>> Production support for"Journey Indiana" is provided by WTIU members.

Thank you!

♪ >> ASHLEY: Coming up, hear the rhythms of idiophonist Bill Bailey.

Keep time with the Muensterberg Clock Tower, and take to the skies with Adams Balloons.

That's all on this episode of "Journey Indiana"!

♪ >> ASHLEY: Welcome to "Journey Indiana."

I'm Ashley Chilla.

And we're coming to you from Angel Mounds Historic Site in Evansville.

The Angel Mounds Historic Site is one of the best preserved precontact indigenous sites in North America.

The site dates from the years 1000 to 1450, and was once home to more than 1,000 members of the Mississippian culture in a thriving community.

And we'll learn more about this historic site in just a bit, but first, we're headed to Marion County where Producer Todd Gould brings us the percussive sounds of idiophonist Bill Bailey.

[ Playing "When the Saints Go Marching In"] >> Hello, my name is Bill Bailey, and I am an idiophonist from Rocky Ripple, Indiana.

[Sounds of boing, horn honking] ♪ >> Never let it be said that Bill Bailey strives to be inconspicuous.

In fact, Bill draws attention just about anywhere he goes.

From his wooded home in the Indianapolis suburbs comes a cacophony of commotion.

Bill calls himself an idiophonist, a craftsman, and performer, who makes and plays a variety of musical washboards.

♪ >> My introduction to music was through my two older brothers.

And we all lived in the basement of our home.

And a drum set was right in the middle of our bedroom.

And so from the age of about 2 on, I always had that beat, that rhythm, that my brothers had, when they were practicing the drums.

>> Bill played drums in everything from marching bands to rock and roll groups, before a neighbor got him interested in playing American roots music that originated from the Appalachian region.

>> I listened to many different types of genres of music because I was being exposed to traditional music.

At that point, I was in a jug band.

I was in a reenactment band.

So -- and a blues band as well.

And in the jug band era came the washboard.

♪ Just because it tells us where the chorus ends ♪ >> Okay, Andy, play the chorus!

♪ >> One of Bill's early idols was a novelty band from the 1930s known as the Hoosier Hot Shots.

The popular musical comedy troupe from Arcadia, Indiana, featured Paul "Hezzie" Trietsch playing an unusual type of one-man band contraption that included a washboard with various other noisemakers attached.

>> Since I started playing spoons and washboards, I never opened up a songbook.

It comes from my heart.

And because I have -- you know, I was instilled with good rhythm from the age of 4, my band mates, they know that they can count on me to do the rhythm.

[ Sander whirring ] >> Bill also builds these musical gizmos, both for himself and for others, under the name Uncle Willie's Washboards.

Traditional Arts Indiana ranked him as a 2017 master artist.

Bill always begins with fine crafted wooden and metal components from a washboard manufacturing company in Ohio.

He then begins adding to the gadget a variety of household items, taking them from junkyards to jam sessions.

♪ >> What I did for years, I carried around a little metal spoon.

And whenever I was -- whenever I was in, you know, like, a department store or a consignment store or a place like that, I would pull out my spoon, and I would tap something to see what it sounded like.

♪ >> While Bill enjoys the notion that his one-man assembly line is set up as a niche market, he also works on big musical projects.

Bill has either performed with or served as musical consultant for various Grammy Award winners, including The Chieftains and Cirque du Soleil.

♪ All over Bill's yard and workshop area, are bits and pieces that can be turned into his various musical machines.

The rule around here is, if you can beat on it, then you can make music with it.

♪ >> Any child, they can go in the kitchen, find a spoon, open up a kitchen cabinet, and there's a whole plethora of instruments in there.

And that's what I did.

And that's what a lot of children, a lot of folks, you know, they would go in their kitchen as a child, pull out some things, start banging on the pans.

And, you know, sometimes that turns into really a -- a resource because that leads them into music.

♪ >> The washboard, you know, does represent you, you know, as a personality, and as a sound that you want to create.

The reward really is, you know, knowing that I'm playing something other folks usually don't play, and that folks see me doing that and recognize, oh, we can do that!

Maybe we can do that at home.

[ Playing "When the Saints Go Marching In" ] [ Honk, honk ] >> ASHLEY: I think I'm going to have to give Bill a call, because, um, this is a little known fact, it has been one of my dreams/goals to be able to play a one-man band.

One of my first jobs out of college was working at Dollywood, and in our show, we had a one-man band, and it really inspired me to want to be able to play one.

So now I know, Bill is the person to go to.

Want to learn more?

Just head over to the address on your screen.

Earlier, we caught up with Mike Linderman, Western Regional Director of State Historic Sites, to learn all about this one-of-a-kind place.

