On yonder hill there stands a creature, Who she is I do not know. I go and court her for her beauty, She must answer yes or no…   These words could conjure a beauty standing atop a sand dune glistening in the blinding haze of a hot July. Or, as the groove would […]

It is always interesting when stories are told and there is no photographic evidence to validate the story. This is particularly true when the story is so outrageous that it is borderline unbelievable. This was definitely the case with Ironing Board Sam’s infamous underwater blues show. I always believed that Sam actually performed this show […]

Tim Duffy and BB King in 1995 I met B.B. King in 1995 at Ocean Way Studio in Los Angeles, CA when he was recording with the Rolling Stones. I showed him photographs and played him our first CD from Music Maker, A Living Past. He immediately embraced our mission and introduced me to all […]

I never got the chance to meet Etta Baker but was a long time fan of her music even before I started to work at the Music Maker Relief Foundation. Her style of guitar playing is the most eloquent and parred down that I have ever heard. Only after listening after many years of listening […]

  J.C. McCool composed the fiddle standard “the Black Mountain rag.” he began his career when he was just 10 years old playing with Walter Davis and Clarence Greene, who recorded in the 1930s as the Blue Ridge Mountain entertainers. When I first came to Swannanoa, NC in 1981 to go to college, I was introduced to Walt Davis, […]