We first made Essie Mae Brooks’ acquaintance in 1995, when she was 66 years old. Today, at age 92, she’s still singing the gospel and writing her own songs. When we established the Music Maker [...]
It overjoys all of us at Music Maker to wish our partner artist David Bryant a happy 62nd birthday. David’s roots in the blues run deep. His grandfather, Curley Weaver, was a great [...]
In late February, Music Maker was pleased to welcome back Brittany Anderson as our social worker. Brittany had previously served in that position for us from April 2018 through December 2019. [...]
When you met Algia Mae Hinton, the first thing you would notice was her hands. They were weathered hands, hands that had picked a million cucumbers. They were a farm laborer’s hands, and they [...]
The music of Etta Baker first put its hooks in me when I was a hockey-playing, 15-year-old suburban kid in Connecticut. One of my friend’s older brothers had a massive folk music collection. We [...]
The world has now spent an entire year living with the COVID-19 pandemic. What has this meant for Music Maker’s many partner artists? Our social worker, Brittany Anderson, sums it up best: “What [...]
Thirty years working with blues musicians has taught me that there can be great irony woven into the stage names performers choose for themselves — particularly with female players who opt for [...]
Witnessing the Como Mamas, the amazing gospel group from Como, Mississippi, on stage will transport you. No matter if you see them at a festival or a concert hall, where you wind up is in [...]
Chance meetings have always played a huge part in how Music Maker has built up its roster of partner artists over the years. From the beginning, when James “Guitar Slim” Stephens told me I had to [...]
“Any tree could be a hanging tree.'” — Freeman Vines For the exhibition of Freeman Vines’ Hanging Tree Guitars, Music Maker commissioned Dr. Will Boone of North Carolina State University to [...]
Nick Loss-Eaton here again to offer a few of my picks from the Music Maker catalog for Bandcamp Friday. On March 5 and the first Fridays of April and May, Bandcamp will waive its cut of the [...]