>> Angel Mounds State Historic Site is a Mississippian cultural site, located on the Ohio River, just outside of Evansville, Indiana.

It's about 103 acres of the Mississippian culture, which was one of the last of the mound-building cultures in North America.

This was a pretty large community, between 1,000 and 2,000 people lived here.

It was a major trade center along the Ohio River.

We believe it controlled an area of 75 miles surrounding it.

We believe the dates of occupation are between the year, roughly 1000 to 1450, somewhere in that time period.

There's 11 mounds on the property here at Angel Mounds.

The largest one behind me is what we refer to as Mound A.

And that's where the chief would have lived here on the property.

It would have been the hub of the entire community.

The other ten mounds, nine of those are -- we believe probably are family associated with important families.

The other last one is the temple mound, which is one of the farthest ones out, and it would have been for religious purposes only, and priests would have lived in the structure on top of that.

The larger the mound, the more important you would have been here in the community.

So that's why the chief is dead center on top of the biggest one.

Mississippian is a cultural name that we've applied to them.

They were gone before any Europeans encountered them.

So we don't know what they called themselves, but it was a very agricultural-based group of people that lived here.

And by 1450, we know they have abandoned this site for various potential reasons.

One of the major structures on the property here at Angel Mounds was a stockade wall that went around the northern edge of the property.

It was a mile and a half long, and probably 10 to 15 foot high.

The purpose of the wall is somewhat of a mystery.

We are not sure why they built it, but around the same time period at other Mississippian sites, the walls go up there as well.

So there was a general concern amongst all the communities to build a wall that large.

Archaeology began here in 1939, with Dr. Glenn Black, the archaeologist, and through the Indiana Historical Society at that time.

They brought in 277 men through the Works Progress Administration, and they excavated from April of '39 until May of 1942, after war was declared, and the program fell apart.

After that, Indiana University began doing field schools here in 1945, and to this day, they are still using us as one of their official field school locations.

When you come to Angel Mounds, we have the interpretive center, which highlights the culture that was here, based on the artifacts that have been uncovered.

It talks a little bit about the history of archaeology and the science of archaeology that's been conducted here at the site.

And then when you are done with the visitors center, you walk out to the main village site.

There's a trail that takes you around all the highlights of the property.

There's markers scattered throughout to tell you what you are looking at as well.

Preserving a place like this is very important, because this is a cultural and historical touchstone for a lot of people.

It puts things in perspective.

You know, we are looking at a 1,000-year-old property roughly here.

Many people don't have access to things like that, until they come to a place like Angel site.

>> ASHLEY: Driving to the site, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, and when you enter down the driveway, you know, it is a gorgeous building.

The architectural design is absolutely stunning.

So I hope you all can make it out.

And if you want to learn more, just head to the address on your screen.

Up next, we are headed to Adams County, to learn more about the Muensterberg Clock Tower and Plaza in Berne.

>> The Muensterberg Plaza and Clock Tower in the town of Berne is pretty hard to miss.

In fact, this bit of prominent architecture is almost transporting.

♪ >> Well, the tower is actually patterned after a tower in downtown Bern, Switzerland, old Bern, Switzerland.

It's not a replica, but it's very close.

>> Why would Berne build a Swiss clock tower, you ask?

>> The Berne community was settled in 1852 by Swiss immigrants that came directly from the canton of Bern, Switzerland, thus the name Berne, Indiana.

And in 2002 was our sesquicentennial.

In essence, threw ourselves a birthday party, after that, the question lingered, and that was, is there something lasting that we could do and have from this party that we threw?

And it came up with the idea, why not a tower, not quite a replica, our own version of the clock tower in Bern, Switzerland, and put it right at the intersection of US-27 and Main Street.

>> But before construction could start, the town was going to need money.

A lot of it.

>> We have a number of people, many people, who grew up in Berne, loved the Mayberry-esque life that they grew up in, but then moved on for college, for a career, but yet they wanted to give back to their community.

And so a lot of our money was -- was raised from those individuals.

And then people in Berne are just generous.

And so we were able to raise a little over $3.5 million towards this project.

All private funds.

>> Eight years after its conception, the Muensterberg Clock Tower and Plaza finally broke ground.

>> In the summer of 2010, the tower itself, the base had been constructed.

It was constructed with 40 concrete panels that were precast elsewhere and brought on site.

But then the metal roof structure needed to be lifted into place by a crane.

Well, that was a spectacle.

And so people came from all around to watch that.

And it was quite an event.

It was -- it was pretty neat to see a lot of smiling faces and excited people that day.

