Born in New York City in 1970, Marc Stone was playing blues clubs by seventeen and running the Eclectic Acoustic Jam in Greenwich Village in the early 1990s. He moved to New Orleans in 1993 and worked his way up from street corners to concert stages, backing a long list of Louisiana greats: C.J. Chenier, Eddie Bo, Marva Wright, Terrance Simien, Ernie K-Doe, Big Al Carson, John Boutté, and Dwayne Dopsie. Unburdened by stylistic constraints, he handles blues, R&B, funk, gospel, zydeco, folk, bluegrass, and rock with equal dexterity.
Stone created, produced, and served as musical director of the Louisiana Blues Throwdown, which played every major club in New Orleans — House of Blues, Tipitina's, the Maple Leaf — and headlined the 2003 Johnstown Folk Festival. A two-year residency at the Old Point Bar produced his first full-length album, Kickin' at the Old Point (2005, Tullip), followed by Live in Europe (c. 2017). He hosts the weekly 'Soul Serenade' show on WWOZ 90.7 FM and writes as an OffBeat columnist.
2024 was a breakout year: Shining Like A Diamond (Bent River Records), his first studio album in years, featured Leo Nocentelli and George Porter Jr. of the Meters alongside Joy Clark, Mike Dillon, Bruce 'Sunpie' Barnes, Lilli Lewis, Papa Mali, and Alvin 'Youngblood' Hart; its single 'The Truth (Is What I Wanna Know)' landed in AMC's crime drama Parish. He closed French Quarter Fest and opened Jazz Fest with Rockin' Dopsie Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters, and in 2025 played his first-ever solo set at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. He appears at the Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival in October 2026.
