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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
A Living Past by Willa Mae Buckner As a newbie here at Music Maker, one of my first assignments was to learn the Music Maker story by watching our documentary “Toot Blues”. As I was [...]
Women’s History Month is a perfect time to shine a light on the female musicians who have contributed so much to American musical culture, so often without recognition. Those that did make it to [...]
