Band Together 2005

After an agonzing Wednesday driving SLOWLY home in bumper to bumper traffic, the ice melted, the sun came out, and Derek Trucks and Co., along with all the great artists from Music Maker, sang the blues and rocked the BTI Center. Band Together helped bring in a bit more than $8,000.00, and had a fine time doing it!

For more information about Music Maker, visit www.musicmaker.org.

About Music Maker and Band Together
The Blues, Americas own creation and tradition, is at the heart of our cultural identity. Unfortunately, the opportunity for its creators to pass on this tradition to future generations is slipping away. Most opportunities for Southern, traditional musical artists have evaporated in our increasingly homogenized culture and have made the task of keeping this tradition a living part of American culture and history challenging.

The Blues is Americas music. For over 100 years, it has permeated American culture, influencing not only our own jazz and modern rock, but also music genres worldwide.

Band Together for Music Maker Relief Foundation will take place at the BTI Center for Performing Arts Fletcher Opera Theatre on January 20, 2005 to help keep this American tradition alive. Many blues pioneers are struggling to make a living through their art. This fundraising event will support the Music Maker Relief Foundation, which was created ten years ago to make certain the Blues tradition would survive by supporting not only these artists music, but also the artists themselves.

Music Maker works with artists who are least 55 years old, have an annual income of less than $18,000, and are rooted in a Southern musical tradition. The foundation provides grants to artists for life services (medicine, utilities, rent, etc.) and music career development. Music Maker has helped over 100 Blues artists meet their day-to-day needs and issue over 50 records. Fully 100 percent of the rights to, and profits from, these recordings are granted to the artists.

Band Together is a Triangle wide network of business leaders committed to raising funds and awareness for charitable organizations. In the past, Band Together has raised funds for the New York City and Washington, DC September 11 Relief Fund, Special Olympics, and Operation Smile. In the spring of 2004, Band Together for Operation Smile drew a crowd of almost a thousand people and raised funds to repair childhood facial deformities worldwide while building public and private partnerships that advocated for sustainable healthcare systems for children and families. Together, we created smiles, changed lives, and healed humanity. This January, Band Together is proud to partner with the Music Maker Relief Foundation in keeping the bluest of the blues alive. The programs and grants Music Maker provides help to counter their artists deteriorating health, limited incomes, and assists in their day-to-day needs.

Music Maker Mission Statement
Music Maker Relief Foundation strives to help the true pioneers and forgotten heroes of Southern music gain recognition and meet their day to day needs. We support the health and well being of these legendary musicians. Our organization provides the ways and means to expand their professional careers and share their unique musical gifts with the world. Music Maker does this for the betterment of their lives and for the preservation of our culture.  

Music Maker Programs:
Musician Sustenance grants to meet basic life needs and emergency relief.
Musical Development grants and services for recipient artist professional
development and career advancement.
Cultural Access supports the preservation and proliferation of American
musical traditions.