Last year we talked about New Orleans artist Guitar Lightnin’ Lee’s need for new floors and other repairs in his home. Lee has been recovering from a tough bout with cancer and was unable to play shows for a while. Music Maker’s sustenance support helped Lee through those trying times, but the old shotgun house […]

Even in today’s music business, the album is crucial to an artist’s career. Without an album you can’t get gigs, and every musician wants to gig. When I met Guitar Gabriel, Captain Luke, Willa Mae Buckner, and the community of blues musicians in Winston Salem, NC back in 1991, I was trying to figure out […]

Born in Detroit in 1938, Frank Robinson started playing the piano at a very young age. His natural talent playing the blues was immense, winning him a local talent show at the age of three. In 1946, Sugar Chile, as he came to be known, played for Harry S. Truman at the White House Correspondents […]

Ironing Board Sam’s sudden stroke in October of 2015 pulled him away from the stage just as his career was taking a turn towards stardom. But even if things have gotten a bit quiet in his life lately, he remains an integral part of the Music Maker community. We worked hard with him through the […]

Born in Pontotoc, MS, Lee Gates is guitarist who stands among giants like Albert Collins, the Kings and Jimi Hendrix. For proof of this claim, one need look no farther than the three records he made with Music Maker. In 2014, Lee had a stroke and began the long road to recovery. It wasn’t until […]