Documentary on African music at the AMP

Last night I went to the AMP to see the documentary "Throw Down Your Heart," which follows banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck on his musical travels through Africa. He plays with artists in Uganda, Tanzania, Gambia, and Mali, where he was hosted by the incredible singer Oumou Sangare. The music is wonderful, but it's just as fun to watch the way Fleck is greeted as he visits a wide range of musical locales. The film is only scheduled to run through Thursday.

UPDATE - the film has been extended for another week

July 14th in the Valley

Water Valley's Farmers' Market meets under the magnolia trees downtown (Main Street, next to the Chamber of Commerce) from 4-6pm on Wednesday.

Come by this produce-heavy market fo fresh tomatoes, purple hull peas, berries, beans, squash, and more (most veggies are only $1 a pound!).

Saturday's market meets in the same place from 8am-11am and features more vendors. Swing by!

-posted and hosted by the Water Valley Main Street Association

Robert Belfour at Foxfire on Sunday night

On Sunday night bluesman Robert Belfour, who is the oldest proponent of the North Mississippi Hill Country tradition still performing actively, will be at the Foxfire Ranch, which is located just off Highway 7 about fifteen miles north of Oxford. There's good directions on their website, but there's also a sign on the west side of Route 7 just north of the BP station. Music generally starts around five or six, and last about three or four hours depending on the crowd.

Foxfire opened about a year and a half ago and features Sunday night blues and downhome cooking under an open-sided pavilion that's set in a field behind the home of the proprietors, Bill and Annie Hollowell. If you work on campus at Ole Miss you might know Annie as the woman who greets you when you enter the Office of the Registrar. She was also featured in Leyla Modirzadeh's play "Secret History" at the the Powerhouse last year, talking about growing up as a sharecropper in the Holly Springs area. In any case, she'll greet you with a hug when you arrive at Foxfire.

Robert Belfour was born in 1940 in Red Banks, MS, but has lived for decades in Memphis. Since retiring the mid-'90s from the construction business he's been performing actively, and has recorded two CDs for Fat Possum. He's a pretty mild-mannered guy but plays some really deep blues in a style similar to R.L. Burnside. Here's a video of Belfour that was shot for Martin Scorsese's "The Blues" film series.

LOUP GAROU FILMMAKERS SPEAK!

This summer marked the release of one of the most anticipated films ever shot in Taylor, Mississippi. “Night of the Loup Garou’’ continues to build a cult audience among college students, connoisseurs of fine acting, and lovers of old school drive-in cinema. The film was shot last summer without a budget and without a script, using local folks for actors. Velvet Ditch recently spoke with the filmmakers Micah Ginn and Matthew Nothelfer about the picture.

Velvet Ditch: Who came up with the idea of shooting a low-budget horror film in Taylor, Mississippi? And why the Loup Garou?

Matt: Micah and I have always talked about making a feature while working on our documentary film projects. Mostly because talking about being feature film directors made us feel more self-important when blabbing about it over a beer or two. And then somehow we actually talked ourselves into it. The reality was in early 2008 Micah eventually just said. "We have to make a movie this year, that's all there is to it!"

Micah: As for Taylor, we had always planned to shoot there because Thad Lee had graciously committed his cabin to the project as the primary location. At first, we were going to base the story in the Louisiana bayou, yet shoot in Taylor, since the Loup Garou is indigenous to Cajun Country. But from a production standpoint, it made more sense to just set the movie in Taylor. Doing so kept us from having to drive to Louisiana and get exterior/establishing shots of bayous and swamps, and allowed for a little more mystery in our story. Why is the Loup Garou in Taylor, MS? The plot thickens!

And why the Loup Garou? Cause werewolves are already cool, but a Cajun werewolf??? How can you not love that?

Velvet Ditch: What were the challenges with shooting with no crew and one camera? Was the project easier or harder than expected and will you produce another film here?

Matt: The one camera detail is about the only thing we had in common with a typical film shoot. Most indy films work it that way. Of course, they'd use better gear than just a consumer camcorder!

The main difference was trying to get good images with minimal art, costume, set design, and pretty much no real production crew. Organizing and creating the visual aesthetics of a set is a huge job, maybe the most important job, on a normal film. We had Laura, just one person, basically doing all that stuff.

Crazy.

So it ends up being an exercise in trying to not shoot the flaws on the set that were always around the edges. Aside from that we did the cinematography with essentially two video production lights and anything else we could get our hands on: flashlights, white pieces of cardboard for bounce light, wicked lanterns with open flames, whatever worked or helped.

Velvet Ditch: We’re really into profane movies? Why’d you guys opt out of any bad language or the typical horror T and A?

Matt: I was all for it. Mostly because I don't get to see T and A in my real life, and standing next to naked ladies without paying for it seems really cool to me. However, a PG level movie was the target at the outset so we stuck to it. At any rate, we used up our personal profanity quota during production yelling at Scott Morris and the dog he brought to the set.

Micah: We went with no cuss words for several reasons. First, it's just generally unnecessary. Second, I wanted to keep with the really old, bad movies that were made in the era before cussing and nudity became so rampant in the movies. Third, I can watch the movie with any audience and not cringe at foul language or raunchy scenes. Fourth, it makes my mother (and father too) happy, and that's very important always! Fifth, it gives the movie an innocence that I think fits it.

Velvet Ditch: What was the deal with local writer Scott Morris during the production? I heard he brought his dog.

