Through Gabriel, Tim and Denise Duffy made field recordings of other local blues musicians, such as Captain Luke, Macavine Hayes, Mr. Q., and Willa Mae Buckner.
After hearing the recordings, as well as the stories of the many destitute musicians, Levinson offered to remaster the tapes, which became an eight-artist CD anthology of traditional North Carolina blues entitled A Living Past.
Levinson became a crusader for the cause, and solicited funds and industry connections from his friends and colleagues, which, in 1994, resulted in the incorporation of the Music Maker Relief Foundation.
King, Pete Townshend, Bonnie Raitt, Ron Wood, Lou Reed and Rosanne Cash, all of whom donated to the Music Maker Relief Foundation.
Over the next several years, many new donors and contributors were involved, allowing Duffy to expand the roster of the label, and to release over one hundred albums, the proceeds of which the artists keep, in their entirety.
[11] Duffy signed a management deal with the group and released their debut record, Dona Got a Ramblin' Mind on the Music Maker Label.
[13] On October 27, 2014 PBS NewsHour aired segment on the Music Maker Relief Foundation, showing William R. Ferris say, "They provide a model for what our nation should be doing.