He recruited some of the best musicians available, some from previous tours, particularly the Lou Reed Sally Can't Dance album and tour.
His particularly notable musical associations have been with The Cameo Blues Band, The Lincolns, Richard "Hock" Walsh and Alannah Myles.
John C. Lincoln, an Ohio inventor and industrialist who founded Lincoln Electric, relocated to the Sunnyslope district in 1931 with his wife Helen, to treat her tuberculosis; almost immediately, the Lincolns became major financial supporters of Desert Mission and took on key leadership roles in the organization for most of the remainder of their lives.