When he was in graduate school in the late 1980s, Timothy Duffy
began documenting the "roots" music styles of largely forgotten
southern musicians in a series of field recordings. Recognizing
that too many artists working in these traditions--blues, R&B,
hillbilly music, and other now increasingly popular forms--had been
either ignored or taken advantage of by mainstream record labels
and music media and were living in poverty as a result, Duffy
established the Music Maker Relief Foundation to help these
forgotten pioneers meet their basic needs and nourish their souls
by committing their gifts to archival recordings and reviving
performance careers. This book, available for the first time in
paperback, features photographs, biographies, interviews, and
lyrics from sixty-six real and rooted originals such as Beverly
"Guitar" Watkins, Cootie Stark, Mudcat, Macavine Hayes, and Drink
Small. The music of America exists in these largely forgotten
artists who link us back to our earliest history.