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Airs on PBS Wednesday, January 13 at 10 pm, 9 pm Central
(Parts 3 and 4 air consecutive Wednesdays in January)

The Mississippi: River of Song

"Midwestern Crossroads" (part 2 of 4) continues the Smithsonian's musical journey down the Mississippi, with a focus on the mid-river region around St. Louis. Featured performances include river balladeer John Hartford, the Bob Lewis Family bluegrass band, St. Louis r&b veteran Fontella Bass, and the alternative country band The Bottle Rockets. Narrated by folk-rock musician Ani DiFranco.
       The Smithsonian's musical journey down the Big Muddy continues on PBS Wednesday at 10 pm with "Midwestern Crossroads," Part Two of the four-part series The Mississippi: River of Song. The program opens with songwriter and river pilot John Hartford on the riverboat Twilight, follows the Bob Lewis Family bluegrass band to a rural Illinois festival, explores gospel and r&b in St. Louis, and concludes with the alternative country band The Bottle Rockets in the river town of Festus, Missouri. Narrated by independent folk-rock musician Ani DiFranco, the series uses performances and interviews to tell the story of American music in the artists' own words.
       In the center of the country, communities have deep roots, fed by the constant flow of commerce along the river. 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. 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.
       The Mississippi: River of Song 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. 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. The series takes us as close to the grassroots of music as we are ever going to get.
       The River of Song series airs Wednesday nights throughout January on PBS. A companion seven-hour radio series is also airing on Public Radio International affiliates this month. The multi-media package for this historic series includes: a double CD from Smithsonian Folkways with 36 full-length performances from the series, a companion book from St. Martin's Press featuring photographs and interviews with all of the artists, and an interactive website at www.pbs.org/riverofsong.
       Six years ago, producer/director John Junkerman set out to capture a portrait of the American musician. He worked with writer and music consultant Elijah Wald to find not only the pioneers and legends, but young inheritors of the music and those who make music simply for the pleasure of the sound and the community it creates. In 1997, a production team spent twelve weeks on location, 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.
       The series features performances by r&b star Little Milton, the chart-topping gospel troupe Mississippi Mass Choir, Band drummer Levon Helm, country legend "Governor" Jimmie Davis, and New Orleans soul queen Irma Thomas.
       The Mississippi: River of Song was produced by 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, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding was 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.