In case you hadn’t heard, we were incredibly fortunate to line up an incredible touring gig for some of our artists in Australia. Bluesfest Byron Bay brought the Music Maker Relief [...]
Give today! Calling all Music Maker supporters! Generous Music Maker members have combined forces to propose a matching grant. They will match your gift up to $80,000 if you give by June 30th! [...]
Listen: Out of Jail Algia Mae Hinton is best known as a skilled guitarist and buck dancer. She often would combine these two to create a show-stopping performance. Perhaps that’s why “Out of [...]
Several generous supporters are matching your donations this spring. Find out how to make your gift count towards this match! This March, Tim and our interns from France, Simon and Raphael, [...]
[nggallery id=9] Check out these photos from the Music Maker Blues Revue’s tour of Australia! Aaron is managing the tour and regularly sends us updates. The artists are having a great time [...]
The Blues has been and always will be storytelling at its core. Originally in intimate home settings with family and friends, the players chose music as their vehicle to express guitar-laden [...]
Music Maker began working with a then-twelve year old guitar prodigy, Lakota John Locklear, in 2010. We’re committed to working with younger artists as time allows – we feel that young artists [...]
Lakota John Locklear is a great example of how the Blues is alive and well among young artists. A Next Generation Artist, and a Blues prodigy at 15 years old, Lakota John’s appreciation for [...]
Music Maker Artists Ironing Board Sam, Major Handy, Pat Wilder, Ardie Dean, Dr. Burt, Albert White and Nashid Abdul-Khaaliq are embarking on a ten-day tour of Australia, culminating in a series [...]
Listen: Baby’s Gone, Soon Be Gone Myself Jack Owens strips it all away in this rendition of “Baby’s Gone, Soon Be Gone Myself.” His plaintive wailing evokes the feeling of a rural funeral lament [...]
Essie Mae Brooks from Perry, Georgia has been singing and writing gospel songs since she was a girl. So, she’s kind of an expert. Her songs are meditations on getting through hard times, facing [...]
I just had a big birthday. When I reached 40, I was irked, because I felt the compulsion to accept certain realities about my life and where it might not go in the future. Having not won an [...]
After Sam visited the Orange County Charter School for the second time, we received a stack of thank-you notes and drawings done for him by the students! Sam was so moved, and we were too – [...]
Listen: Chapel Hill Boogie I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Chapel Hill, NC – ask any UNC graduate and they’ll say the same. For me it’s about more than just [...]
Nobody works as hard as a Bluesman, and if you’ve ever been at a bar where Ironing Board Sam is performing, you believe it. An energetic stage show is almost always followed by mingling with the [...]
Traveling with artists to shows is an essential, especially when your goal is to bring Roots music to audiences around the country and the world. Along the way I have often faced challenges [...]
Listen: Don’t Take Your Love From Me Mr. Q’s Cocktail Boogie is an album we had a debate about in the office yesterday. Aaron claimed we didn’t have it, I said we did, but we didn’t have [...]
The Life and Times of Jerry “Boogie” McCain: The Real Thing by Grover Brown is a tribute to Boogie, who passed last year. Boogie asked Brown to write his life’s story, and the [...]
“You listen to my CD in your ear, wear my tee shirt on your chest, and you’ll feel good about yourself in the morning.” This was Guitar Gabriel’s mantra between tunes at every one of the hundred [...]
Soul food and Roots music share a common birthplace among the poor, rural communities in the American South. As I recently read on NPR.com, “…soul food was survival food in the black [...]
