Book Review: ‘Song Keepers’ by Georgann Eubanks

The Music Maker Foundation

Song Keepers by Georgann Eubanks is the story of the remarkable work done, and being done, by The Music Maker Foundation. The Foundation, started by Tim and Denise Duffy, does magnificent work promoting and supporting musical artists whom the world has passed by. From Gospel performers to Indigenous singing groups, they’ve brought Americana roots music to light that might otherwise have stayed in the shadows.

While Eubanks is credited as the writer of Song Keepers, scattered throughout the book are chapters and writings by various musicians who have worked and recorded with the Foundation. Prominent among those contributors are Taj Mahal, Rhiannon Giddens, and Dom Flemons. While the latter two have since gone on to successful solo careers, they both first recorded with Music Makers back in 2006 as members of The Carolina Chocolate Drops.

As you read through Song Keepers you begin to understand just how special this foundation truly is. For not only have the Duffys done invaluable work recording and documenting incredible music, they are more than just song-catchers preserving music in amber as examples of a time gone by. 

They are giving this music and culture the room and space required for it to continue to thrive. While Song Keepers may be filled with loving descriptions and photos of musicians who are no longer around, it also depicts how the foundation is working to help older artists get their music out to the world and encouraging a new generation of musicians to share their talents as well. 

Song Keepers is filled with Tim Duffy’s incredible photographs of the people and places Music Makers has recorded over the years. Not only does it help readers and listeners put faces to voices and names, it also captures something of each performer’s spirit. There is something about Duffy’s photographs that brings out the heart and smile of each person he records on camera. There’s a vitality to these images that makes them almost leap off the page – you can’t help but feel the strength of each personality as he or she look out at you.

Of course what would a record of a history of recording be without recordings? So Song Keepers includes four CDs which sample every genre and style of music Music Makers has recorded. Divided into Acoustic Blues, Electric Blues, Sacred Soul and Gospel, and Eclectic Folk, the four discs give listeners a solid grounding in the amazing music these people have produced over the years. 

Listening to the recordings, reading the book’s text, and looking at the photos combine for an experience that is hard to describe. A reader is immersed not only in the world of the Music Maker Foundation, but in a living and thriving cultural tradition. 

Song Keepers is a loving and intelligent testament to the music and the musicians who have performed and recorded under the auspices of the Music Maker Foundation. Buying this book will not only introduce you to a fascinating array of music and musicians, it will also support the Foundation’s endeavors. All in all, a win for everyone.