Theotis Taylor’s new album, Something Within Me, will be the first time the world has heard a full length album from this legendary Georgian gospel singer and pianist. Something Within Me [...]
Outlaw by Harvey Dalton Arnold No rocks quite like Harvey Dalton Arnold, and he’s got the resumé to back up his explosive vocal performance. As a member of the the 70s rock band the [...]
Tomorrow night the Glorifying Vines Sisters will play in Carrboro, NC for our third installment of Freight Train Blues. The show will be an Eastern North Carolina Jubilee and feature four other [...]
Tim and Denise Duffy founded Music Maker because the musicians we partner with, who our society has cast away, are actually rockstars. Pictures of Guitar Gabriel, Precious Bryant, Ironing Board [...]
Ernie Vincent will be in Carrboro, NC this Friday to tear it down for our second Freight Train Blues of the season with his buddy Guitar Lightnin’ Lee to bring some of that New Orleans [...]
N.O.L.A. Rhythum And Booze by Guitar Lightnin’ Lee Guitar Lightnin’ Lee is coming to North Carolina for Freight Train Blues this month and Jazz Fest happened two weeks ago, so New [...]
Rain In Your Life by Essie Mae Brooks Essie Mae Brooks‘s voice and Cool John Ferguson‘s guitar were meant for one another on this track from Brooks’ 2000 album Rain in Your [...]
Music Maker’s Photo Exhibit, Our Living Past, On Display at the Gregg Museum of Art & Design in Raleigh!
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Timothy Duffy has been photographing musicians in the South for thirty-five years and is the founder of the Music Maker Relief Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Hillsborough, NC that [...]
Somewhere Between Truth & Sanity by Dave McGrew Dave McGrew is a songwriter for the ages and draws his musical inspiration from his rich experiences in the Great Northwest. Not all of [...]
What Left by Robert Lee Coleman When I walked into the studio during Robert Lee Coleman’s recording session for his new released album What Left, I know this was going to be a special [...]
Music Maker needs your support now to ensure that our collective culture lives on and remains vital for future generations: Your support identifies and serves artists who are an important part of [...]
Pickin’ Low Cotton by Boo Hanks If you got to spend even five minutes with Boo Hanks he would have a positive impact on your life. Boo was from deep within the Virginia countryside, just [...]
Hold The Rain by Pura Fé Pura Fé is a musical genius, period. Her singing and Hawaiian lap steel guitar playing are unique and deeply inspired by her Native heritage. Pair that with a super [...]
Amythyst Kiah is among the most recognized new voices interpreting, reviving, and reimagining the African American musical tradition. Both a scholar of African American music history and a [...]
Sisters Of The South by Marie Manning The blues, like any great work of art, serves as a mirror for life, giving us the opportunity to process it’s inevitable ups and downs. Hard Luck & [...]
We were quite surprised the other day to learn that Terrence Cunningham, who is Music Maker partner artist Etta Baker’s Great Nephew, was on the NBC TV show, The Voice. His performance [...]
Labor of Love by Taj Mahal This has to be one of Music Maker’s greatest releases. Recorded while on the Winston Blues Revival tour, and featuring many Music Maker partner artists, this [...]
Funk, Blues, Soul and Rock n’ Roll run through Robert Lee Coleman’s veins, and you can hear them all in his latest studio album, What Left, out March 27th on Music Maker Recordings. The album [...]
Songs From the Roots of America, Vol. 1 by John Lee Zeigler The connections that can be drawn from the Music Maker catalog to the history of African and early American music are many. Perhaps one [...]
Thomas O. “Pee Wee” Hayes can tell a story about one of the greatest seismic shifts in American history, and it’s the story of his own life. As a child, Pee Wee’s family uprooted their lives and [...]
The Music Maker Minute was created using interviews from the Music Maker Relief Foundation Archive. Each episode features a Music Maker partner artist and their personal experience with [...]
Honey Babe by Algia Mae HInton We were devastated to loose Algia Mae Hinton this past week. She has been a part of the Music Maker family since 1994. Like Algia’s personality, her music was [...]
Exclaim! wrote a raving review for Robert’s performance with Dan Auerbach at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver on Feb. 10th. This was the first show in for Robert’s tour with Dan [...]
