NEW ALBUM! Street Party

We are thrilled to announce a new album with Houston, TX bluesman Leonard “Lowdown” Brown! Street Party releases on the Music Maker label on September 12, 2025.

Raised in Gary, IN in a house full of music, Leonard Brown spent his childhood singing in traveling gospel choirs and learning to play the guitar. By his early twenties, he was playing regularly with gospel and quartet groups in nearby Chicago. A desire to explore other styles of music led him to the blues – and he never looked back.

When his day job with General Electric sent him to Houston, TX in 1980, Brown found a community in the city’s many music clubs, earning his nickname “Lowdown” at the Benson and Hedges Houston Blues Festival and quickly becoming a mainstay of the city’s blues scene.

Brown connected with Music Maker Foundation several years ago, and released his debut album, Blues Is Calling Me, to critical acclaim on the Music Maker label in 2023.

Street Party, Brown’s second album with the organization, was recorded in August 2024 at Music Maker’s new recording studio in Fountain, NC.

“For the last couple of years, I’d had this wonderful demo of new songs that Leonard had sent to me, all while working away at building Music Maker Studios in Fountain,” says Tim Duffy, co-founder and Executive Director at Music Maker Foundation. “When the studio opened, I knew that Leonard was one of the initial sessions we should sponsor.”

Squirrel Nut Zippers co-founder and roots legend Jimbo Mathus produced the album as well as bringing his band, the Creatures of the Southern Wild, to back Brown in the studio.

“He is just a real together artist,” Mathus says. “He was so confident and made it real easy. Leonard had it ready.”

Brown’s Street Party is a record about and of a lifetime, an honest celebration of seven decades of experiences, enthusiasms, and anxieties. The album can be purchased from Music Maker Foundation and is available on streaming starting September 12.