Song Keepers: A Music Maker Foundation Anthology (4-CD + Book)

by Various Artists

For three decades Music Maker Foundation has sought out the country's unsung, tending the roots of American music - this new 143-page book by Georgann Eubanks features interviews with figures integral to the development of Music Maker Foundation including Taj Mahal, Rhiannon Giddens and many more, plus 100 stunning photographs. The book is accompanied by an 85 song, four-CD compilation from various artists drawn from over 200 releases in the MMF catalog, ranging from acoustic blues, electric blues, sacred soul, gospel, and eclectic folk music. Music Maker Foundation has been one of the leading nonprofits in the music industry for 30 years. What makes this organization special, though, is how its team members seek out Southern songs to save, while also working to protect and empower those who make the music in the first place. The mission is as much about the people as their art.

With Song Keepers: A 30-Year Anthology, Music Maker Foundation honors the people, places, and songs (re)discovered over the past three decades. This box set is a vital tome of history and songs. But it's also a piece of art in itself -- a beautiful combination of original photography, engaging storytelling, and popular music.

"What shocks me the most every time I listen to these 85 songs is simply how real they are. Some are standards and some are originals. The playing is honest, occasionally even makeshift. And the stories are pointedly American, yet wholly universal. Song Keepers encapsulates everything I love and believe in about music -- that this art form is a human form. And celebrating that humanity shows how we're more alike than different." -- Hilary Saunders (Managing Editor, No Depression)