Synopsis
Homemade Songs celebrates the rich diversity of our nation heard nightly in juke joints, cantinas, on porches, and in backyards across America. This limited series tells the story of people who live in step with the music of their ancestors, people who, from one generation to the next, have passed down the vibrant and extensive musical culture of their communities.
Each 45-60 minute episode focuses on a distinct rural and regionally-specific musical tradition set in a different part of our country. Well-known and respected musicians from each tradition serve as our guides, introducing the viewer to the aspects of the music and culture that matter most. The camera then turns to their audience, to the people whose participation makes the region and the music so vibrant. The result is an intimate portrait that empowers communities to present themselves on their own terms and foregrounds accountability to the regions depicted. Drawn from the deepest wells of our nation’s historical memory, American music cuts through lines drawn by race, class, and ideology and opens pathways towards a more complex vision of who we are as a country.
Background
American society is increasingly divided along political lines with the current culture wars deepening those fissures to the point of collapse. We present Homemade Songs as a counter to this. We challenge narrowly-defined ideas of what America looks and sounds like, of what kind of people listen to what kind of music, of what kind of values rural people hold. We challenge ideas of what genre is, how it functions, and what it signifies. In doing so, we start to present an inclusive portrait of a nation that listens to wildly varied musical traditions, situated in rural communities with more in common than is typically presented by mainstream media.
Though these traditions are seemingly disparate, we discover similarities threading through the episodes, evidence of the sonic and cultural ties that bind. This could be identical songs performed across different genres or dance steps connecting dancers of many backgrounds. Viewed together, this series presents a vision of interconnected identities grounded in a colorful mosaic of lived experiences, an offering of hope to a country in turmoil.
Style
Building off the legacy of Les Blank, this series likewise embarks on a visual survey of American music, presenting the strength, specificity, and power of our country’s musical heritage in a way that has never before been seen on screen. Scenes will be shot in towns often too far off the beaten path to make it on screen. We combine verité footage from inside people’s homes, moments of celebration and levity, work, physical labor, food production, child-rearing, rest, and more.
We have no outside scholars or experts giving sterile analytical material. Instead, we highlight the folks whose lived experiences make them experts on their own region, music, and culture. We find natural sonic textures to inform the film: local radio stations, school bands, religious organizations, and more.
In every community, we engage local producers, shooters, and fixers to ensure that our visual and sonic depictions are on course. We bake in systems of feedback and input into the editing process to create a culture of accountability and collaboration throughout production and post-production.
Louisiana
When most people hear ‘Louisiana culture’, they think New Orleans. But the reality is that Southern Louisiana—a band of parishes stretching from New Orleans to Lake Charles south of I-10—remains one of the most culturally dense areas of the country. Cajun, Creole, and Native cultures blend, many of them speaking distinct, vintage French dialects. Geographic isolation from the swamp and bayous engenders an intense cultural pride, resulting in a region whose music, foodways, language, and lifestyle remain unparalleled.
Potential artists:
- Keith Frank
- Louis Michot
- Tif Lamson
- Diamond J & the Ruby Red Raindrops
Appalachia
On the rare occasion that portrayals of Appalachia make it into the mainstream, they are rife with negative depictions of social ills: poverty, job loss, opioid use, environmental destruction, hopelessness. Such films as Deliverance, Hillbilly Elegy have warped generations of minds about what this region is and who lives there (and about who plays the banjo). In this episode, the audience will be treated to a visual and aural feast of Appalachian vitality—the region’s indisputable signature to those who know it.
Potential artists:
- Tyler Childers
- Sturgill Simpson
- Amethyst Kiah
- Adeem The Artist
Closing credits track: SG Goodman’s The Way I Talk