Cora "Lovie" Austin (September 19, 1887 – July 8, 1972)[1][2] was an American Chicago bandleader, session musician, composer, singer, and arranger during the 1920s classic blues era.

[7] She led her own band, the Blues Serenaders, which usually included trumpeters Tommy Ladnier, Bob Shoffner, Natty Dominique, or Shirley Clay on cornet, Kid Ory or Albert Wynn on trombone, and Jimmy O'Bryant or Johnny Dodds on clarinet, along with banjo and occasional drums.

Austin's skills as songwriter can be heard in the classic "Down Hearted Blues", a tune she co-wrote with Alberta Hunter.

[11] When the classic blues craze began to wane in the early 1930s, Austin settled into the position of musical director for the Monogram Theater, at 3453 South State Street in Chicago where all the T.O.B.A.

After World War II she became a pianist at Jimmy Payne's Dancing School at Penthouse Studios, and performed and recorded occasionally.

[1] Mary Lou Williams, a pianist born in Atlanta, Georgia,[14] claimed that Lovie Austin is her greatest influence.