River of Song: PressRoom

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JANUARY IS RIVER OF SONG MONTH

SMITHSONIAN SERIES FOR PUBLIC TELEVISION AND RADIO
AIRS IN JANUARY ON PBS AND PRI
WITH COMPANION BOOK, DOUBLE CD SET, AND WEBSITE

Contact: Leah Mahan, Co-Producer at rivsong2@aol.com

The Mississippi: River of Song is a Smithsonian series for public television and radio that explores the richness and vitality of American music at the close of the twentieth century. Through live performances and intimate discussions with more than 40 musicians and groups along the course of the Mississippi River -- and narration by Ani DiFranco -- the series discovers the music that flourishes in the heart of the nation.
Traveling from an Ojibwe powwow in northern Minnesota to the bandstands of New Orleans, the series builds a dynamic and complex portrait of music and the American community. All of the scenes were recorded and filmed live on location, from the formal elegance of Fontella Bass's duet with her mother at their church, to the rough spontaneity of the Bottle Rockets at their practice pad; from the edgy energy of Babes in Toyland at a crowded club in the Twin Cities, to the down-home familiarity of a Cajun crawfish boil in D.L. Menard's backyard.
The Mississippi: River of Song is a:

TELEVISION SERIES of 4 one-hour programs on PBS, airing consecutive Wednesdays at 10 PM EST beginning January 6, presented by South Carolina Educational Television.
RADIO SERIES of 7 one-hour episodes, expanded to include more music, airing on Public Radio International affiliates starting in January.
2-CD SET with 36 full-length performances from the series, released by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings December 1, 1998.
COMPANION BOOK written by Boston music journalist Elijah Wald and director/producer John Junkerman featuring interviews with all of the performers and 160 photographs taken on location, published by St. Martin's Press in January 1999.
WEBSITE at www.pbs.org/riverofsong features an interactive music map of the Mississippi River and extensive educational tools, including a teachers guide developed with MENC: The National Association for Music Education.
HOME VIDEO SET available from Acorn Media.

       The television series will be broadcast on PBS on Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. January 6 - 27, 1999. Public Radio International (PRI) affiliates will begin broadcasting the radio series in early January 1999 and continue for seven weeks. Check your local television and radio listings.
        The Mississippi: River of Song is a production of Smithsonian Productions, the Filmmakers Collaborative, and KajimaVision Productions and is presented on PBS by South Carolina Educational Television. Major funding has been provided by Hitachi, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding provided by the Missouri Division of Tourism, the Southern Humanities Media Fund, the Tennessee Department of Tourism, the Louisiana Office of Tourism, Mississippi River Country, and the Adler Foundation. Special thanks to Kajima Corporation.
        After five years of research and planning, a Smithsonian production team spent twelve weeks on location in 1997, traveling 12,000 miles in river country and filming 200 hours of original material. More than 40 acts and over 500 musicians were recorded in 30 towns and cities, in all 10 states along the Mississippi.
        Series host Ani DiFranco will be our guide on a journey that crosses boundaries of genre, geography, and ethnicity to reveal the streams of artistic and cultural influence that flow through our national landscape. DiFranco's place on the cutting edge of American folk rock (Rolling Stone magazine called her "one of the decade's defining voices") is a perfect match with the series. At 27, DiFranco has self-produced 10 albums on her own label, co-headlined a tour with Bob Dylan, and is now releasing work by other artists, starting with her critically acclaimed collaboration with American folk legend Utah Phillips.
        A portrait of the American musician emerges as we proceed down the river. There are internationally renowned and major label recording artists, pioneers and legends, young inheritors of the music, and there are those who make music simply for the pleasure of the sound and the community it creates.
        The interactive website ties together all of the series components, and includes background on the production, broadcast information, featured artists, discographies, audio and video samples, Smithsonian Folklife Festival articles on the region, a teachers guide, and pressroom.
        The website pressroom includes current press releases, photographs that can be downloaded, and recent articles published about the series.
        The on-line teachers guide is being written under the supervision of MENC: The National Association for Music Education. MENC is drawing on the talents of educators with expertise in music and in social studies and geography to create lesson plans and interactive games for students.
        In addition to music lessons tied to each segment of the series, the guide will emphasize cross-disciplinary teaching opportunities through which students can explore: the geography of the Mississippi River Valley; the diverse cultural heritage of the nation; the role of music in maintaining and articulating ethnic and cultural identity; the evolution of musical genres from bluegrass to zydeco; and the impact of political, social, and economic trends on the creation of music.
        The lessons will help teachers use the series to encourage student mastery of the learning goals in the National Standards for Music and those for Geography and Social Studies. Music lessons, for example, will include activities aimed at the skills of singing, playing instruments, composing, and improvising; and at the knowledge of the cultural contexts surrounding musical genres. Geography lessons will integrate the physical geography of the United States with our evolving cultural geography. Social Studies lessons will underscore the ways that our communities come together and hold together--particularly through our many and varied music traditions.
        Additional information about the series is detailed in the press packet and in the online Media Kit: Television Program Summaries, Artists Featured in the Series, Map, Television Program Outlines, Radio Program Summaries, 2-CD Set Press Release, Companion Book Press Release, Website Press Release, Production Staff, and Press Photos. A 16-page description of the artists featured in the series is available on the website and can be requested through the mail.