Music Maker Foundation: Celebrating 30 Years

Featuring Taj Mahal, Dom Flemons, and Jackson Browne.

Originating on back porches and around kitchen tables, church halls, and barrooms, roots music comes from the common working folk and reflects the complex and diverse cultural tapestry of the American nation.

When Music Maker Founder Tim Duffy met Taj Mahal in a recording Studio in Los Angeles in 1995, Taj had already been seeking out the best in American roots music for 30 years. Mahal jumped on board immediately and they became fast friends. Soon after, Taj began visiting Music Maker headquarters in North Carolina to record with seasoned artists like Etta Baker, John Dee Holeman, and Cootie Stark. Tim and Taj took the show on the road, touring more than 40 American cities in a Blues Revival Tour. Taj has served on the Foundation’s boards ever since as an artist advocate.

Jackson Browne first encountered the Music Maker Blues Revue in 2006 on tour in Byron Bay Australia. Intrigued by the authenticity of gut-bucket blues artist Macavine Hayes, as well as Music Maker’s recordings of John Lee Zeigler, he soon became a member of the organization’s Advisory Board.

On October 10, these artists come together with Music Maker’s Next Generation artists, the cultural children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of the first roots musicians the organization served when it launched in 1994. These young artists are bringing these traditions forward into a new millennium. Guided by esteemed practitioners Taj Mahal, Dom Flemons, and Jackson Browne, we present a mosaic of American roots music’s enduring evolution.