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SPECIAL PREVIEW SCREENINGS OF JANUARY 1999 PBS SERIES THE MISSISSIPPI: RIVER OF SONG
COMING TO THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY SEPTEMBER 1998
Contact: Leah Mahan, Co-Producer at rivsong2@aol.com
The Mississippi: River of Song is a Smithsonian Institution series for public television and radio that explores the richness and vitality of American music at the close of the 20th century. Through live performances and intimate discussion with musicians along the course of the Mississippi River, the series discovers the music that has flourished 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.
A two-week tour of sneak previews with the filmmakers will begin in St. Louis on September 19 and end in New Orleans on September 30. This preview festival will travel to nine river cities onboard the River Explorer, a new riverbarge excursion vessel. The preview screenings have been organized with members of the Mississippi River Parkway Commission, local nonprofits, convention and visitor bureaus, and businesses. Each screening will include a Q & A with the filmmakers, live music and local cuisine. In addition to events on the riverfront, screenings will be held in a 200-seat theater on the riverbarge and an expansive sun deck will be used for several open-air concerts.
- Sept. 19-20, 1998 St. Louis, MO
- Sept. 20, 1998 Ste. Genevieve, MO
- Sept. 21, 1998 Hickman, KY
- Sept. 23-24, 1998 Memphis, TN
- Sept. 25, 1998 Helena, AR
- Sept. 26, 1998 Greenville, MS
- Sept. 27, 1998 Vicksburg, MS
- Sept. 28, 1998 Natchez, MS
- Sept. 30, 1998 New Orleans, LA
- Oct. 1, 1998 Alton, IL
(See below for an overview of programs and details on preview screenings)
These are the first public showings of the series which will be broadcast on PBS and Public Radio International (PRI) affiliates beginning in January 1999. The television series will be broadcast on four consecutive Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. January 6 - 27, 1999. Check your local television and radio listings.
This multi-media production includes:
- A four-part television series for broadcast on PBS in January 1999;
- A seven-part radio series on Public Radio International (PRI);
- A two-CD set produced by Smithsonian Folkways;
- A companion book illustrated by 160 photographs and published by St. Martins Press;
- An educational outreach package (including a teachers guide developed by the Music Educators National Conference); and
- A website at www.pbs.org/riverofsong will be launched in phases, beginning in mid-September. The site includes an overview of the series, broadcast information, featured artists, discographies, audio and video samples, Smithsonian Folklife articles on the region, a teachers guide and pressroom.
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. A total of 50 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.
Overview of Television Programs
The Mississippi: River of Song is a Smithsonian Institution series for public television and radio that explores the richness and vitality of American music at the close of the twentieth century. The series will be broadcast on PBS and Public Radio International (PRI) affiliates beginning in January 1999.
The story is told by the people who keep American music wonderfully alive with their varied sounds and voices. All of the scenes were recorded live on location, each shot in a visual style and setting appropriate to its featured artist, 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 alternative club in the Twin Cities, to the down-home familiarity of a Cajun crawfish boil in D.L. Menard's backyard.
Part One: Americans Old and New
Northern Minnesota to Douds, Iowa
The most musically varied section of the series, Part One gives a taste of the myriad flavors of the contemporary American melting pot, from the Native American Ojibwe to the early Scandinavian and German immigrants, to such recent arrivals in the area as Laotian Hmong and Mexican communities. There are contemporary urban sounds, from acoustic singer/songwriters to gospel, r&b, punk and alternative rock. As the river grows from a trickle that one can step across to a majestic expanse of water dotted with riverboats and barges, the music shows the breadth and variety of cultures that have developed along its banks.
Featured Artists: Chippewa Nation (Ojibwe powwow drum); Skålclub Spelmanslag (Scandinavian fiddling); Soul Asylum (rock); Babes in Toyland (alternative rock); John Koerner and friends (folk); Sounds of Blackness (African-American ensemble); Hmong qeej players (traditional reed instrument); Hartwich and the Country Dutchmen (German polka); Manny Lopez Quintet (jazz); La Otra Mitad (Mexican dance music); and Greg Brown (folk).
Part Two: Midwestern Crossroads
Galena, Illinois to Ste. Genevieve, Missouri
In the center of the country, communities have deep roots, fed by the constant flow of commerce along the river. This is where north and south meet, the rougher, rural styles coming face to face with big city sophistication. Hillbilly and blues are honed and polished into bluegrass, rock 'n' roll and soul music. St. Louis was a historic trading center, where goods that traveled up the river were put on trains to the coasts, and where people from all over the country came together, overlapping and interacting.
