Music Maker Foundation, the 501(c)(3)  whose mission is to meet the day-to-day needs of the artists who create traditional American music, has awarded OffBeat writer Cree McCree with a lifetime achievement award. McCree made her first trip in the late 1980s for a Jazz Fest visit and relocated from New York in 2001 with her husband, the late Donald Miller, a musician and visual artist. She has been a fixture in the artistic scene ever since.

McCree took to her Instagram to thank the Music Maker Foundation, posting: “honored to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Music Maker Foundation for supporting seminal roots music artists like gut bucket bluesman Little Freddie King, whose pin I’m wearing on my hat.”

Cree McCree is the author of Flea Market America: The Complete Guide to Flea Enterprise. A writer as well as a maker, McCree has contributed many articles to OffBeat. She has also been affiliated with the Piety Street Market and has sold vintage costumes for Red Dress Run, White Linen Night and more.

The New York Times wrote about McCree in 2010 when she founded Righteous Fur to promote nutria — known an invasive swamp rodent — as an eco-friendly, “guilt-free” alternative to traditional fur. With Louisiana’s wetlands threatened by the unchecked nutria population, McCree saw an opportunity to turn waste into fashion by encouraging designers to create garments from the otherwise discarded pelts. Backed by a grant from a conservation group, McCree organized nutria-themed fashion shows in New Orleans and New York, featuring everything from cocktail dresses to accessories incorporating nutria fur and teeth. Her effort positions nutria fur as both a conservation tool and a new frontier for creative, sustainable fashion, gaining attention from independent designers and even major fashion houses like Billy Reid and Oscar de la Renta. She has been celebrated in the community as a pioneer of local fashion.

The costume designer, artist, flea market expert, author and  OffBeat contributor has profiled artists such as the aforereferenced Little Freddie King, Rickie Lee Jones, Loose Cattle and many more for the magazine for over 20 years.

In a 2024 personal essay, she said it was the Rolling Stones who taught her how to dance .

For more information about the Music Maker Foundation, visit their website at musicmaker.org.