Robin Barnes

Biography

A Crescent City native from the famed Lower Ninth Ward, Robin Barnes is New Orleans.

Barnes, declared “The Songbird of New Orleans,” in an official proclamation by a past New Orleans mayor, has throughout her career brought the sounds of the city to a global audience. Her 2016 album Songbird Sessions debuted at #5 on Billboard’s Traditional Jazz Chart. She’s opened for GRAMMY-winning trumpeter Chris Botti and the jazz duo Alfredo Rodriguez and Pedrito Maratinez, the former of whom studied under the iconic Quincy Jones. Barnes, named by NOLA Adore as one of their “Most Influential New Orleanians,” even brought New Orleans to India at MTV India’s Music Summit in 2018.

More recently, Barnes has broadened her sound to incorporate more of the musical DNA of New Orleans, blending jazz with funk and soul. In the last two years, she’s performed on episodes of “Queer As Folk” and “Daisy Jones & The Six.” Performing alongside her FiyaBirds, she transformed a hot and weary festival crowd into a dance party at the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. She’s currently at work on a new album.

Barnes’ New Orleans roots run deep: after suffering a health scare following a summer tour, she created “Move Ya Brass,” a fitness community and lifestyle group drawing on the city’s own culture to inspire physical movement. The organization’s “Twerk Ya Brass” class debuted at Bonnaroo in 2019 and continues to be a favorite among NOLA locals and visitors alike.