Matt: Indeed. What was the deal? As co-director I never figured that one out. Were we attempting to deliberately create chaos on the set in order to prepare for the trials of larger productions in the future? If so, I'm not quite clear on that strategy. How many self-absorbed literary authors half drunk on bourbon trying to hijack the on-set direction and talking over the actor's lines while in the middle of filming are typical during a normal movie production?

Hmmm, come to think of it, we had two of those kind of folks on-set.

Micah: Scott Morris was to the movie set as a fever blister is to a cover model on the day of the shoot: Total catastrophe. If it weren't for his abilities as an actor, I would have had a restraining order put on him. As it is, though, he is probably the greatest actor of his generation, and thus must be tolerated.

If we had a nickel for every time Scott's dog "Muddy" ruined a shot by wandering obliviously into the scene, our budget would have ballooned into the millions.

Velvet Ditch: What would you do different for a – let’s say – Loup Garou 2?

Matt: Have somebody give us, the cast and crew, money to make these things. It's not that we need a lot. Making low-budget films are fine, but NO-budget is a strain. Personally, I'm more than flirting with bankruptcy with my financials --I'm having a torrid affair. So setting aside the time to work for free is extremely difficult to do. I don't mind making our ideas come to life for free, but as a private contractor/freelancer, when I'm devoting hundreds of days to making a movie, that's potentially hundreds of days I'm not doing a paying gig. And the Loup Garou movie from production to post production was easily over 150 days of 8+ hour days of solid work. The post-production is pretty time-consuming.

Micah: I would get a budget and script in place before shooting a single shot. Also, I would make the deputy character a sheriff, cause he's good.

Velvet Ditch: How’s the reaction been to the film since it premiered in Oxford? What’s next for the movie?

Matt: Seems good. Somehow people even liked Scott Morris in it.

Micah: The reaction has been wonderful. We had a sold out show the first night, and from all accounts the film has been well attended over the last two weeks, enough so to be held-over at the Amp. We are very grateful for all those who've come out to watch it, cause it truly makes all the hard work worth it!

What's next for the movie is a few more dates in the area...for instance a Tupelo screening, a Memphis screening (all still in the works), then try to get into some Louisiana theatres. We're also talking to Nova Cinemas about playing in some of their theatres across the Midwest and Southeast. The hope is that we get it in front of as many audiences as possible. I'll be curious to see how it plays when it gets away from the home-field advantage.

Velvet Ditch: Hey, what about that Ernie Sakolov. What an amazing talent! Did you find this guy in the Ukraine? Really fantastic acting.

Matt: I know. The range that was exhibited in his performance was astounding. Quite frankly I didn't think we'd be able to get such a solid performance from him, so I was pleasantly surprised. His ability to inhabit the Ernie character really held the film together, I thought. It's a shame the guy we got to play the adult Ernie was such a dud.

Micah: I'll say this: Everyone on set was terrified of Ernie. Lot's of folks think he is an actor...but he is actually a big-game hunter from Russia. He has a show on MTV-Russia called "Me and Zee Beest", and he is a European sensation. We're hoping to make him the David Hasselhoff of the East. He is the secret to the success of the film, for sure.

Two Shows to See This Week in the Ditch

As luck sometimes has it, the two shows I'm most looking forward to this week are on the same night.

Thu (7/9) - Jimbo Mathus & the Tri-State Coalition @ Rooster's

Jimbo is one of the greatest showmen in the area.  He simply knows how to entertain a crowd.  This is honky-tonk music at its best.

Thu (7/9) - Rocket 88 (acoustic trio version) @ Blind Pig

My favorite Oxford band always puts on a good show in the cozy confines of the Blind Pig.  I'll be catching as much of this one as possible when Jimbo and crew have some down time.

Jimbo Mathus & the Tri-State Coalition - "Tell it to the Judge"

Rocket 88 with Mayhem String Band - "King Moonshine"
@ Music in the Hall

- Oxford Music Snob

Meanwhile, in a town 18 miles away...

Friday July 3rd at dusk: Water Valley's Movie on Main is hosting a free outdoor showing of Independence Day at 201 Main Street. Bring your own chair and some bug dope, a couple of bucks for candy bars and Cokes, and a yen for free popcorn. Sponsored by the Water Valley Main Street Association.


Journey back for Water Valley's Farmers' Market-- meets Saturday, July 4th, 8am-11am. Come by for local produce from folks who've been growing vegetables before it got hip. Meets under the magnolia trees on Main Street; just watch out for the sign and stop by.

DARK FUN IN THE SUMMER

Don't miss Megan Abbott as she graces Oxford and Square Books with her presence on Wed July 8th.

Despite having only a few books under her belt, Megan is gaining quite the reputation as the queen of noir. Her previous book, Queenpin won the Edgar Award for best paperback original. She is currently on tour in support of her recently released novel, Bury Me Deep, which is a great ride and superb as well. An added bonus is that not only do her books kick ass and have incredible cover art but they are also paperbacks so they are affordable too.

We're going all out for this one as we are holding the event at the Lyric Theater. Start time is 5 pm with a signing/reception followed by a reading at 5:30. And after that there will be a showing of the classic noir film, Baby Face, starring Barbara Stanwyk.

So come on down to the Lyric on Wednesday and meet Megan, support your local bartenders, support your local bookstore, support your local music venue, and enjoy a free reading and a free movie.