The Como Mamas are cooking up some sweet gospel music in Como, Mississippi. Here, they express their eternal love and appreciation for their God for continuously providing for them. The live bass [...]
The Music Maker Minute was created using interviews from the Music Maker Relief Foundation Archive. Each episode features a Music Maker partner artist and their personal experience with race in [...]
In “Our Living Past,” Timothy Duffy immortalizes dozens of Southern Blues icons that he’s met over the course of his 35-year career as an artist and activist. Duffy is the founder and executive [...]
Vari-Colored Songs by Leyla McCalla From her Langston Hughes inspired album “Vari-Colored Songs” Leyla McCalla describes a racist southern setting with melancholic acoustic melodies in her track [...]
Grasshopper Pie by Slewfoot and the Angels Slewfoot’s six minute opus starts with some funky rudiments on the snare paired with a driving bass line and by the time the horns pop in Oh Boy [...]
Music Maker Relief Foundation partner artist the Como Mamas have won the Soul Prix from the Académie du Jazz for their album Move Upstairs! Check out all the winners and nominees here [...]
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, [...]
When Tim and I stepped into the Easy Eye Sound after Robert had been recording for several days we could immediately see that Dan Auerbach, Robert, and the studio musicians were buzzing — [...]
Little Willie Farmer was born in 1956 in the small town of Duck Hill, MS. He grew up on a farm where his father raised cows, chickens, cotton and corn. On Sundays, he had the choice between [...]
Lee Gates was born in Mississippi and moved to Milwaukee in 1959 as a teenager where he has been playing his brand of down home Blues for the past 50 years. Blues legend Albert Collins is his [...]
Christmas With Cootie by Cootie Stark Music Maker has done a couple holiday oriented albums over the years but none capture the genuine holiday party spirit quite like Christmas with Cootie. This [...]
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 [...]
My Name Is Precious by Precious Bryant During the holidays Music Maker always remembers our partner artists that are no longer with us, many whom our staff was very close with. Music [...]
One More Mile by Robert Lee Coleman Somebody loves Robert Lee Coleman, but he just doesn’t know who it is. Is it you? This track from Coleman’s 2012 album “One More Mile” [...]
On Monday WRAL’s Scott Mason aired a piece about the Glorifying Vines Sisters, their home church and their trip to Switzerland in August. Watch the piece – HERE!
If there are a matriarch and patriarch of Music Maker, they must be Algia Mae Hinton and Eddie Tigner. Algia Mae Hinton is a Piedmont blues guitarist and buckdancer who, at 87, is as legendary [...]
Prison Blues by Neal Pattman Neal Pattman grew up one of fourteen children on a farm in Washington County, GA. He lost his right arm in an accident with a wagon wheel when he was seven. From an [...]
Live and Let Live by Sweet Betty This Thanksgiving, Sweet Betty reminds us that if it’s good, pass it on down. We’re feeling her lessons learned in the kitchen–not just recipes, [...]
Clickin’ King of Hip Poppin’ by Whistlin’ Britches Whistlin’ Britches passed away from throat cancer shortly after I started working at Music Maker in 2011. I did get to spend [...]
At Home in the New Orleans Musicians’ Village by Little Freddie King Last week MMRFs Executive Director traveled down to New Orleans to visit with Little Freddie King who had recently been [...]
The good news just keeps on coming for Music Maker partner artist Robert Finley. Last week Robert announced that he would be embarking on a 20-date cross country tour with Dan Auerbach & the [...]
King Dracula by Homesick James “Tired of people, sucking my blood,” that’s a line from Homesick’s title song for his recent released – King Dracula. His analogy of [...]
Songs From the Roots of America, Vol. 1 by Music Maker Recordings
The Music Maker Revue Live! In Europe by Dr. Burt I wish I could have seen Dr. Burt perform live… I’ve heard just his presence alone could silence a crowd, leaving an audience completely [...]
Right from the slinky intro you know you’re in for one of those rare musical treats. The lead single from Robert Finley’s upcoming album, GOIN’ PLATINUM!, produced by Dan [...]