Featured artists: John Hartford (folk); The Bob Lewis Family (bluegrass); St. Charles High School Band (marching band); Fontella Bass (gospel); Oliver Sain (blues, r&b); Eugene Redmond and the Sunshine drum group (African drumming and poetry); the Bottle Rockets (alternative country) and the Ste. Genevieve Guignolée singers (French New Year's revel).
Part Three: Southern Fusion
La Center, Kentucky to Jackson, Mississippi
As we move south, we can feel the music getting wilder. Memphis was the crucible that forged the sounds of rockabilly and soul, and it remains a recording center. In the Mississippi Delta, music is deeply rooted in the soil. Even the pop sounds remain close to their roots, and all secular musical styles come back to the blues. Gospel is at its most heartfelt and powerful, whether in small country churches or climbing the national charts.
Featured artists: Sonny Burgess (rockabilly), Memphis community music (rhyme games, majorettes, stepping), Rufus Thomas (soul), Memphis Horns and Ann Peebles (soul), Robert Lockwood, Jr. (Delta blues), Levon Helm (blues), Johnnie Billington (blues in the schools), Little Milton (blues) and Mississippi Mass Choir (gospel).
Part Four: Louisiana, Where Music is King
Natchez, Mississippi to Delacroix Island
In the bayous of Louisiana, country and blues come together with French styles, in the potent dance rhythms of Cajun and zydeco. New Orleans is almost a world unto itself, with its old French culture and its Caribbean orientation. There is the vibrant street life of a tropical port, the rhumba-influenced second-line rhythms of New Orleans R&B and several generations of jazz horns. A touch of the vanishing Spanish culture of the Gulf islands adds a wistful close.
Featured artists: Kenny Bill Stinson (country), Gov. Jimmie Davis (country), DL Menard with Christine Balfa (Cajun), Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie (zydeco), David & Roselyn (street musicians), Treme Brass Band, Soul Rebels (brass band), Irma Thomas (r&b), Henry Butler (r&b), Eddie Bo (r&b), and Irvan & Alan Perez (Canary Islands ballads).
Calendar of September Preview Screenings
These sneak preview screenings in the Mississippi River Valley will feature highlights from the series and excerpts featuring local performers. Screening tapes of the four television programs will be made available to the press in November.
A two-week tour of sneak previews with the filmmakers will begin in St. Louis on September 19 and end in New Orleans on September 30. This preview festival will travel to nine river cities onboard the River Explorer, a new riverbarge excursion vessel. The preview screenings have been organized with members of the Mississippi River Parkway Commission, local nonprofits, convention and visitor bureaus, and businesses. Each screening will include a Q & A with the filmmakers, live music and local cuisine. In addition to events on the riverfront, screenings will be held in a 200-seat theater on the riverbarge and an expansive sun deck will be used for several open-air concerts.
- St. Louis, Missouri (private/press event)
Saturday, September 19
The Mississippi River Parkway Commission celebrates their 60th anniversary with
a sneak preview and reception onboard the River Explorer. Private /press screening 6 - 7:30 p.m. in the Sprague Room. MRPC VIP reception on Sky Deck from 6:45 p.m. - 8 p.m; private kick-off party on Sky Deck, featuring r&b artist Oliver Sain (along with Clayton Love, tentative) from 8:15 - 10 p.m.
- St. Louis, Missouri (public event)
Sunday, September 20
The Tivoli Theater, The Missouri Historical Society and co-sponsor KTRS Radio host a sneak preview and panel discussion 2 - 4 p.m. at the Tivoli Theater. Panelists include: Director/Producer John Junkerman, Writer Elijah Wald and Musicians: Oliver Sain, Dwight Bosman, Jeanne Trevor, Prince Wells, and Tom Hall. This marks the finale of the successful Twighlight Tuesdays concert series, which presented six weekly River of Song programs in the spring and four upcoming programs in September (Sept. 1 - Sept. 22)
- Ste. Genevieve, Missouri (public event)
ALSO on Sunday, September 20
The Ste. Genevieve Chamber of Commerce, the Marina DeGabouri and Les Amis host a musical celebration with Dixieland Express performing at the Marina DeGabouri from 2 - 4 p.m.; Les Petits Chanteurs singing in the Lions Club Park from 4 - 5 p.m.; sneak preview 5:30 - 7 p.m. onboard the River Explorer in the Sprague Room (maximum seating 200); and blues and Cajun band All Over the Road, performing at the Marina DeGabouri from 7 - 9 p.m.
