And the Beat Goes On
(Page 2 of 2)
July/August 2002 Issue
By Karen Olson, Utne Reader
Duffy and his wife, Denise, now run Music Maker from their home in rural Hillsborough, North Carolina. Along with staffer Deb Misch, they work with about 100 artists, providing assistance for housing, medicine, and food as well as instruments and tour expenses. The Duffys’ kids, ages 5 and 2, often help in the Music Maker Garden. Inspired by jazz pianist Mr. Q., the Duffys grow tomatoes and vegetables and share them with other local musicians. There’s also a cottage where visiting artists can find the peace and quiet to create. It all makes for a delightfully lively setting—part artists’ colony, part jam session.
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The foundation has gotten support from stars like Bonnie Raitt, Pete Townshend, and Eric Clapton. Taj Mahal has been involved for years, sitting in on recording sessions and touring with musicians. Music Maker artists get 500 copies of their CDs to sell for their own profit. "Helping keep this music alive is exciting for me," he says, but the bigger impact may be on younger artists. "This is an opportunity to create a bridge between the type of music they’re playing and the type that’s been played in this country for centuries."One young artist who’s crossing that bridge is Sol, a 26-year-old Boones Mill, Virginia, musician, who tagged along with Duffy as a kid, meeting and recording musicians across the Deep South. His new CD, Sol, volume: blue, is a modern remix of some of their tapes. A player known as Cool John—whom Taj Mahal calls "one of the five greatest guitarists I’ve ever heard"—collaborated with Sol on the music, and Guitar Gabriel and Cootie Stark do most of the singing and talking. Sol, volume: blue is the most recent release of the Givin’ It Back Record Club sponsored by Music Makers. For $100 a year, members get all the label’s new releases.Duffy has attracted more than 200 club supporters, and the foundation raises money through concerts, street festivals, individual donations, and a gift program. But with 70 recordings ready and waiting to be issued, Duffy doesn’t have nearly enough funds to get out all the material. That support will come, says Taj Mahal, when people begin to realize the treasure Duffy is struggling to preserve. "Just listen to the music," he says. "How often are you really hearing the hearts of the people, hearing music that courses through the blood?"Music Maker Relief Foundation, 4052 Summer Lane, Hillsborough, NC 27278; 919/643-2456; www.musicmaker.org.
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