Check out the Facebook event – HERE
They Call Me Dr. Burt by Dr. G.B. Burt There are few people that could exude positivity and peace like Dr. Burt did. He was a true Freedom Fighter in his youth and later got to spread his good [...]
We are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of longtime friend and partner Norman Hewitt. In 1991, Norman took a chance booking an unknown bluesman named Guitar Gabriel for the Blues to Bop [...]
Turn Off the Fear by Carl Rutherford The first days of autumn can put one in a kind of melancholy contemplation, and it’s usually around this time of year that mountain gospel sounds best [...]
Dan Auerbach’s 63 Year-Old Protégé Robert Finley Shares Soulful Video ‘Medicine Woman’: Interview
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From Billboard.com — 10/4/2017 by Allison Stubblebine Louisiana-based singer Robert Finley is a prime example that talent only improves with age. The 63 year-old has teamed up with Dan [...]
In August, Music Maker booked a show for the Glorifying Vines Sisters in Lugano, Switzerland at the Blues to Bop Festival. Music Maker first played this festival in 1995 with founding artist [...]
Hallelujah Boogaloo by Drink Small Drink Small’s bass voice is sweet and savory, his storytelling is wry and real. But on “Widow Woman” it’s the way he plays that sparse, [...]
Outlaw by Harvey Dalton Arnold Harvey Dalton Arnold is a bona fide rocker. He’s performed for stadiums full of fans as a member of the Southern rock outfit the Outlaws. The crazy thing is [...]
When Michael Goodmon, the Vice-President of Real Estate for the Capital Broadcasting Company, drove past a billboard near downtown Durham promoting Music Maker’s 20th anniversary no one ever [...]
Buffalo Junction by Boo Hanks and Dom Flemons Boo Hanks had an impact on anyone that ever met him: the staff at MMRF, the audiences that were lucky enough to witness his performances, and [...]
Tuesday night was incredible–Robert Finley played at the eTown Hall in Boulder, CO to a sold out audience and absolutely killed it! He performed alongside country rock music legend Delbert [...]
Join the Bullpen’s Mailing List & You’ll Be Entered to Win 4 Tickets to Kenny Wayne Shepherd at the Carolina Theatre!
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This Stuff Just Kills Me by Jerry “Boogie” McCain I tried to dig on a single Jerry McCain song, but I just couldn’t do it — this record is just that good. No one can play [...]
Robert Finley, Little Freddie King, Guitar Lightnin’ Lee, & the Como Mamas to Perform at Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival!
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Music Maker is thrilled to announce that four Music Maker partner artists will be performing at the Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival on October 15th! The festival is FREE to the public and [...]
By: Christina Cooke Back when she dealt blackjack and performed the blues in Atlantic City, a music promoter named Peachy Lee assigned Pat Cohen the nickname “Mother Blues” in the advertising one [...]
I recently had the immense honor of traveling to Lugano Switzerland to the Blues to Bop festival with the Glorifying Vines Sisters. The trip was life changing for everyone involved, particularly [...]
Blues Came to Georgia by Rufus McKenzie Rufus McKenzie brings you straight to the truth. His songs weave together vivid life experiences that use melody as the ultimate teacher. His wisdom stems [...]
At Home in the New Orleans Musicians’ Village by Little Freddie King Each song on “At Home in the New Orleans Musicians’ Village” feels like slowly, blissfully, sinking [...]
Clickin’ King of Hip Poppin’ by Whistlin’ Britches There are few characters in Music Maker’s history as gregarious as Haskell Thompson, affectionately known as [...]
z2 Comics graphic novel Murder Ballads is available everywhere today. Murder Ballads features and original soundtrack from Dan Auerbach (the Black Keys) and Music Maker partner artist Robert [...]
My Name Is Precious by Precious Bryant This has to be the best version of this classic song I’ve ever heard. Her guitar playing is chunky and intentional….then her voice kicks in. The [...]
When Tim texted me early on a Sunday morning about taking a trip (the very next day) to Southern, GA, I knew it would be a unique journey. On the way down, Tim explained that he had spoken with [...]
Songs of T-Town by Larry Shores I remember my first day at Music Maker and heading down to the basement/warehouse to make CDs and seeing this album on the shelf. At this point, my Southern [...]
