Music Maker uses a Mark Levinson-designed portable recording system to capture their music with astonishing fidelity. Using this equipment, Tim Duffy has made field recordings equivalent to those made in state-of-the-art studios. Music Maker is now endorsed by BB King, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, and other music celebrities. The first Music Maker Relief Foundation compilation CD remastered by Mark Levinson from Tim Duffy’s early field cassette tapes was designated R 1 in the LG Reference CD Collection.
Helping & connecting artists since 1994
Tim and Denise Duffy founded Music Maker in 1994 to preserve and support our nation’s musical traditions by improving the lives of the artists who make them. We concentrate on the essential musical traditions of the South: blues, gospel, string band, folk, Native American, and singer-songwriter. These traditions form the very roots of our nation’s musical culture.
Music Maker Foundation seeks out the carriers of America’s oldest roots music traditions. We develop long-term relationships with senior artists who are extremely knowledgeable and show excellence in those traditions.
Our programs serve the most vulnerable artists — those marginalized by age, poverty, race, gender, etc. — because these are the artists least likely to have the resources to share their musical messages with the world. They have difficulty accessing broader audiences and often lack the tools needed to reach their creative potential.
Since 1994, we have served over 500 musicians whose work spans the entire history of American music: blues, gospel, folk, singer-songwriter, Appalachian string band and Native American. Our primary focus is on musicians 55 years and older, and we provide financial grants only to those making less than $25,000 per year, or who face a crisis. We also work with some emerging musicians, often in collaboration with senior artists who want to carry their traditions forward.
