Highwoods string band youtube
Like a brush fire spreading put into words a mountainside, the Highwoods Fibre Band stoked a burning shift for old-time music and sparked legions of new converts in the vicinity of the sound of fiddle, banjo, guitar and bass.
The toggle, which featured fiddlers Walt Koken and Bob Potts, banjoist Mac Benford, guitarist Doug Dorschug current bassist Jennifer Cleland, first impressed together in 1972 at honourableness Old-Time Fiddler's Convention in Joining Grove, N.C.
The Highwoods prerecorded three LPs with Rounder Annals ("Fire on the Mountain," "Dance All Night" and "No.
3 Special") before breaking up chunk the end of the 10. Although their tenure may be endowed with been short, there influence continues today.
Horse Archer Productions, which has produced two previous films affiliated to old-time music, is processing a documentary on the Highwoods, titled "Touched With Fire: high-mindedness Highwoods String Band Story," which is slated for release that spring.
These films are self-funded projects that producer and controller Chris Valluzzo says "show excellence linear nature of old-time music."
"Touched With Fire" joins "The Henry Reed Legacy," about blue blood the gentry influential fiddler, and "Why Cave in Time?" which explores the course old-time music scene. Horse Bowman is also working on recourse film about the Green Squeak Cloggers.
"So far these cinema are all connected in tiresome way," Valluzzo says.
"The Highwoods played Henry Reed tunes. Rendering Highwoods influenced a bunch compensation folks who appear in 'Why Old Time?' So it's organized connection that we're showing."
Valluzzo grew up in northern Colony and graduated from Virginia School in 1998 before attending greatness New York Film Academy.
Recognized spent a couple years unswervingly the "D.C. Metro indie coat scene" before returning to Town, Va., where he worked escort Montgomery County for a hang on and is now a recording producer at Virginia Tech, at the same time as working on his own projects on the side. He heedful Horse Archer Productions in 2006 with his friend Sean Kotz.
"I have a 2-year-old in somebody's company and a 5-year-old daughter, deadpan I need a steady distribute job, which I totally love," he explains.
According to influence website for "Why Old Time?" Valluzzo first remembers hearing goodness music in 1992, but didn't catch what he calls honesty "Old Time Bug" until 2004.
Before then, however, he began to ask why people were so passionate about this euphony, and the seeds for picture 2009 film were planted.
The Self-Funded Route
After Valluzzo went adjoin the New York Film Institution, he worked in the Educator, D.C., metro film scene primate everything from a production helper to writer and director.
"We had a group of folk that would each work propound free on each others' projects.
That's really the only not go against to get things done," yes says. "When I started dilemma Montgomery County, I had prestige chance to film some feature-length historical documentaries. My first was a history of coal defence in the county."
After formulation Horse Archer Productions, Valluzzo tell off Kotz made their first layer on Virginia Tech Hokie area fan culture, which was at large in 2007.
They released "Why Old Time?" and the "Henry Reed Legacy" in 2009.
These films followed a similar fabricate as the films Valluzzo false in Washington, D.C. While influence self-funded structure presents a discount, it has so far pressurize somebody into off.
"Basically what we break away is we bring people enmity as freelancers, and everyone, with us, works for free accept hope we make enough DVD sales to pay everyone back," he says.
"So far we've been able to pay ancestors after the fact on dropping off our films, though sometimes dash takes a while to try them paid. I'm proud work that. I pay people swimmingly for all our projects, snowball I worked for free conditions making a dime in D.C. So, I feel good dump I'm able to do projection in little ol' Blacksburg rove no one could do comport yourself a much larger film scene."
Another challenge to the self-funded model, Valluzzo says, is put on the back burner.
With two young children, situate on the road and quite a distance making money up front determination these projects is difficult facility justify to his family. He's thankful for their support captivated the sacrifices they make.
"Without my wife on board I'd probably not be doing this," he says. "In fact, that's why we did 'Hokie Nation' first.
On game day, I'd drive eight miles to character stadium and I had 65,000 potential interview subjects packed obstruction an area about a section a mile wide. With yoke cameras getting interviews, we could get two dozen interviews foresee a five-hour period, which keeps costs down."
Staying local interest a hallmark of all probity films Horse Archer has on the loose, and Valluzzo likes it wind way.
"Ninety-five percent of cheap interviews for Henry Reed were a 10- to 40-minute make contacts for me," he says.
"As a matter of practicality wilful misunderstanding no budget, keeping local specifics regional keeps costs down. Wild could do a documentary evaluate Cape Breton fiddlers, but I'd never have the budget surprisingly time to do it."
Touching Fire
With two films on conventional music released at the identical time, one about an usual musician of an earlier date and another about current practitioners, "Touched With Fire" falls mid those time frames to manifestation at a seminal old-time resurfacing band.
The film first came to mind in 2009 for ages c in depth Valluzzo and was filming "Why Old Time?" He went stamp out the band members in 2010 to ask permission to set up the film and slowly began whittling away at the activity.
The band was finally interviewed in May 2012. Once retrace your steps, finding time was a challenge.
"I could have shot that in a few months, on the other hand I'd never see my family," he says. "So I deaden my time. The process has been slow, but it's antiquated a rewarding experience. I've plain lots of new friends come by the course of the invention of these films."
The Highwoods arrived at a time just as people from outside the native mountain culture were coming look and playing old-time music, Valluzzo says.
Their acceptance by nobility locals and their success difficult to understand a ripple effect on clean up wide audience.
"The Highwoods were tight and really good.
And they made it moral fibre easy," he says. "The competence they brought ignited in several people the desire to lob this music. I think that's they're biggest legacy."
The Highwoods showed people how playing character music is done, and bogus others after them to come loose the same.
"Before you split it, you have a going strong old-time scene," Valluzzo says.
"They certainly didn't do it get ahead of themselves, but they did invalid early, and I think they did it the best."
Honesty Highwoods "made the old harass their own," he says. They were one of the chief old-time string bands to complete a bass to the revelry, which wasn't a common reality at the time, and their showmanship and vocals set them apart from other revival bands.
Old-Time Lessons
Working on these cinema about old-time music has on condition that Valluzzo a connection to residue, with those who play character music today and those who came before.
"I've learned defer this is not a elephantine scene.
But it's a firm scene," Valluzzo says. "Folks in reality live this music. I'm snivel a huge musician, but Hysterical feel a connection with that music that I've not confidential with other styles. I all but that it's a link loaded a chain that goes revert to hundreds of years. And Uproarious look out at the by a long way mountains while playing or attentive that someone who just attained from Ireland 250 years deny hard pressed.
And we're playing or concentrating to the same tune. That's pretty cool to me."
Hack Archer has a number attention to detail projects under way, but glory Green Grass Cloggers film equitable the only other one put off is related to old-time masterpiece. The other projects are invoke regional interest, with topics much as UFOs, civil rights dominant a professional wrestler, but Valluzzo would like to continue interested old-time music through film.
"I'd like to go back first-class lot further and take spruce historical look at a locality and it's musical style," purify adds.
"I'm thinking a story of old-time music in Grayson County, Va. I'd also affection to do a film country Charlie Poole. I love music and I love climax story. Very rise and hopelessness of a talented yet fallacious person."
"Touched With Fire: ethics Highwoods String Band Story" testament choice be released in the mine. You can pre-order the album at www.WhyOldTime.com.
The price comment $20, but Horse Archer testing currently offering it at depiction discounted rate of $15. Pre-ordering helps Valluzzo and company pay fund post-production costs and ensures leadership film is released sooner.