Tending the roots of American Music
Music Maker meets the day-to-day needs of the artists who create traditional American music, ensures their voices are heard, and gives all people access to our nation’s hidden musical treasures.
SUSTENANCE
Grants to our partner musicians help them keep roofs over their heads, food on their tables, instruments in their hands, and help them weather crises.
Performance
We book our artists’ performances—everywhere from venues in their hometowns to stages around the world—and provide them with CDs to sell in their communities.
Education
We create books, release recordings, and curate exhibitions that tour museums across the United States, creating cultural equity for our partner artists.
Meet the Artist & Discover the Music
Guitar Gabriel
BluesA search for this elusive bluesman gave birth to the Music Maker Foundation. Gabe said he could “do more with a guitar than a monkey can do with a peanut,” and the first time Eric Clapton heard him, the response was simply, “Oh, my God.”
Discover “Hanging Tree Guitars”
BluesSculptor and art guitar maker Freeman Vines’ revelatory “Hanging Tree Guitars” project — now an acclaimed book and exhibition featured on NPR and in Rolling Stone — reveals an unspoken American history and gives voice to those silenced.
Etta Baker
BluesEtta was an extraordinarily sophisticated, highly lyrical, and ultimately extremely influential guitar player. She rarely sang and told us she didn’t need to. Her guitar, she told us, spoke for her.
Discover the Piedmont Blues
BluesHow did a culture that influenced the likes of Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, and the White Stripes stay hidden for so long? Learn about the Piedmont style and why its culture is alive and well today.
Photo by Tim Duffy.
Robert Lee Coleman
BluesPlaying behind Percy Sledge and James Brown, Robert Lee Coleman became a pioneer of two wonderful American music genres: soul and funk.
Discover the Sacred Soul of North Carolina
SacredThe jubilee quartet style has roots going back to the 17th century — and branches into life in the 21st. This music influenced the formation of rock ’n’ roll, soul, and rhythm & blues.
Photo by Zoe van Buren.
Get involved
& give back
The Music Maker Foundation depends on thousands of supporters. Together, we work to meet the day-to-day needs of the artists who create traditional American music, we ensure their voices are heard, we give all people access to our nation’s hidden musical treasures. Please contribute or shop our store today.
