the world with great New Orleans musicians like Leslie Martin, Eric Traub, and Fredy Omar con su Banda.

Will is currently pursuing degrees in Library and Information Science and Archival Studies at LSU, where he also teaches in the School of Information Studies. He holds degrees in jazz studies and musicology from Tulane University and a PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of Chicago.

Will’s CV