Music Maker (label)
| Music Maker Relief Foundation | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1994 |
| Founder | Tim Duffy Denise Duffy |
| Distributor(s) | Dixiefrog Records (Europe) |
| Genre | Blues, gospel, folk, soul, R&B |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Location | Hillsborough, North Carolina |
| Official website | www |
Music Maker Relief Foundation is an American non-profit, based in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Music Maker Relief Foundation was founded in 1994 by Tim and Denise Duffy to "help the true pioneers and forgotten heroes of Southern music gain recognition and meet their day-to-day needs. Music Maker presents these musical traditions to the world so American culture will flourish and be preserved for future generations."
In 1989, while completing his studies for a master's degree in Folklore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Tim Duffy was documenting blues musician James "Guitar Slim" Stephens for the university's Southern Folklife Collection. Stephens's health was in decline, and shortly before his death, he advised Duffy to locate a musician named Guitar Gabriel.
After his graduation, Duffy began working as a substitute teacher at a middle school in Winston-Salem, hearing an assortment of folkloric tales about Guitar Gabriel from students, until one student volunteered that Gabriel was her neighbor, living in the government housing projects of Winston-Salem. That evening, Duffy followed the student's directions to a "drink house" in the neighborhood, where he met Gabriel's nephew, Hawkeye, who took him to meet Gabriel. Duffy forged a close friendship with Gabriel, and the two began recording and performing under the name Guitar Gabriel & Brothers in the Kitchen, releasing the album Do You Know What it Means to Have a Friend? (also known as Toot Blues) on their own Karibu label in 1991.
Gabriel had been inactive in the music industry since the 1970 release of his album My South, My Blues (as Nyles Jones) on the Gemini label. He had received no royalties and was impoverished. He required almost daily assistance from Duffy, who provided transportation to medical appointments, money, and food for Gabriel and his wife. Through Gabriel, Tim and Denise Duffy made field recordings of other local blues musicians, such as Captain Luke, Macavine Hayes, Mr. Q., and Willa Mae Buckner. They lived in poor conditions and needed regular assistance. Duffy thought their culture was slipping away unnoticed by the music industry.
...
Wikipedia