BATON ROUGE — The Baton Rouge Blues Festival and Foundation announced that its long-time president, Bill Bryan, passed away at the age of 67 on Friday.

According to a report by nola.com, Bryan was known as the founder of the Louisiana Independent Party in 2016. 

Bryan grew up in Baton Rouge, graduating from LSU before working as a cameraman and reporter for Louisiana  Public Broadcasting.

He ventured into working for political candidates, working with Edwin Edwards during his return to the Governor's Mansion in 1991 and on the presidential campaign of Bill Clinton in Louisiana in 1992. 

Bryan later graduated from Southern University Law School in 1999, handling election law cases for attorneys general Charles Foti and Buddy Caldwell. He also served on the board of the Press Club of Baton Rouge.