[Dixielandjazz] RE: Hackberry Ramblers documentary on PBS

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

This should be OKOM for at least some of the folks on this list of eccentric 
musical personalities.  Hope some of you get a chance to enjoy it.   Sounds 
like OKOM to me.

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:          CONTACT:  Karen Leipziger/KL Productions
      January 7, 2004
klpzgr at earthlink.net/(615)297-4452


HACKBERRY RAMBLERS DOCUMENTARY TO AIR NATIONALLY ON PBS

Next week, television viewers around America can pull up a chair for the
in-depth documentary Make 'Em Dance: The Hackberry Ramblers' Story.
(Most
PBS stations will air Make 'Em Dance on Tuesday, January 13, with some
exceptions; check local listings or visit
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/makethemdance/)

The one-hour film, which will air as part of the series Independent Lens,
was directed by John Whitehead. It traces the Ramblers' rollicking
seven-decade career from the group's formation in the tiny town of
Hackberry, Louisiana, during the depths of the Depression, up through
their Grammy nomination for the 1997 album Deep Water (on the Hot Biscuits
label), and footage from recent performances on MTV and in Europe.

Founded in 1933 by Luderin Darbone and Edwin Duhon, the two spry
gentlemen, now in their nineties, who still lead the band today, The 
Hackberry
Ramblers brought many important innovations to the music of South Louisiana. 
They
were the first band to combine Cajun music, sung in French, with 
Anglo-American country music, sung in English; over time, they also incorporated elements 
of jazz, blues, rockabilly and swamp pop.

 In addition, the Ramblers were the first band to use electronic 
amplification in
southwest Louisiana, performing through a Sears-Roebuck "public address" 
system. Because few rural nightspots had electricity back then, the P.A. was often 
powered by Luderin Darbone's idling Model-A Ford. Then, as now, The Hackberry 
Ramblers had one goal: make 'em dance!

More than a film about music and musicians, Make 'Em Dance chronicles the
seventy-year friendship of Darbone and Duhon who make quite an unlikely "odd 
couple" and their varied interactions with band-mates Glen Croker, Johnny 
Faulk, and Ben Sandmel. There are poignant scenes, band tiffs, and Spinal Tap 
moments. There are historic photos from the Ramblers' earliest days, eight 
millimeter film from a California concert in 1965, and contemporary footage from the 
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the Grand Ole Opry (both on stage and 
backstage), and a backyard crawfish boil in the
band's hometown of Lake Charles, Louisiana. 

 There are guest appearance by band buddies and musical collaborators Marcia 
Ball, Rodney Crowell, Michael Doucet and Jimmie Dale Gilmore; expert 
commentaries by folklorists Barry Ancelet, Ann Savoy, and Nick Spitzer. Outlaw-country 
icon Billy Joe
Shaver is the principal narrator, and there is even a cameo appearance by New
Orleans R&B singer Ernie K-Doe.    Big hit record was (Mother In Law ). 

Make 'Em Dance: The Hackberry Ramblers' Story is fun and often funny, 
informative and insightful, rowdy yet sentimental, visually rich, and full of great 
music. It goes inside one of America's most distinctive ethnic enclaves while 
celebrating the universal joys and quirks of human nature. And it will make you 
want to dance, too!

**************** 

On Sunday, January 11, two events in New Orleans will celebrate the
national
broadcast of Make 'Em Dance. At 2 PM there will be a debut screening at
the
Ogden Museum of Southern Art ( www.ogdenmuseum.org ) including a brief
performance by The Hackberry Ramblers and Q & A with director John
Whitehead. Then at 5 PM, the Ramblers will perform at Tipitina's
(www.tipitinas.com ).