>> Today, the site stands as a symbol of the future of Berne, while still celebrating its unique history and heritage.

>> Over in this area, we have the Settlers Monument.

When they came here, they drained the swamps, and they cut the timber to clear the land for people who live here today.

Over in this area, we have the canton tree, that shows all of the cantons, the Swiss states of Switzerland.

Berne stands for bear.

So we have a bear statue over there that a lot of children climb on to get their pictures taken.

>> And what Swiss clock tower would be complete without a glockenspiel?

>> Three times a day, the glockenspiel comes out and tells the story of Berne.

There are 12 characters that are about 5 and a half feet tall, and they each have -- they represent some part of Berne.

♪ >> Well, we wanted a community gathering space, for one thing, and this has become that.

The way that the tower is built, is there's a stage on this side of it, and a large open space.

So we have concerts here.

It's been a gathering space for all kinds of things.

What's interesting to me, is the number of children we now have in the community who don't remember it without this being here.

And before very long, there are going to be multiple generations that will never remember Berne without this plaza and this tower.

That's pretty cool.

♪ >> ASHLEY: This is definitely a family kind of place to visit.

I think my son would love to see the glockenspiel with the little characters going around and the splash pad.

It really seems like a family-friendly atmosphere.

You can find out more at the address on your screen.

Up next, Producer Reuben Browning takes us to Monroe County to explore the skies with Adams Hot Air Balloon Company.

♪ >> In ballooning, most people are afraid of the unknown.

There's excitement.

There's a little bit of stress.

Being a pilot definitely makes me look at things in a different perspective, especially a balloon pilot, because we may see a landing spot out ahead of us and call that Plan A, but the winds may change, or something may come up, we may land on Plan P or Q down the road.

So you have to be really flexible.

You have to not be set totally in your ways, and you have to be able to kind of change with the wind.

♪ I'm Andy Richardson.

I'm a local hot air balloon pilot here in Bloomington, Indiana, and I also own Adams Balloons, which is a type certificated hot air balloon manufacturer.

So I grew up a mile south of the Oliver Winery, and Bill Oliver, the owner of the winery, has flown hot air balloons since 1976.

♪ >> We make a whole broad range of wines.

We make, you know, classic vinifera, wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc.

I think actually the question is how did a hot air balloonist get into wine making?

I was very interested in ballooning as a kid, because I read books about balloons, and I just kind of considered it to be the ultimate sort of escapist adventure, just to float away.

After my first flight, I was obsessed.

I mean, really!

This is just, like, this is what I want to do.

I was 14 at the time.

The winery was growing.

It needed some promotion, and I made the right sales pitch to my dad, and so we got a balloon.

The connection between making wine and consuming wine and flying hot air balloons is they are both just really joyful experiences.

>> We would see the Oliver Winery balloon fly over almost every weekend.

So I got intrigued with it at a really, really young age, and I would go down to the winery on the weekends and ask if they needed help on their chase crews or help flying the balloon, and Bill was always super gracious and always welcomed people being there to help.

And I vividly remember my mom saying, this is a once-in-a-lifetime deal.

Enjoy it.

And as soon as I took off, I thought, I don't want this to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

I want to do this forever.

I ended up not wanting to buy a car when I was young.

I wanted to buy a balloon.

So I sold pop cans and mowed lawns, and did anything I could to save a dime, and I bought a balloon when I was 14.

It was hard to explain to my parents that I didn't want to go work a regular 9-to-5 job, that I wanted to work for myself, and build and manufacture hot air balloons.

♪ Through just a weird stroke of luck, I had the opportunity to buy Adams Balloons, and since 2015, we have grown into one of the largest balloon manufacturers in the U.S. >> About three years ago, I met some pilots and went out to crew for them one day, and absolutely was hooked.

I loved every minute of it, and I haven't really missed a flight since.

It's just in my blood.

It's my passion now.

>> We do a lot of corporate logoed balloons and a lot of the artwork balloons in our shop.

We do offer special shapes.

We are gearing up to build a special shaped gorilla that is going to head overseas after it's built.

We take the raw goods and turn them into aircraft.

So we get bolts of fabric.

We pull it out on to our cutting table and cut the panels of the hot air balloon.

>> Glue the appliques down and single-needle stitch all the appliques on the panels.

>> And then from there, it comes over to my department where I sit at the sewing machine and sew it together.

And then I actually assemble all of the pieces of the aircraft to turn it into the hot air balloon.

>> So right now, I'm working on panel four.

These are the flames for the little devil artwork.

This is nylon, ripstop nylon.

Very lightweight, but durable.

I cut the yellow panel first, then I cut the red panel, and I cut all the flames out with a razor knife by hand.

