From Mardi Gras to a Piano Playing Mayor, Biloxi Is a City With Rhythm

Early Days of Biloxi Music

Music is amazing. It sets the mood and brings us back to great memories of yesteryear. Centuries ago, back when Monsieur D’Iberville landed on our Coast, music was a lot different. Certainly, there were no rock bands or fancy guitars, or even radios.

In the early 1700s, a few treasured journalists who visited our Biloxi area wrote down, in cursive on their simple paper, what sounds they heard. They were from birds and Native Americans. When Native Americans gathered in groups, there was often singing and dancing. Their instruments included flutes, drums, and shakers.

When Monsieur attended a Native American ceremony, sometimes the Chief asked the children to sing. Each child had a simple instrument: a dried gourd filled with small stones or seeds. These were similar to maracas and could easily be shaken to the beat of the tune. Early journal writers tell us they were much like our castanets.

Even though there is no accounting of exact music and songs, we can only imagine... Monsieur and his group sang in Canadian French and Latin hymns, while the Native Americans chanted in their own native tongue. At first, probably neither could recognize the words of the other, but the rhythm and tones of each were probably shared by all.

Pictured: Biloxi seafood factories in the 1910s

Factory Tunes

Back in the late 1800s, when Biloxi was established as the “Seafood Capital of the World”, each seafood factory had its signature whistle with musical notes of their own. When a boat loaded with seafood arrived, the factory sounded out its unique tune (i.e., a song) summoning its respective workers to unload, sort, clean, and pack the catch.

Airborne from KAFB

Reveille, Retreat, and Taps are three distinct tunes that emanate from within Keesler Air Force Base. Years ago, a selected expert bugler would be assigned the duty of playing these iconic outdoor sounds. Today, they are transmitted electronically via Keesler’s Big Voice system and can sometimes be heard in neighborhoods adjacent to Keesler’s perimeter.

Reveille is played promptly at 6 a.m. It signifies the beginning of the official duty day and raising of the flag.

Retreat can be heard at 5 p.m. and signifies the end of a duty day and the lowering of the flag.

Taps is sounded at 9 p.m. and is a signal for lights out at the end of a day.

Parading Tunes

Mardi Gras day, St. Patrick’s Day, Veterans Day, and even Biloxi High School Homecoming parades are all popular downtown spectacles. Each has its own flare of musical entertainment which includes school, military and favorite local bands. Some floats even provide electrified music as well as live bands.

Pictured: Opening day of the Saenger Theatre, 1929

Sounds of Musical Theater

As we anxiously await the reopening of the Saenger Theatre, we can only imagine what events will entertain us in years to come. Our beloved Saenger opened in 1929 with a magnificent Wurlitzer organ and the capacity to show both Vitaphone and Movietone films, adding then-modern sound to its motion picture presentations. Since that time, the Saenger has hosted endless events including concerts, dance recitals, movies, meetings, plays, and beauty pageants.

Biloxi‘s Musical Hangouts

Back in the day, folks traveled from far and near to visit Biloxi’s famous supper clubs to hear notable entertainers. One of our most memorable venues was that of Gus Stevens Supper Club, which was located at the northeast corner of Veterans Avenue and U.S. Highway 90. Not only did he serve amazing breakfast, lunch and supper meals, but he also provided high-end entertainment for his guests. Stars of stage, television, movies and radio made up his featured shows. Some of his popular entertainers included Mel Torme, Jerry Lee Lewis, Justin Wilson, Johnny Rivers, and Jayne Mansfield.

Sweet Sounds from Above

Biloxi’s assortment of music goes far beyond singing, musical instruments, and other electronic entities. Our beloved bird kingdom has always provided unique, pleasurable melodies.

One of the most entertaining and relaxing features of Biloxi is bird watching. These winged creatures have tunes all their own, and the true meaning of their language is generally unknown to humans. For years, Biloxians have been awed by the numerous visits of the Pelicans who remarkably can identify and scoop up their healthy aquatic dinners in one swoop. They are often seen resting on remnants of piers and flying overhead in formation. Our special Least Tern birds are well-protected visitors. While many birds fly south for the winter, Biloxi’s Least Terns migrate from the South, from Central and South America, and spend summers instead of winters on our sandy beaches. They arrive about the first week in April, find mates, and lay eggs in their nests on our beaches. The melodious shrill tunes of “kip-kip-kip” and harsh “zreep” make up their unique songs. Each female lays two to four eggs the color of sand. The parents are always busy fishing with their beaks. Their vacation in Biloxi is short-lived, and by the third week in September, the Least Tern families leave for their long journey down south. We can spot one of these nesting areas on the beach area just south of the Beauvoir home.

Years ago, in the late 1800s, the small, beautiful Least Terns became extinct. The millinery trade, then, was collecting and utilizing thousands of these birds’ skins, and utilizing their beautiful feathers in the production of women’s fashionable hats.

Did you know the true stories of “The Birds” in Biloxi? Not so long ago, in 1997, Biloxi was besieged by both pigeons and bats (who are mammals with wings). Biloxi’s prior public safety building became overcome with a nesting population of bats. And the canopies throughout the Vieux Marche, or Howard Avenue from Reynoir to Lameuse, had become a haven for pigeons. So, before the awnings in the Vieux Marche could be removed and before a new Public Safety Center could be torn down and replaced, city workers and volunteers carefully rescued all the bats and pigeons and relocated them without harming them in any way. These winged inhabitants were taken to safer homes. 

Pictured: The Kress Building along Howard Avenue in the 1940s

Lagniappe

Our very own Mayor "FoFo" Gilich is musically talented, inspired as a young boy growing up watching the “Music-Makers of Biloxi" such as legendary jazz musician Pete Fountain, Johnnie Elmer and The Rockets, and later the Rockin Rebels who all got their start in Biloxi back in the 1950s. Mayor Gilich has been spotted numerous times performing on his piano. Rumor has it that whenever and wherever he sees a piano, he can't resist tickling the keys! We like to believe Mayor Gilich learned his leadership skills early in life through his love of music and jamming with other musicians from across the coast!

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