Steamboat Willie

Larry Stoops, better known as "Steamboat Willie" (born 1951), is a veteran musician of Dixieland, jazz, and ragtime music, specializing in the early twentieth century era of the genres. He and his band perform nightly at Musical Legends Park, in the French Quarter of New Orleans, at the Cafe Beignet.

Early life Born in East St. Louis, Illinois, the son of Resal and Edith [Rutledge] Stoops, Larry Stoops was playing cornet in a Pentecostal church band by the age of 8, and developed a style he refers to as, "playing fancy." While still a teenager, Stoops went to Tupelo, Mississippi, to study at the Pentecostal Bible Institute. He sold Kirby vacuum sweepers and worked at a local grocery for $1 an hour to put himself through school. His first job after graduation was selling Bibles. Married at 20, Stoops was posted as an assistant pastor in Maine, but “I just couldn’t make it. I couldn’t make enough money to feed myself or my wife. One day I got a six-pack of beer, called the pastor, and let them know I quit. (I didn’t even drink.)” Three of Stoops four siblings are members of the clergy. In 2006, Stoops became a resident of New Orleans' Musicians' Village, a Habitat for Humanity project for musicians displaced by Katrina, and performed privately for Norway's Crown Prince Haakon when he toured the recovering area later that year.

Discography Steamboat Willie Meets Dr. Jazz Live in New Zealand Living It Up in New Orleans Songs Of Praise Live in New Orleans (Volumes 1 & 2) New Orleans Kind of Love Steamboat Willie Meets Plink Floyd (Volumes 1 & 2) Gospel Jubilee The Legend of Jack Daniels (2008)