We lay everything over, and then glue down the edges.

And then I'm going to take it over to my machine, and I will single stitch all the edges to hold it all together.

It's not unlike a quilt.

I mean, just bigger pieces.

>> And then after we get done sewing it, we take it outside and test inflate it.

♪ So your average sized hot air balloon will carry a pilot and two passengers.

We have balloons that carry 12 to 14, 16 passengers for the ride company, and we take birthdays, anniversaries, wedding proposals, dates.

We fly locally here over Monroe County, and the scenery here is just fantastic because we're right next to the Hoosier National Forest and Brown County State Park.

This is just extremely scenic.

So it makes for fantastic views while we're flying.

>> I've flown all over the country.

This is best place I've ever flown in.

It's got the right combination of interesting terrain, and also kind of being, we are mid-continental in terms of our weather patterns.

We go on longer flights at times.

>> And in ballooning, you are completely at the mercy of the wind.

It's a fun challenge every time you fly.

People have been flying hot air balloons since 1783.

So it's an old technology.

There's no way to steer a balloon once you take off, other than hoping that when you change the altitude you can find a different wind direction.

We spend a lot of time before every flight looking at maps and looking at wind directions to decide the proper spot to take off from.

Ballooning is a fair weather sport for sure.

So we have to be really cautious about wind speeds and thunderstorms or rain.

While we're floating through the sky, it's almost totally silent.

Everything about it just seems so peaceful.

You are away from the hustle and the bustle on the ground and nobody can bug you while you're up there.

It's just you get to relax and enjoy it.

So as long as there's no obstacles, you can fly a foot off the ground or you can fly 10,000 feet off the ground.

You can actually dip down into the trees.

You can pick leaves out of the tops of the trees.

You can see wildlife.

You see deer.

You see foxes.

You see rabbits.

There's nothing like being in a balloon and flying over people.

>> The pool looks nice.

>> Wanna beer?

>> Yeah!

>> People come out of their house and they get their camera.

They will get their kids, and everybody stands there and waves, and it's just so cool to see so many smiles on people's faces.

Most people don't realize it, but we can hear every single thing they say on the ground.

So they'll be having conversations saying, oh, I'm sure they can't hear us.

And we'll yell down, yes, we can!

>> We're flying over houses, and you'll oftentimes get a kid, they jump on their bicycle.

And I'm only going 5 to 8 miles an hour.

So it's fairly easy to keep up with us.

You've got this small pack of children on their bike chasing you down as you fly over.

>> Hot air balloons never land where we took off from.

One of my favorite things to do in ballooning is to land in and around housing additions.

>> Because I get a bunch of kids out.

And, you know, oftentimes, they will stand at a distance, you know, 100 feet away.

I'm, like, hey, guys, come on over here.

Yeah, you can touch the balloon.

Do you want to get in the basket, and really engage them that way.

I love it.

>> Mike, I'm probably going to go just on the other side of the apartment buildings.

>> And I think it's just that kind of connection with people has been so rewarding and really has taught me a lot about just, you know, humanity.

Because we end up connecting with people that in most circumstances we never would because we landed in their backyard, right?

We have these great conversations, and oftentimes, they tell me way more about themselves than I expect, and I just become a friend of sorts.

>> It's a really, really unique job, and it's really rewarding in a lot of ways.

It's what I was meant to do.

>> ASHLEY: Seeing these balloons out in the real world is such a magical experience.

They've flown over my house, my backyard, when I have been sitting out at a restaurant.

You know, you definitely feel like a real Bloomingtonian when you experience these balloons going overhead.

And as always, we would like to encourage you to stay connected with us.

Just head over to JourneyIndiana.org.

There you can see full episodes, connect with us on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, and suggest stories from your neck of the woods.

We also have a map feature that allows you to see where we've been, and to plan your own Indiana adventures.

But before we say good-bye, let's learn a little bit more about the Mississippian culture.

>> All right.

So what we are going to do is what we refer to as flint knapping.

Most of the stone artifacts at the site are made out of flint, which came from around the Corydon, Indiana, area.

And there's different types of ways of flint knapping, different tools that come out of it.

Arrowheads are the classic, but what we'll probably make today is a serrated knife.

So what you basically do, you take the tool here, which they would have had like an antler to use.

And you just start gradually going around a thin side of the stone, and making little notches in it.

>> ASHLEY: Okay.

And what would this kind of tool been used for?

>> So they would have used it to skin an animal, you know, cut, portage or leather or anything of that nature.

>> ASHLEY: Okay.

♪ ♪ >> Production support for "Journey Indiana" is provided by WTIU members.

Thank you!