UA Documentary to Screen in Rome

“Richard Johnston: Hill Country Troubadour,” a documentary from the University of Alabama Center for Public Television and Radio, will be shown in Rome, Italy as a part of the 7th annual Mojo Station Blues Festival. The three day festival features performances by blues musicians and films on blues related subjects.

The Mojo Station radio program was created by Gianluca Diana and Pietropaolo Moroncelli in 2002 to celebrate and promote blues music in Italy. The program led to the creation of the Mojo Station Blues Society, a non profit organization, which established the Mojo Station Blues Festival in 2005. Each year the festival brings live blues music and documentary films to an appreciative audience in Rome.

“Richard Johnston: Hill Country Troubadour” will screen on Friday, November 4th at the Cinema Palazzo. The film film tells the story of a Memphis, Tennessee based musician who draws his inspiration from the hill country style of music from north Mississippi. Johnston is a popular performer at venues around the world but at the time the documentary was shot, he was performing primarily on the sidewalk along Beale Street in Memphis. The documentary has been screened at film festivals across the US and Europe and has won five festival awards. It was produced and directed by Max Shores.

For more information:
The Mojo Station Program Podcast
Richard Johnston: Hill Country Troubadour (info about the film)

UA Documentaries to Screen in Paris

Two documentaries produced by the University of Alabama will be screened in Paris, France during October, 2011. The documentaries, originally made for broadcast in Alabama, have both had an impact well beyond the boundaries of the state.

“Richard Johnston: Hill Country Troubadour” will screen as a part of the Raw Sounds Movie Club on October 17th at Le Fanfaron (6 rue de la Main d’Or). The film, which won the Best Alabama Film Award at the 2007 George Lindsey UNA Film Festival, tells the story of a Memphis, Tennessee musician who was performing frequently in Alabama during the time it was produced. Johnston draws his inspiration from a unique style of blues music that comes from north Mississippi’s hill country and the film serves as an introduction to the musician and the style of music. It has been shown across the US, England, and Germany but this screening will be the French premiere.

“Songs Inside The Box” will screen during the Cigar Box Guitare Mini-Festival on October 22nd at Boullion Belge (6 Rue Planchat). The film chronicles an Alabama cigar box guitar festival which attracts participants from across the US. It recently won the Best Feature Length Documentary Award at the 2011 Prometheus Film Festival and portions of the documentary are currently being shown at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles as a part of an exhibit of cigar box guitars. Through “Songs Inside The Box,” the Alabama festival has led to similar festivals around the world and the film will be shown at the first such festival in Paris. It has previously screened in Australia, England, Germany, and across the US.

Both documentaries were directed by Max Shores at the UA Center for Public Television and Radio. The Center was created in 1955 to produce programming for the newly formed Alabama Public Television network of stations covering the state. For the past 20 years the department has focused primarily on the production of single topic documentaries which have shared aspects of life in Alabama and the southeastern US with audiences around the world. In addition to broadcast distribution, CPT&R documentaries have been screened at international film festivals where they have won awards.

The presentation of these two music documentaries within one week in Paris is a coincidence but the stories told by the two films are related. It was through Richard Johnston’s use of cigar box guitars that director Shores learned of the widespread interest in the instruments and the Alabama festival that brings cigar box guitar makers and musicians together.

"Richard Johnston: Hill Country Troubadour" to Screen June 4th at Alabama Cigar Box Guitar Festival

Richard Johnston plays a cigar box guitar

“Richard Johnston: Hill Country Troubadour,” the award-winning documentary by Center for Public Television & Radio producer/director Max Shores, will be shown at the 7th Annual Cigar Box Guitar Festival in Huntsville, Alabama at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 4^th.  Shores will be in attendance and will answer questions after the screening.

Presentation of this University of Alabama documentary is just a part of the two-day festival which will begin on Friday, June 3^rd at 6:00 p.m. with a free performance by cigar box guitar musicians, Hymn for Her.  Following the documentary screening on Saturday there will be performances by Pat, John and Uncle Chuck Nickel, Microwave Dave, John Lowe, Seven Hills Stomp, Nadaband and Earl Williams.  Bill Jehle's Cigar Box Guitar Museum will be on display as well as demonstrations of various hand crafted instruments.  The admission charge for the Saturday events will be $15.00.

Richard Johnston is a Memphis musician who is inspired by the music of the hill country of north Mississippi.  He and John Lowe worked together to create a unique cigar box guitar which allows a musician to play both bass guitar and lead guitar simultaneously. It was through Johnston that Shores learned of the annual CBG event in Huntsville which ultimately became the subject of his documentary, “Songs Inside The Box.”

The 7th Annual Cigar Box Guitar Festival will take place in the Flying Monkey Arts Center located at Lowe Mill.  The address is 2211 Seminole Drive Southwest Huntsville, AL 35805.

Here is a schedule of events during the festival:

6/3 – Friday – Hymn for Her, Admission FREE Concerts on the Dock (6pm – 9pm)

6/4 – Saturday – Artist Market 2nd floor, handcrafted instruments and more… (Noon – 4pm)

Demonstrations: How to Build a Cigar Box Guitar with John Nickel (1pm & 3pm)
1st floor studios : Nickel Cigar Box Guitar

Workshops:
12:30 & 2pm – “Build a One- String CBG with Steve Webb
1st floor classroom – $30. materials & tools provided questions or registration: backpocketcrafts@yahoo.com

1:30 & 2:30pm – “Learn to Play a Cigar Box Guitar” with Pat Nickel
1st floor lounge near Nickel’s CBG Studio

Jam Sessions: 1st floor lounge area / 2nd floor connector / on the dock
Special Guest, Max Shores, documentary filmmaker
“Songs Inside the Box” and “Hill Country Troubadour”
2nd floor Film Co-op / Don Tingle studio near theater

Flymo Theater Extravaganza – Saturday – 4th (4pm – 12am)
4pm – “Hill Country Troubadour” film screening, Admission $5
“Live” Cigar Box Guitar Music ’till midnight, Admission $10
6pm – Pat Nickel
7pm – Seven Hills Stomp
8pm – Microwave Dave
9pm – John Lowe
10pm – Earl Williams
11pm – Nadaband

For more information:

Richard Johnston: Hill Country Troubadour

Songs Inside The Box

The Flying Monkey Arts Center

Hymn for Her

Bill Jehle’s Cigar Box Guitar Museum