The Mississippi: River of Song
Producer – John Junkerman
4 one-hour espisodes, 1999
In Distribution
The Mississippi: River of Song is a musical journey down the Mississippi, filmed and recorded on location in more than 30 towns and cities. The series follows the river from northern Minnesota to New Orleans to discover the music that flourishes in the heartland of America. There are internationally renowned and major label recording artists, pioneers and legends, young inheritors of the music, and there are those who make music simply for the pleasure of the sound and the community it creates.
Overall, more than 45 artists and groups are profiled, resulting in a complex and dynamic portrait of music and the American community. Narrated by independent folk-rock musician Ani DiFranco, the series uses performances and interviews to tell the story of American music in the artists’ own words.
The project also included a radio series of 7 one-hour episodes which expanded the TV series to include more music. It aired on Public Radio International affiliates in 1999. The project also produced a 2-CD SET with 36 full-length performances from the series and a companion book written by Boston music journalist Elijah Wald and director/producer John Junkerman. The book features interviews with all of the performers and 160 photographs taken on location.
“The Mississippi: River of Song couldn’t have occurred at a better time. With the close of the 20th century, America’s most musical century, upon us, River of Song traces the past, celebrates the present, and points optimistically to the future of American Music.”
–The Cleveland Plain Dealer“…the series leaves no doubt that the Mississippi is just as much the essence of America today – no matter how diverse it may have become – as it was when Huck and Jim floated on that raft long ago.”
–Los Angeles Times“The production team was careful to avoid the well-intentioned cliches of American musicology – an excessive focus on jazz and the blues to the exclusion of other traditions. They rejected the archival recordings and grainy black-and-white footage … The focus, instead was on still-thriving traditions …The finished project amounts to a giant family album that redefines our notion of indigenous American music.”
–St. Louis Post-Dispatch“River of Song is both engaging and informative. In articulating the vital role that music continues to play [in] this nation’s ethnic and cultural identity, it provides a deep, thirst-quenching cocktail of sound.”
–Newsday
This film aired nationally on PBS in January 1999 and has received the Blues Foundation’s highest award for a non-performer, Achievement in Visual Broadcast-Film, Television, and Video, 1999.
Major funding was provided by Hitachi, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS, and The National Endowment for the Arts.