Cynthia Simien is an experienced booking agent and artist manager with a 35-year career spanning touring and live music, the recording industry, performing arts, and youth and family programming. Her work combines artist representation and career development with a deep commitment to economic equity, advocacy, and service to the music community.
She led a groundbreaking seven-year effort to establish the Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album category at the GRAMMY Awards, transforming recognition for Louisiana roots music. The resulting legacy includes hundreds of GRAMMY nominations and dozens of awards recognizing Louisiana roots music creators.
In 2001, she connected South Louisiana’s music community with the Recording Academy, helping expand membership and visibility for artists whose contributions had long been overlooked by the organization and Grammy awards. She later became the first woman elected by her peers to serve as a National Trustee representing the Memphis Chapter of the Recording Academy.
She was appointed to the Louisiana Music Commission by two governors and contributed to the groundbreaking cultural economy initiative Where Culture Means Business, led by then-Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu.
A longtime advocate for racial and gender equity, Cynthia champions women and people of color in the music industry, particularly the Louisiana roots music creators whose contributions have helped shape the cultural identity of the state, the American South, and the nation.
Her advocacy for cultural recognition also led to a zydeco music exhibit at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tennessee, featured during the museum’s grand opening in 2021 after two years of lobbying curatorial staff.
In 2026, she and her husband and business partner, Terrance Simien, a two-time GRAMMY Award-winning zydeco roots artist, were honored with the City of Lafayette’s International Achievement Award.
She is also involved in Music Lafayette, a new music economy initiative and collective working to strengthen and support the local music ecosystem.