Music Makers Relief Foundation

The seeds of the Music Maker Relief Foundation (MMRF) grew out of Tim and Denise Duffy’s close relationship with Guitar Gabriel and several elderly African-American entertainers around Winston-Salem, North Carolina. After completing a M.A. in Folklore from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1989, Tim Duffy began documenting area blues artists. Together with these artists, Tim and Denise stood in commodity cheese lines, paid bills and performed at festivals and venues across the US and Europe, including the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.

In seeking performance and recording opportunities for the artists, Tim and Denise came to realize that gigs barely paid them enough to cover expenses and record companies were only interested in young acts that could sell millions of CDs. The music industry just was not working for these artists. The prospects were even bleaker for artists too old or infirm to travel and perform. Something needed to be done quickly to preserve the music and the musicians.

Music Maker Begins

Music Maker Relief Foundation, Inc. was founded in the spring of 1994 to address these needs. We incorporated, filed for 501c3 status and raised $20,000 that first year, primarily from the hi-end audio community.

We started helping the blues artists in the Winston-Salem area like Guitar Gabriel, The Snake Lady, Capt. Luke and Macavine Hayes. One of our first contributions was a pallet of Ensure (a nutritional drink) donated by Humana Inc. MMRF bought shoes for artists, paid heating oil bills and bought groceries.

The rest of our time was spent doing intensive fieldwork to meet artists throughout the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. We followed the cold trails of folklife fieldworkers that had located artists 25 years earlier and were surprised both at how many we found, and saddened by how many had passed on. Everywhere we went we heard the same requests: they needed gigs, their own CDs, instruments and any assistance to reduce the strain of their poverty.

Within the first two years we established the programs of Life Maintenance, Emergency Relief, Tour Support and Instrument Acquisition. We have always provided both grants and services ranging from transportation to passport acquisition and advocacy with government agencies to booking performances.

In 1996, the Foundation got a tremendous boost when the individual who went on to found Cello Recordings donated $100,000. This gift enabled MMRF to expand our grants and lay the groundwork for a permanent organization. With Tim as producer, Cello released ten Music Maker records with major label distribution over the next two years. Since then, Tim has produced over 90 more records and authored a book, Music Makers: Portraits and Songs from the Roots of America that profiles 70 artists through photos, song lyrics and biographies.

Our next milestone came in 1997 when blues legend Taj Mahal got involved. Over the years, Taj has been an active supporter, advisor and MMRF board member, as well as an artistic consultant and contributor to many of our artists’ records. Taj was instrumental in helping secure the Winston Blues Revival ad campaign and tour, which introduced our artists and mission to the world with ads in 100 top monthly magazines and 125 weeklies. Taj also headlined 36 Blues Revival shows at major venues across the country. The tour was a tremendous career boost to the Music Maker artists featured and a fabulous fundraiser for the foundation.

Taj Mahal has also brought together his two great passions: blues and sports fishing for the benefit of Music Maker. The Fishin’ Blues Tournament has been held in Central America for the last seven years.. In October 2009, we are proud to bring the fishing fun home to Carolina with the launch of the Music Maker Wahoo Hoo-Ha! Tournament in Hatteras on North Carolina’s stunning Outer Banks.

Gaining Independence

When the Winston and Cello contracts concluded in 1999, the Foundation needed an independent source of income. We began our first annual fund in 2000 with a challenge gift of $100,000. Our donors met the challenge and our support base has grown to over 11,000 contributors that have made more than 25,000 donations to further our mission.

MMRF relocated to Orange County, NC in 2001 and moved to our first foundation-owned Program Center in downtown Hillsborough, NC in 2008. The Triangle has embraced our mission and invigorated our organization. We have built active volunteer and internship programs with area universities, secondary schools and professionals from the community. For six years running, MMRF has presented the Warehouse Blues Series, sponsored by the City of Durham and West Village. This award winning performance series brings free Friday evening concerts to the heart of Durham, NC in the West Village courtyard each summer. MMRF has forged relationships with the Center for the Study of the American South and the Southern Folklife Collection at UNC.

MMRF has made huge strides over the past several years in our international touring operations. In 2008, artists earned over $250,000 through our touring programs performing in 22 states and 14 countries gracing stages from the East Coast Blues Festival in Byron Bay, Australia to the Roots of American Music Festival at Lincoln Center in New York City. Our partners in France, Dixie Frog Records and Nueva Onda Productions have released more than 12 records and produced nearly 100 live performances across Europe since 2004. These efforts have built strong European audiences for several Music Maker artists including: Pura Fe, Beverly Guitar Watkins, Captain Luke, and Little Pink Anderson.

Our concerted efforts to raise awareness have resulted in positive national and international media attention including: The New York Times, Reader’s Digest, Associated Press, NPR’s Morning Edition and Southern Living. In April of 2004, Tim Duffy was featured on the ABC Evening News as the Person of the Week. In May 2009, Tim Duffy was chosen by the Raleigh News and Observer as Tarheel of the Week.