Last week Music Maker partner artist Robert Finley was featured in Rolling Stone & Pitchfork for his upcoming project with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. The project is an original [...]
Turn Off the Fear by Carl Rutherford There is nothing like some classic country. Carl Rutherford’s voice is stands up right next to any of the country greats and paired with Cool John [...]
Gospel Train by Bishop Dready Manning Trains and particularly train sounds are commonplace in the Music Maker office. Our Executive Director has an extensive collection of train sounds on vinyl [...]
Entertainment Weekly previews Robert Finley’s latest project for z2 Comics graphic novel Murder Ballads with Dan Auerbach. Read the article…HERE
Alabama Slim grew up in rural Alabama, and you can hear it in his voice. The slower paced agrarian life he experienced on the farm is reflected in his intentionally slow and smooth groove. Now a [...]
Sing It Louder by Cary Morin It’s hard to understand how Cary Morin fits all those notes on his guitar, and never breaks the rhythm. It’s hard to understand how he does so much work, and sounds [...]
Get Nung! by The Nee Ningy Band The Triangle area’s own Nee Ningy Band were big on the festival scene in the late 70’s and 80’s. With seemingly every sound and instrument on earth at their [...]
270 Haystack Rd. by Benton Flippen With summer in full swing it’s tough not to think about our old friend Benton Flippen from Mt. Airy, North Carolina. Ask anyone that’s into old-time [...]
In the Pines by Dan Auerbach and Robert Finley / MURDER BALLADSThere are a few songs in the America’s musical lexicon as quintessential as In the Pines. From Leadbelly to Nirvana this tune [...]
Somewhere Between Truth & Sanity by Dave McGrew Dave McGrew has lived a thousand lives and then some. Since the age of 6 he has been picking fruit in the Great Northwest, rambling from town [...]
The Great Unknown by Big Ron Hunter Big Ron Hunter’s opening track “Going For Myself” on The Great Unknown exudes joy and confidence in the wake of finding himself on his own after his mother and [...]
[bandcamp width=700 height=472 album=408860055 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 artwork=small] Dave McGrew, b. 1959 in Cordelain, Idaho, set out to work picking fruit at the age of 6. [...]
Stream the Como Mamas upcoming Daptone release Move Upstairs! http://www.npr.org/2017/05/11/527785072/first-listen-the-como-mamas-move-upstairs Purchase the album here – http://geni.us/Sp0tC0
Last month I received an unusual phone call from a mysterious woman. There was a lot of commotion in the background as she asked if I knew where Ironing Board Sam was and how she could get in [...]
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=2978486962 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=3371431994] Dom will often reminisce about going into the library in [...]
[bandcamp width=700 height=120 album=3293757779 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=664935305] Little Pink Anderson just called, he said he had a [...]
As we the cold starts to fade and the plants start to bloom and we head out of a dreary winter our glee is elevated by the best part about the forthcoming warmth – Music Festival [...]
[bandcamp width=700 height=120 album=774377531 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=1833237913] Cootie Stark, Abe Reid, Taj Mahal and Tim Duffy make this [...]
[bandcamp width=700 height=120 album=3062621808 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=999898445] In 2013, when Music Maker hired two interns from France, I [...]
[bandcamp width=700 height=120 album=1421561895 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=413072801] Algia Mae Hinton is a powerful musician. Not only is [...]
Noted French talent scout and aficionado of American roots music, Guy “L’Americain” Fay, passed away Tuesday, December 22, in Hospital Henri Mondor in Creteil, a southeast [...]
Continuing the surprisingly rich tradition of musical excellence in Panola County, Mississippi. March 22nd 2017 by Marty Sartini Garner photo by Aaron A. Greenhood Sisters Angela Taylor and Della [...]
Deers R Us by The Deer Clan Singers The Deer Clan Singers are a family of the Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina led by Dave Locklear, Mark Deese, Pura Fe, and Chad Locklear who play [...]
Following in a line of black country singers that include Charley Pride, Linda Martell, Ray Charles and more recently Darius Rucker, Sam Frazier, Jr. sings the sweet songs that have defined [...]
