Announcing the Carolina Music Makers Fund

Hillsborough, NC (October 8, 2024) — Music Maker Foundation, a North Carolina-based nonprofit which promotes American musical traditions and supports musicians in need, announces the launch of the Carolina Music Makers Fund. The Carolina Music Makers Fund will provide aid to musicians impacted by Hurricane Helene in the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and Florida, with a special focus on western North Carolina.

The organization will be collecting donations for the Carolina Music Makers Fund online and at their upcoming 30th anniversary events. An anonymous donor will match the first $10,000 given to the fund. All funds raised will be distributed to musicians affected by Helene across the Southeast through direct grants and social worker services.

“Culture is just as vulnerable to natural disasters as homes and infrastructure,” says Denise Duffy, Music Maker co-founder and Managing Director, “and Asheville is the most vibrant music city in North Carolina. By directly providing impacted musicians with financial assistance and social worker services to rebuild their lives, we can keep our mountains musical.”

Music Maker Foundation has been involved in disaster relief for much of their 30-year history, including aid funds for musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and catastrophic flooding in Baton Rouge in 2016. But the devastation left by Hurricane Helene hits especially close to home for co-founders Tim and Denise Duffy. Tim studied at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC, where he immersed himself in the local old-time music community and took his first steps towards becoming a folklorist.

“I lived in Swannanoa from 1981 through the summer of 1983,” says Tim Duffy, co-founder and Executive Director. “I spent every Monday, Thursday, and Friday at old-time picking parties in Black Mountain, Asheville, and Marshall – all communities that have been devastated by flooding.”

The mountains of North Carolina and the surrounding states have long been home to some of America’s most vibrant musical communities, from old-time string bands and gospel groups to blues musicians and singer-songwriters.

“The music made in these mountains has contributed so much to our national culture,” Tim says. “Sadly, the folks who keep these musical traditions alive are usually the first to be displaced in a disaster, and find it difficult to return. Our nation loses something very special, an important part of our cultural vibrancy.”

To contribute to the Carolina Music Makers Fund, make a gift online at bit.ly/carolina-music-makers-fund, call the Music Maker Foundation office at 919-643-2456, or mail a check made out to Music Maker Foundation to PO Box 1358, Hillsborough, NC 27278. If sending a check, please write “Carolina Music Makers Fund” in the memo line.