Below,
you will find a general and by no means complete chronicle of the
production of this film.
MARCH
2008: Producer Chris Valluzzo proposes Why Old Time? and Horse
Archer invests in new video cameras and sound equipment to make it
happen.
Some initial footage is taken in Giles County, Virginia while we get
material for the Henry Reed Legacy. Thanks to Chris and Jackie
Via for being such a help with both projects.
APRIL
2009: The project is formally charted out and budgeted.
Like all our projects it should only cost a few thousand dollars and
a few months of our time . . . in other news, the Easter Bunny is on
the way.
May 9th
2008.
It’s official, Why
Old Time? is now in production. Our first interview we did was with
Grammy winner, David Holt. David was on his way from Asheville NC to
Charlottesville VA to play with Doc Watson and he graciously made a pit
stop in Blacksburg, VA just to speak with us. David had a great insight
on old time music and it’s growth. We were glad to have him on board.
Today was our first
festival shoot, which we were very excited to get. We traveled down to
Fiddler’s Grove in Union Grove NC.
What a great festival with a wonderful setting as well!
We spoke with
Fiddler’s Grove top man Haper Van Hoy who was very gracious to take a
few minutes out of his day to speak with us.
We interviewed
Mike Arant from the
Prairie Belt Boys who
has been going to Old Time festivals since he was a kid and gave us some
great insight on the growth of the festival scene.
We
also spoke with master fiddler Robin Warren who won the "Fiddler of the
Festival" award in 1977, 1980, 1982 qualifying her to be Fiddler’s Grove
first "Master Fiddler." Robin and Brian Clancey performed as
Spirit Fiddle and CDs are available through their website
www.spiritfiddle.com.
At
long last we finally got our interview with the
Reed Island Rounders. It was nice
to get them on tape b/c they actually did two interviews, one for Why
Old Time? and one for our Henry Reed documentary due out later this
summer. There were so many other great folks we spoke with and we were
very glad to have made the journey to Fiddler’s Grove.
Despite a few showers early, we were
able to get some good interviews for the Why Old Time documentary.
We were also able to wrap up the last couple interviews for our Henry Reed
documentary which will be out late summer.
Henry Reed's influence is felt far and
wide . . . in fact, I meet a couple who came all the way from California
to be at Henry Reed festival. We also got a chance to interview Virginia
Champion Old Time fiddler Mark Campbell If you haven't been to Henry Reed
fiddler's convention, we recommend going. It's a nice small festival
with a great family feel.
James Reed shows off the hand made fiddle that served as an incentive for
this year's raffle.
Virginia Champion fiddler, Mark Campbell (center) gave us one of several
great interviews for the Why Old Time documentary.
June 8: Despite the intense heat, we had a really great festival
shooting experience. We got lots of great footage of jams on all over the
grounds at Mount Airy, interviewed some great fans, and talked with 14
year old Isaac Akers who was incredibly eloquent about his take on old
time. If he's any indication of what the next generation of musicians is
going to do with Old Time, the music is in good hands.
Did I mention it was HOT? Really hot. We
actually had a sound unit die on us because it overheated.
Thanks to Gary and all the folks who run
the show there. We had a great time and got some good footage. Next
festival is Henry Reed Fiddler's convention in Glen Lyn VA.
Nikki Talley: We interviewed Nikki, who plays and records both Old
Time music and writes contemporary music with an old time flavor. You
can check out her website at
www.nikkitalley.com
Behind the scenes with the crew
One of several hot jams . . . and we do mean hot
Grayson
County Fiddler's Convention
June 28, 2008
Elk Creek, Virginia
After a boiling hot day in Mt.
Airy, the scene at Grayson County was nearly perfect weather-wise.
There was a nice breeze and lots of good smells and good music
floating in the air. Musicians huddled in circles underneath
the trees and, as you can see in the photo to the right, it was very
much like a family reunion (and in some cases, it was!)
By this point we were starting to
see a few faces we had seen before and realizing that there was no
rush to get some interviews because their calendar and our calendar
were identical.
We got some of our best interviews
here and spoke with people from as far away as Sweden and as near as
the next hollow.
After our filming wrapped up at
Grayson County, we headed down the Blue Ridge Parkway to do a quick
interview with the Carolina Chocolate Drops before their show at the
Blue Ridge Music Center. They were very gracious to take the
time in between their arrival and preparation for the evening's
show.
We got a great interview with all
three members and Dom Flemons of the Carolina Chocolate Drops
and Producer/Director Chris Valluzzo took time for a photo.
Rain was little deterrent in the
face of the festival atmosphere at Clifftop. When the sun
peaked through, we captured some of the best visual imagery of the
film and when it did not cooperate, we huddled in under tarps for a
few good tunes and a few good laughs.
In one particularly moving moment,
the young lady in the photo to the right began talking about her
grandfather's fiddle which is in that case and the way she connects
to him and his life each time she plays.
Fall 2008:
We took a crew up to the
Rockbridge Mountain Music festival to get the Green Grass Cloggers
reunion performance. We interviewed a few of them along our way and
it was great to get them on stage performing. What a great group of
energetic dancers. And a really great festival with a comfortable
family feel.
This fall we made two trips to Asheville NC, one to Lewisburg West
Virginia, one to Johnson City TN, and one to Mt Airy NC to interview
a whole host of folks. We got some great interviews and some
good music on tape to boot. Thanks to all who made me welcome and
were willing to sit down and speak with me on camera.
NOVEMBER 2008: At long last
we got our interview with Mike Seeger. Mike has dedicated his
life to learning, preserving, and sharing Old Time music. In
between feeding the potbellied stove with wood, Seeger explained how
he found the music and sought it out through his lifetime.
He offered us some great insight
and provided us with our one and only Jews harp song, which we were
surprised by and quite thankful for.
DECEMBER 2008- FEBRUARY 2009
We spent the last couple months
wrapping up stray filming tasks and starting the editing process.
However, more opportunities have arisen and we'll continue to follow
those leads until we're satisfied we've got everything we need.
We also finished the trailer . . .
thanks to Jack Bennett for the great edit. And, Chris Valluzzo
and Sean Kotz got Facebook accounts--just search us out and we will
be happy to befriend you!
