PBS at TCA: Ken Burns' "Country Music" Celebration

Burns always attends Television Critics Association tours whenever he has a new project that is ready to goamp160 The membership over the years has shifted from hardboiled newspaper reporters to critics to bloggers to social media mavens but the enthusiasm for this man and his work remains strong no matter the demographicsamp160 Even GenZers want to hear what he has to sayHis TCA sessions are always wellattended highlights of these gatherings and this year was no different though there were two exceptions to the normamp160 First he was joined on stage by legendary country performers Roseanne Cash pictured at top with Burns and Dwight Yoakam and acclaimed songwriter Marty Stuart who were equally engrossingamp160 Second the session for Country Music was followed by a dualpurpose partyamp160 It was a celebration of the documentary itself and of Burnsamp8217 66th birthday that very dayamp8220I was completely unprepared on this projectamp8221 Burns told reporters who werenamp8217t sure at first what he was getting at because Burns always seems to be on top of everythingamp160 He later told reporters he currently has no less than eight new projects in simultaneous development or production amp160amp8220I think I speak for writer and coproducer Dayton Duncan and producer Julie Dunfey when I say that we were unprepared for the kind of higher emotions we would run into and find unavoidable in mastering this very complicated story about this musicamp8221 amp160Duncan and Dunfey were also on stageamp8220I am a child of rock and roll and RampampB and I knew a little bit about countryamp8221 Burns explained amp160amp8220I worked at a record store in Ann Arbor Michigan in the late amp821760s and early amp821770s and I sold a lot of country music and knew a lot of country music amp160Thereamp8217s a moment in our film when Vince Gill says amp8216I donamp8217t know whether you write the songs or the songs write youamp8217 amp160I feel in some ways the documentary projects pick usamp160 I had a dear friend in Texas amp160I was staying with him and his wife and he just said amp8216Have you ever thought about country musicamp8217 amp160This was the end of 2010 amp160It just hit me like a ton of bricks amp160I went to Dayton and I said amp8216What about countryamp8217 amp160He said amp8216yesamp8217 and weamp8217ve been plowing towards it because like all the other films weamp8217d done itamp8217s an opportunity to understand who we areamp8221amp8220What we try to do is enter into the topic and learn what we can and let the story tell usamp8221 Dayton saidamp160 amp8220One of the things that we learned and I hope it comes through in the film is that country music was never just one type of music amp160Itamp8217s been lots of types of music from the getgo and it branched into even more multiple types of music amp160A lot of people will be bringing preconceptions and stereotypes to this film some because they love country music and some because they donamp8217t think that they do amp160We set out as we always do to try to tell the truthful story which in this case I think will bust a lot of stereotypesamp8221Many people refer to country music as a amp8220single thingamp8221 Burns explained amp160He disagreesamp160 amp8220Itamp8217s always been a muttamp8221 he saidamp160 amp8220Those who would trade on the notion of a distinct American original American have got it wrongamp8220We tend to with our conventional wisdom silo country music as a single thingamp8221 he continuedamp160 amp8220First of all thereamp8217s no silo amp160There are no borders amp160Itamp8217s a molecule thatamp8217s attached to other molecules that form an American musical compound thatamp8217s bordering jazz and bordering blues and bordering rock amp8216namp8217 roll amp160In fact country is one of the parents of rock amp8216namp8217 roll amp160What people discover is they know a lot more about country music than they think they doamp8220Our last episode is called Donamp8217t Get Above Your Raising which is an old southern saying donamp8217t get too big for your britchesamp8221 he added amp160amp8220Donamp8217t forget where youamp8217ve come from amp160Unlike any other music form or any other form there is an equality amp160Thereamp8217s no communication except among equals anywhere in this worldamp160 Only in country music do its stars look at its fans in the eye and understand that what they heard in that song is as true for them as it was when they wrote the song and performed itamp8221When artists enter into country music they literally join a family Burns assertedamp160 amp8220You may not as someone says in our film have a hit for 30 years but you are still okay amp160You are not forgotten and you are not tossed out amp160It represents an American possibility that we have forgotten and thatamp8217s community amp160These artists inhabit that space with the kind of generosity that makes everyone feel that they are welcome and I donamp8217t know where that is amp160You canamp8217t say that to Mick Jagger amp160You are not given access This is stuff I didnamp8217t expect you know amp160Itamp8217s an amazing world and Julie and Dayton and I just feel so privileged to have been asked inMaking a reference to his earlier documentary series Jazz Burns recalled that Louis Armstrong said amp8220amp8216There ainamp8217t but two kinds of music in this world good music and bad music amp160And good music you tap your foot toamp8217 amp160These musicians know thatamp160 I think we cloak country music in one aspect of being about hound dogs and pickup trucks and good old boys and sixpacks of beer because itamp8217s really hard to acknowledge that it deals with two fourletter words that are very difficult to talk about which are love and lossamp8220This is what we had no idea of going in how extraordinarily transforming and powerful and emotional it would be for usamp8221 he addedamp160 Judging by the clips we saw during the session the audience may be in for similar pleasant and profound revelationsClick on the social media tiles above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively those of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

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PBS at TCA: Ken Burns' "Country Music" Celebration

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