I'm glad you got to see the movie, Robin the Producer.

that is super cool Robin!

We bought the movie and sound track-- so cool to have them!  I like it that the film focused on the musical aspect of being part of life, tying past to present to future.  It was fun to see my name in the credits at the end-- I kicked in on the fundraiser for the movie.  Likely, the only time I'll end up in movie credits.  :)  

Friends, The Mountain Minor movie folks have released a soundtrack.  I'm thinking about ordering a copy of both the movie and the soundtrack.  

Poppop, that is very cool!  Thanks for joining us here. 

I’m a childhood friend of Dale Farmer. I still live 30 minutes from him. Excellent movie, The mountain minor. Dale is a very talented guy, plays several instruments and has played in several bluegrass groups. If you haven’t seen the movie you can see it on Amazon prime. 

We've seen most of John Sayles' films, including Matewan.

There are plenty of films about mountain miners as well.  Have you ever seen Matewan?

I'm glad you enjoyed the film.  The music is pretty special.

We watched the film on Amazon Prime. Had a laugh because Brian couldn't find it for the longest time until I pointed out that he was searching for "mountain miner" instead of "mountain minor". 

We definitely enjoyed it!  The music was great.  Enjoyed seeing Dan Gellert playing 'old' Charlie... Dan is considered one of the top five current living oldtime musician fiddlers. He's amazing.  Elizabeth LaPrelle's ballad singing was magical.  And the little kid playing young Charlie was wonderful.

I might not ever have noticed this movie- thanks Dusty! 

The film was on our PBS station in KY this past weekend.  I saw it on Amazon Prime earlier.  The actors are professional musicians, not actors.  But it's filmed well and the music makes up for any other shortcomings.  You can watch clips on Youtube.  Nina

I haven't yet gotten to see the film yet really want to!  When the film came to uptown Athens OH earlier this year we had flooding type rains and didn't go.  The film was pretty low budget-- we kicked in a bit on their fundraising project.  Our internet isn't the best so we don't buy movies to stream.  Maybe someday I'll get to watch it.  They're coming out with a music project based on the film soon, I think.    

Thanks for this heads up Dusty. We plan to watch the film tonight!

Hey folks. Anyone interested in traditional fiddle tunes will love the movie The Mountain Minor (2019) written and directed by Dale Farmer.  It is available on Amazon Prime Video right now but will probably be around on PBS stations soon if it hasn't been already.

The film is the story of young Charlie, growing up on a farm in Kentucky and learning the fiddle from his grandfather.  But the Depression forces his family to move to new opportunities in Ohio.  He eventually retires to move back but also teaches his own grandson the old tunes.  So the film depicts the passing on of musical traditions over four generations.

As a film it is good, but not great.  The story is sometimes simplistic and predictable and the dialogue and acting a bit staid at times.  However, the MUSIC IS GREAT!  I'm sure the soundtrack will be out soon if it isn't already. According to my notes, here is a list of the tunes in the film:

Hickory Jack (which both begins and ends the film and is a kind of theme)

Young Emily

Fiddler a Dram

Crazy Kamlesh

Old Jimmy Sutton

Short Time Here, Long Time Gone

Darlin' Corey

Glory in the Meeting House

Sally in the Turnip Patch

Old Regular Melody

Shaking Down the Acorns

Cripple Creek

Ways of the World

Bushy Fork of John's Creek

Paddy on the Turnpike

The Day is Past and Gone

Across the Ohio