Music Maker Launches New Website!

Music Maker launches new website! John Dee Holeman image from MM's new site! Music Maker has launched our website re-design, make sure you check it out at www.musicmaker.org! With the help of OnRamp Branding, we've updated our whole site in the hopes of making your experience discovering artists and music even more exciting. We will be adding to the site over the coming months, so stay tuned for more features! Start exploring here! Diggin': Australian Broadcasting Company Radio - "The Music Makers" photo by Daniel Guerra Shevonne Hunt and her husband, Daniel Guerra, came to visit Music Maker in summer of 2011, interviewing and recording MM's Founders and artists to tell the story of Music Maker for radio broadcast on ABC. Shevonne and Daniel became part of the Music Maker family while they were here, and listening to this piece has brought us so much joy as we remember their visit. They were able to really capture the essence of Music Maker, and we hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we do. -- Aaron and Corinne Quick Links: Website Merch Music Music Maker's founder to speak on panel at UNC School of the Arts, Music Maker Artists to perform Tim Duffy will speak at the University of North Carolina's School of the Arts on Saturday, June 9th at 4pm. He'll be on a panel that is part of UNCSA's Music Academy of the American South (MAAS), a new summer program that will celebrate the music of the American South through dynamic performances and workshops by noted musicians. Workshops are free and open to the public. Bishop Dready Manning and The Branchettes will also perform during the summer program's evening concerts on June 8th and June 10th at 7:30pm. Tickets for the evening concerts are 25, $20 for students and seniors, and can be purchased at the Stevens Center, 405 West 4th Street, Winston-Salem or by calling 336-721-1945. For more details, including a schedule of concerts associated with MAAS, click here! Listen: Shevonne Hunt - The Music Makers Cootie Stark

Upcoming Shows: Click here for more info on upcoming events 5/25 - Ironing Board Sam - Grace Hall, Greer, SC 5/27 - Lakota John and Kin - Wake Arts Sundays in Spring, Wake Forest, N.C. 6/08 - The Branchettes and Bishop Dready Manning - The Music Academy of the South, Winston-Salem, N.C. 6/08 - Captain Luke, Cool John Ferguson, John Dee Holeman - Music Maker Roots and Leaves, Chapel Hill, N.C. 6/15 - Boo Hanks - Music Maker Roots and Leaves, Chapel Hill, N.C. 6/22 - Pat "Mother Blues" Cohen, Essie Mae Brooks - Music Maker Roots and Leaves, Chapel Hill, N.C. 6/29 - Pura Fé Trio, Lakota John Locklear - Music Maker Roots and Leaves, Chapel Hill, N.C. Music Maker Relief Foundation, Inc. helps the true pioneers and forgotten heroes of Southern music gain recognition and meet their day to day needs. We present these musical traditions to the world so American culture will flourish and be preserved for future generations.

New Bern -- Big Boy Henry

Richard Big Boy Henry b. May 26, 1921 in Beaufort, North Carolina d. December 5, 2004 in Beaufort, North Carolina
Although Richard “Big Boy” Henry was an imposing figure at first glance, he was one of the sweetest, most gentle men ever to sing the blues. Born in Beaufort, North Carolina in 1921, he spent much of his life near the coast earning a modest living for himself and his family. As a youth he was drawn to the music of the itinerant blues singers who worked the streets near his home, and he learned to play the guitar. Before his first marriage, he made a fair name for himself as a powerful singer and versatile guitarist on the thriving Carolina blues scene. In the Fifties he stopped playing music, and didn’t pick up a guitar again until thirty years later, encouraged by some young musicians who had heard tales of his early exploits. Throughout the 80s and 90s Big Boy appeared at prestigious festivals throughout the states and abroad and issued numerous self-produced cassettes and recordings with various labels.

Big Boy was the patriarch of the Carolina Blues. He was a saintly man, with tremendous compassion and patience for humanity. Big Boy weaves timeless parables into this his CD, “Beaufort Blues”. In “Old Bill” he points out the helplessness we all feel witnessing senseless sacrifice. In “John Henry” he rewrites an age old classic revealing this legend’s intimate character. And in “Vellevina” he lets us know what true love is all about. Big Boy passes the torch in this album to his son Luther who makes his debut singing an original song, giving us a glimpse of how Big Boy might have sounded in his prime.
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