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 Foundat...

America tells its stories through song. Consolation to the lovelorn, courage to the oppressed, warning to the naive, or a ticket to the Promised Land, a great song can deliver the wisdom of ages directly to our souls. We Are the Music Makers! presents black-and-white portraits of artists who carry these songs from past to present: fathers and mothers, uncles and aunts, daughters and sons, grandparents and neighbors, who continue to lovingly stir the South’s musical stew and feed A...

The tintype is rooted in more than 150 years of photographic method. In this collection of extraordinary portraits, Timothy Duffy brings new vitality to this old form, capturing powerful images of musicians who represent the roots of American music. These American blues, jazz, and folk artists are living expressions of a cultural legacy, made and remade by everyday people and passed down through generations. In the hands of the people in Duffy’s portraits, centuries-old traditions find new...