For over fifty years Freeman Vines has transformed materials culled from a forgotten landscape in his relentless pursuit of building a guitar capable of producing a singular tone that has haunted his dreams, including a series using wood from a tree used for lynchings. Vines befriended photographer Timothy Duffy in 2015, and the two began to document the guitars.
Duffy is the founder of the Music Maker Relief Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports senior musicians in need while educating the public about America’s musical heritage. The foundation has supported Vines’ work and partnered with him to produce the Hanging Tree Guitars book and exhibition.
The Hanging Tree Guitars exhibition will tour nationally and is presented by Music Maker Relief Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts.