Commissions
Music Maker Foundation
Music Maker Foundation seeks out the carriers of America’s oldest roots music traditions. They develop long-term relationships with senior artists who are extremely knowledgeable and show excellence in those traditions.
Its programs serve the most vulnerable artists — those marginalized by age, poverty, race, gender — because these are the artists least likely to have the resources to share their musical messages with the world. They have difficulty accessing broader audiences and often lack the tools needed to reach their creative potential.
Since 1994, they have served over 500 musicians whose work spans the entire history of American music: blues, gospel, folk, singer-songwriter, Appalachian string band and Native American. Their primary focus is on musicians 55 years and older, and we provide financial grants only to those making less than $25,000 per year, or who face a crisis. They also work with some emerging musicians, often in collaboration with senior artists who want to carry their traditions forward.
Songkeepers Anthology Co-Published by No Depression/FreshGrass
For three decades Music Maker Foundation has sought out the country’s unsung, tending the roots of American music - this new 143-page book, proudly co-published by No Depression, is accompanied by an 85 song, four-CD compilation from various artists drawn from over 200 releases in the MMF catalog.
Song Keepers is Music Maker Foundation’s sixth book chronicling their innovative methods of preserving and nurturing American music. The book contains interviews with figures integral to the development of Music Maker like roots musicians Taj Mahal, Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens, and distinguished Folklorist-Former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities William Ferris. Song Keepers is dotted with portraits of the musicians, artists, and street philosophers who’ve travelled with the foundation. And it features 100 stunning photographs, both striking black-and-white tintypes and luminous color images.
As for the music, the four discs of the box-set map an entire underground world of contemporary roots. The collection represents figures from the earliest days of Music Maker’s founding, guitarists like Guitar Gabriel, Drink Small, and Cootie Stark, to the vibrant contemporary work of young gospel singers Faith & Harmony. It abounds with rare (Walker Calhoun’s Cherokee-language take on “Amazing Grace”), previously unreleased (David Butler’s “Poor Boy”) and obscure tracks (Ironing Board Sam’s Allen Toussaint-produced “Man on the Street”), and stone-cold classics from established legends like Etta Baker.
Disc 1—Snap Your Fingers: Acoustic Blues
Disc 2—Back in Business: Electric Blues
Disc 3—No Ways Tired: Sacred Soul and Gospel
Disc 4—This Old House: Eclectic Folk