- Hickman, Kentucky (public event)
Monday, September 21
Hickman County Tourism Department hosts an evening of festivities, including a river front fish fry at 5 p.m.; preview screening from 5:30 - 7 p.m. onboard the River Explorer in the Sprague Room (maximum seating 200); and river front concert with the Boundless Love Quartet and local bluegrass musicians beginning at 7:30 p.m.
- Memphis, Tennessee (private/press event)
Wednesday, September 23
The Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau hosts at the Mississippi River Museum on Mud lsland. Events include: VIP wine and cheese reception at 5 p.m., with performance by Keith Brown; private/press screening from 6 - 7:30 p.m. in the Mud Island Museum Theater and throughout museum. Meanwhile, WKNO, the major co-sponsor, is having a private screening at the Terrace Island Restaurant on Mud Island. Filmmakers will join them at 6:15 p.m. for a brief discussion.
- Memphis, Tennessee (private reception/public concerts)
Thursday, September 24
The second half of the journey begins with live music in Handy park at 5:30 p.m. – free to the public; VIP reception at the Hard Rock Cafe from 5:30 - 6:45 p.m (tentative); a night of music at The New Daisy Theater Cafe beginning at 7 p.m. The scheduled line-up is: Sid Selvidge, Riverbluff Clan, and Kelly Hurt and additional musicians to be announced. ($10 cover at the door.) Co-Sponsor: WKNO. Additional sponsors include: The Memphis Flyer, Cat's Records & Discs, Hard Rock Cafe, Southwestern Distributing, Rock 103, The Memphis Music Association.
- Helena, Arkansas (public screening & concert, private reception)
Friday, September 25
At 1:00 p.m. welcoming ceremony with Mayor Joann Smith and local officials on board the River Explorer's Sky Deck. The City of Helena, Main Streets Helena, and Arkansas Parks and Tourism host a sneak preview at the Malco Theater at 2:45 p.m. with special guest Sonny Burgess; a concert at the Sonny Boy Music Hall, with John Weston is from 3 - 5 p.m. At 6 p.m., a small group of invited guests board the River Explorer to travel down river for dinner and dancing on the Sky Deck. Guests debark at Rosedale at 11 p.m.
- Greenville, Mississippi (public event)
Saturday, September 26
In culmination of Blues Week, the Greenville Convention and Visitors Bureau and co-sponsor Mississippi ETV hosts a reception and screening at the Bass Auditorium beginning at 6:30 p.m. Preview screening is from 7 - 8:30 p.m., proceeded by music from Eddie Cusick, and followed by more live music (musician to be announced). Additional hosts include the Greenville Arts Council and Planters Bank. Mississippi ETV will air the program in January 1999.
- Vicksburg, Mississippi (private/press event)
Sunday, September 27
At the Vicksburg Convention Center at 5 p.m., Vicksburg Main Streets and co-sponsor Mississippi ETV host a VIP reception. Dinner starts at 6 p.m., with a sneak preview beginning at 7 p.m. Local gospel and blues musicians perform, including: Doris Miller of the Mississippi Mass Choir (tentative).
- Natchez, Mississippi (public event)
Monday, September 28
The Natchez Convention and Visitors Bureau and co-sponsor Mississippi ETV host a screening, reception, and concert with Kenny Bill Stinson at the new Natchez Visitors Reception Center. Reception begins at 6 p.m., sneak preview 6:30 - 8 p.m. followed by music until 9 p.m.
- New Orleans, Louisiana (private/press screening, public concert)
Wed., September 30
WYES, The Louisiana Music Commission, Louisiana Film and Tape Commission, New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, French Quarter Festivals and Riverbarge Excursion Lines host a sneak preview on the riverbarge Explorer from 4 - 5:30 p.m. in the Sprague Room followed by a concert at Woldenberg Park on the riverfront with Henry Butler, Geno Delafose and Irma Thomas.
Additional Events
- Alton, Illinois (public event)
Thursday, October 1
The Alton Convention and Visitors Bureau is hosting a 7:30 p.m. preview screening at the new Melvin Price Lock and Dam Visitors Center with a VIP reception beforehand and live performance to follow at with The Bob Lewis Family.
- New York City
November/December
Press screenings will take place in several major cities prior to the broadcast. Details to be announced in the fall.
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