Set in the North Carolina Appalachians, Sprout Wings and Fly honors the fiddle playing of 82-year-old Tommy Jarrell of Toast, NC. Tommy was quirky, gregarious and generous, and this film shows him at his best, in fine fiddling form.
Changes in the Ocean, Changes in the Sea (2019)
A lyrical documentary about writer and street musician Roger Parham-Brown.
The Waterboys: Live at Glastonbury 2015 (2015)
For true believers, Mike Scott will always be the man who invented and defined 1980s stadium rock, and then bailed out just as U2 and Simple Minds were hitting their stride. He immersed himself in Irish folk music, releasing the rollicking Fisherman’s Blues and Room to Roam albums to huge acclaim. Since then he has recorded and toured often, under his own name and the band’s. He also set 20 of WB Yeats’s poems to music for a theatrical presentation called An Appointment With Mr. Yeats, so expect a broad range of very different musical ideas at what has to be their seventh Glastonbury, unless you count the three performances in 2007 separately, in which case it’s their ninth appearance at Worthy Farm.
Harmonium in California (1980)
Through concerts and interviews, folk-progressive group Harmonium takes Quebec culture to California. This documentary full of colour and sound, filmed in California in 1978, recounts the ups and downs of the journey of the Quebec musical group Harmonium, who came to feel the pulse of Americans and see if culture, their culture, can succeed in crossing borders.
You Gave Me A Song: The Life and Music of Alice Gerrard (2019)
You Gave Me A Song offers an intimate portrait of old-time music pioneer Alice Gerrard and her remarkable, unpredictable journey creating and preserving traditional music. The film follows eighty-four year old Gerrard over several years, weaving together verité footage of living room rehearsals, recording sessions, songwriting, archival work, and performances with photos and rare field recordings. Much of the film is told in Alice’s voice and via interviews with musical collaborators and family members who share the story of Alice and others chasing that high lonesome sound.
Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound (2009)
Following folk musician Joan Baez on her extensive 2008-2009 tour, this film commemorates her career, which has spanned five decades. It includes concert and archival footage as well as interviews with such disparate colleagues, friends and admirers as Bob Dylan, Jesse Jackson and David Crosby. In addition to the music, it also touchs upon Baez's long history of global social activism.
To Hear Your Banjo Play (1947)
A short film about Pete Seeger and the birth of banjo music throughout the Southern United States.
Appalachian Journey (1991)
Appalachian Journey is one of five films made from footage that Alan Lomax shot between 1978 and 1985 for the PBS American Patchwork series (1991). It offers songs, dances, stories, and religious rituals of the Southern Appalachians. Preachers, singers, fiddlers, banjo pickers, moonshiners, cloggers, and square dancers recount the good times and the hard times of rural life there. Performers include Tommy Jarrell, Janette Carter, Ray and Stanley Hicks, Frank Proffitt Jr., Sheila Kay Adams, Nimrod Workman and Phyllis Boyens, Raymond Fairchild, and others, with a bonus of a few African-Americans from the North Carolina Piedmont.
Banjoes, Fiddles & Riverboats: John Hartford and the General Jackson (1991)
Steamboatin' stories from those who lived them, river history, authentic footage and stills, along with music and narration by John Hartford.
Courage & Patience & Grit: Great Big Sea in Concert (2006)
Courage & Patience & Grit is a DVD/CD set released by the band Great Big Sea on November 14, 2006. It contains video of the live performance from a concert at the Empire Theatre in Belleville, Ontario along with music videos for the songs "Captain Kidd", "When I Am King", "Lukey", and "Shines Right Through Me". The live performance was recorded during their The Hard and the Easy tour.
Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006)
In March 2005, Neil Young was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. Four days before he was scheduled for a lifesaving operation, he headed to Nashville, where he wrote and recorded the country folk album Prairie Wind with old friends and family members. After the successful operation and recovery period, he returned to Nashville that August to play at the famed Ryman Auditorium, once again gathering together friends and family for this special performance.
The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time (1982)
Documentary about the blacklisted folk group The Weavers, and the events leading up to their triumphant return to Carnegie Hall.
Tales From a Golden Age: Bob Dylan 1941-1966 (2004)
Documentary - Tracing his career up to the point of his 1966 motorcycle accident and subsequent disappearance from the spotlight, this unauthorized documentary uncovers a side of Bob Dylan never revealed before. Includes extensive interviews and rare footage. - Mickey Jones
Pierre Bensusan In Concert (1995)
The evocative and exciting music of Pierre Bensusan is presented in its full glory in this 75 minute concert recorded at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, California in 1995. His diverse influences yield a sound and style that confounds classification and has thrilled and captivated audiences around the world. Pierre's name has become synonymous with contemporary acoustic guitar genius.