ARTIST DIRECTORY
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Mary Lane
Electric Blues
Born in 1936, in Clarendon, Arkansas, she grew up picking cotton until moving to Chicago where she quickly became a…
Mary Lane
John Dee Holeman
Acoustic Blues
One of Music Maker’s most renowned and respected artists, John Dee Holeman spent the first six years of his life in Hillsborough,…
John Dee Holeman
Sugar Chile Robinson
Featured
Frank “Sugar Chile” Robinson was one of the first African American child stars to become a household name. Born in…
Sugar Chile Robinson
Theotis Taylor
Gospel Music
Brother Theotis Taylor is a gospel singer and pianist from Fitzgerald, Georgia, where he has lived since 1943. Taylor’s parents,…
Theotis Taylor
Willie Farmer
Little Willie Farmer is living proof that Mississippi continues to produce deep blues. The 62-year-old guitarist is neither a soul…
Willie Farmer
Thomas Rhyant
Active Touring Artists
As a young boy in Florida, Thomas Rhyant used to slip out of the house late at night to sit…
Thomas Rhyant
Bob Stephens
Active Touring Artists
Bob Stephens is a “road warrior.” Forty-eight years of performing and countless miles on the road are what separates Bob…
Bob Stephens
The Glorifying Vines Sisters
Active Touring Artists
The Glorifying Vines Sisters are a thriving musical institution. Based in Eastern North Carolina, they’ve been tearing up the road…
The Glorifying Vines Sisters
Willie King
Electric Blues
Willie King lives in Pickens County Alabama, just a few miles from Mississippi, several miles from Aliceville. He envisioned and…
Willie King
Willie James Williams
Electric Blues
Willie James Williams played drums for Willie King for 36 years. When King died, Willie James was put out of…
Willie James Williams
William Maxwell
Acoustic Blues
“You can’t predict what life will bring you. We’re not in control of that; the Lord is. We pray every…
William Maxwell
Willa Mae Buckner
Acoustic Blues
Willa Mae Buckner was born on June 15th, 1922 in Augusta, Georgia. In her days as a touring performer, Buckner…
Willa Mae Buckner
The Como Mamas
Gospel Music
The Como Mamas sing the get-you-through kind of gospel. These three women from Como, Mississippi—Ester Mae Smith, Angelia Taylor, and…
The Como Mamas
The Branchettes
Gospel Music
The Branchettes of Johnston County, North Carolina (Ethel Eliot and Lena Mae Perry) have been performing hymns and gospel songs…
The Branchettes
Tad Walters
Electric Blues
Born in Canton, Ohio, and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, Tad Walters began playing the guitar at age 12. As…
Tad Walters
Sweet Betty
Electric Blues
“When Sweet Betty sings there is an inevitable roar of pleasure from the crowd!” -Bob Margolin Born in Duluth, GA,…
Sweet Betty
Spencer Branch
Folk
Spencer Branch brings their Appalachian tradition forward, mixing traditional country, old time, and original music. Their beautiful harmonies and steadfast…
Spencer Branch
Sonny Boy King
Electric Blues
“As for my advice to kids today, they are worried too much about what kind of guitar they have. I…
Sonny Boy King
Sol
Electric Blues
Sol is a rare, one of a kind musician. His talent stretches from fiery rock to laid back jazz, and…
Sol
Slewfoot
Folk
“Slewfoot and Cary Beckelheimer‘s voices mesh together with an easy, haunting grace, but it is their songwriting, both separately and…
Slewfoot
Skeeter Brandon
Electric Blues
Despite his relative youth, still in his early 50s, Skeeter’s music reflects the influence of a century of African American…
Skeeter Brandon
Shelton Powe
Shelton plays in the Piedmont finger-style guitar tradition of his parents and elders. Listening to him play and sing, you…
Shelton Powe
Sam Frazier, Jr.
Active Touring Artists
Sam Frazier, Jr. can play the harp like Sonny Boy Williamson or sing a country tune like Charley Pride, a…
Sam Frazier, Jr.
Rufus McKenzie
Acoustic Blues
Rufus McKenzie was born to a sharecropping family in Perry, Georgia, in 1927. As a child he worked in the…
Rufus McKenzie
Robert Lee Coleman
Active Touring Artists
Robert Lee Coleman of Macon, Georgia played guitar for Percy Sledge from 1964 to 1969. In 1970, James Brown hired…
Robert Lee Coleman
Robert Finley
Active Touring Artists
Robert Finley of Bernice, Louisiana, has been playing the guitar nearly all his life. At the age of 11, his…
Robert Finley
Robert “Wolfman” Belfour
Acoustic Blues
Robert “Wolfman” Belfour was born on September 11th, 1940, in Holly Springs, Mississippi. His deep blues style and husky voice…
Robert “Wolfman” Belfour
Reverend Perry Tillis
Acoustic Blues
Blind from birth, Perry spent his youth learning from older bluesmen and as a young man he traveled throughout the…
Reverend Perry Tillis
Red Rover
Folk
Red Rover is part of Music Maker’s Next Generation Artists program. Tim and Susan Wells grew up listening to traditional…
Red Rover
Pura Fé
Native American
“With her voice soaring, foot stomping, this beautiful songbird transcends time and brings the message of our ancestors who have…
Pura Fé
