MUSIC MAKERS
Portraits and Songs from the Roots of America
Timothy Duffy | Editor
B.B. King | Foreword
- $35.00 hardcover
- 216 pages | 141 duo-tone photos
- 22-track exclusive cd
- 1-58818-085-9
- Music | Photography
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| Congress declares 2003 National Year of the Blues. Discover the important work of the Music Maker's Relief Foundation in this effort. |
A beautiful collection of photographs and stories of and about the musicians who cleared the way for Southern music as we know it—includes an exclusive 22-track CD of rare recordings by these "music makers"
“A fabulous project—real evidence that the music I have always loved is alive and well.”—Eric Clapton
the book
Recognizing that too many artists working in Southern musical traditions—the blues, R&B, hillbilly music, and other increasingly popular "roots" forms—had long been either ignored or abused by mainstream record labels and music media and were living in poverty and artistic neglect as a result, the Music Maker Relief Foundation was established in 1994 to redeem past wrongs. MMRF finds these pioneers and forgotten heroes and works with them both to help meet their basic needs for food, shelter, and medical care and to nourish their souls through committing their gifts to archival tape and touring them. Now, in Music Makers, the story comes to life through 141 stunning photographs and outstanding essays that take you to the drink houses, concert stages, church pulpits, back porches, and city sidewalks where this music lives today. The music of the South exists in these largely forgotten artists in an unbroken chain linking us to the days of slavery and to the earliest settlement of the Appalachians. Music Makers documents the living roots of a flowering tradition and what emerges is the most complete record of living roots musicians today.
Through a variety of MMRF programs, beneficiaries—all of whom must be 55 or over, earn less than $18,000 at year, and work in the Southern musical tradition—can get continuing grants for life necessities or one-time emergency relief, get financial and consulting help for touring, and acquire and maintain quality instruments. According to the Associated Press, "the atmosphere at the foundation’s five-room farmhouse is like a hip welfare agency, fundraising campaign, and jam session wrapped together." An important record of the MMRF’s stable of artists has emerged through the dynamic, grassroots work of foundation staff and volunteers Timothy Duffy, Alex Küstner, Hoppe and Mark Austin. Since 1988, the three photographers—as natively talented as the artists they photograph—have documented MMRF artists and events. Music Makers collects 141 remarkable black-and-white photographs of these performers for the first time. Included are photos, biographies, interviews and lyrics from seventy-five artists such as Beverly "Guitar" Watkins, Cootie Stark, Mudcat, Macavine Hayes, and Drink Small. Also included in the book is a twenty-three track, 80-minute CD of highlights from the MMRF archives created for the book and not available elsewhere.
the editor
Practical idealists Timothy and Denise Duffy head the Music Maker Relief Foundation in Hillsborough, N.C., outside Chapel Hill. The 501 (c) 3 has given well over $1 million in grants and assistance since its inception in 1994.
the praise
"[Music Makers: Portraits and Songs from the Roots of America is] a fabulous project—real evidence that the music I have always loved is alive and well."—Eric Clapton
"It’s great to have this window on some under-appreciated bluesmen and women. The Music Maker Relief Foundation and Music Makers: Portraits and Songs from the Roots of America do a terrific job bringing artists such as Precious Bryant and Beverly "Guitar" Watkins to light."—Bonnie Raitt
"Outstanding—a poignant contemporary record, equal parts musical celebration and cultural lament."—Acoustic Guitar
"[Music Maker Relief Foundation is] a labor of love and honor for the blues, and all its loudly unsung old-timers."—Pete Townshend
"Music Makers: Portraits and Songs from the Roots of America clearly dispels the notion that real blues musicians are long gone. The accompanying CD is incredible, a testament to the tremendous originality and musicianship of these artists!"—Taj Mahal
"Music Makers is a perfect complement to the exciting and promising resurgence in America’s roots music."—Morgan Freeman
"Music Maker Relief Foundation is not only preserving original American music for future generations, it is celebrating these jazz, blues, and country artists who have been the unsung heroes and heroines of telling it like it is. Now, in Music Makers, the rest of the world can hear their music, know their stories, and feel their lives."—Kim Cattrall, HBO's Sex in the City
"Music Makers is an essential document of roots music in America. It is alive with the voices of these great musicians, and a pure pleasure to read and ponder."—Rosanne Cash
"Not only are the faces saved for us to look at with gratitude and amazement, but the souls are there too. The photographs capture much more than a detailed, carefully posed image would—it is the simplicity and sincerity of these images, that so moves me. They do what photography does best--the opposite, really , of what Hemingway once said of Romero the bullfighter-- these images give us the maximum of exposure with minimal purity of gesture."—Sally Mann
"Music Makers is a rich portrait of contemporary blues artists and their worlds. This beautifully illustrated book reminds us of how much blues performers enrich our lives through both the wisdom and the sheer pleasure embodied in their music."—William Ferris, Center for the Study of the American South
"The Music Maker Relief Foundation preserves roots music and sustains the artists who create it. . . .a treasure."—Utne Reader
also of interest