A SONG FOR YOU: THE AUSTIN CITY LIMITS STORY (doc, 2016)

May 1, 2016

Dallas International Film Festival 2016

a song for you Greetings again from the darkness. It’s difficult to believe now, but Austin City Limits was once “the little engine that could” … and now it’s the longest running music program on television. Willie Nelson played the 1974 pilot, and the rest – as they say – is history … and continues to be history in the making.

“This is a show about music.” That simple quote from the film says a great deal. There is no place to hide on the small stage in the small studio with the audience right on top of you. These aren’t music videos, but rather these are the artists performing their songs live in an intimate setting (with the ever-present TV cameras).

Director Keith Maitland, who also presented his powerful documentary Tower at the festival, spends a great deal of time allowing producer Terry Lickona to reminisce and tell stories about how the show has always walked a fine line between success and the threat of cancellation … what’s also known as life in public television.

Much of the structure of the film is around the show’s 40th anniversary and the formulating of the initial class of the ACL Hall of Fame. As interesting as it is to listen to Mr. Lickona and ACL founder Bill Arhos, it’s the music that shines here. There are too many clips to name here, and certainly some of the choices speak to the age of the director, but the highlights include a soulful Townes Van Zandt in 1976, a spirited Lightnin’ Hopkins in 1979, Ray Charles (and a shot of my head in the crowd) in 1980, the infamous Stevie Ray Vaughn show in 1983, and the always smooth and debonair Leonard Cohen from 1989. There are also clips of The Pixies, Radiohead, Dolly Parton, Buddy Guy and, well, just too many to name … yet somehow not enough.

We also see Lyle Lovett’s show which was the final filming in the original Studio 6A, before ACL got a building/studio designed just for them (one a bit more fire code friendly). It’s a wonderful trip down Memory Lane for someone like me who spent many a night in the old studio, and for those of us who have so appreciated the straightforward approach to music that the TV show has maintained through the years.

http://www.asongforyoufilm.com/

a song for you2

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HONKY TONK HEAVEN: LEGEND OF THE BROKEN SPOKE (doc, 2016)

May 1, 2016

Dallas International Film Festival 2016

honky tonk Greetings again from the darkness. “The last of the true Texas dance halls and damn sure proud of it.” If you have ever stepped booted foot into The Broken Spoke on South Lamar in Austin, you have likely heard silver-tongued owner James White rattle off this intro. Co-directors Sam Wainwright Douglas and Brenda Mitchell deliver the ultimate tribute … actually a good old fashioned love letter … to this iconic Austin landmark.

At its core, The Broken Spoke is about the music and the dancing, but since Mr. White (built and) opened the doors in 1964, it’s now part of Austin and country music history. Over those 50 years, George Strait played in the house band, Willie Nelson sang with short hair and no beard, Bob Wills actually showed up for his gig, and that low-rise stage under a low-hanging roof has been played by a ‘who’s who’ of performers (Jerry Jeff Walker, Gary P Nunn, Ray Benson, Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubbs) … all under the loving care of Mr. White.

The real story goes beyond music. It’s the family business run by James and Annetta White, and their daughters who were raised under the leaky roof as the dancing couples waltzed their way around the oval floor. One of the daughters now teaches newcomers how to 2-step, while the other hand-stitches each rhinestone onto Daddy’s signature glitzy western shirts. Annetta can be found pouring drinks from behind the bar or cooking up a batch of chicken fried steak from her own recipe … she says “napping makes you lazy”. Husband James makes the nightly rounds greeting customers, and even occasionally joining the band for a song. Theirs is a family and business success and these two deserve every bit of respect that industry insiders and loyal customers offer up.

As Mr. White parks his immaculate white classic Cadillac under the giant oak tree, it provides the perfect visual for his earlier statement that The Broken Spoke took off once the hippies and rednecks realized they shared common ground with dancing to country music. While urban creep threatens the “old” Austin feel, it only takes Dale Watson’s colorful description of the difference between a honky tonk and a dance hall, to bring it right back.

You probably don’t want to ask Mr. White for a recommendation on a local roofer, and you best remember the house rule … “Don’t stand on the dance floor!” What the film does is answer the question “Where did you come from?” and has us dreading the day when we ask “Where did you go?” about The Broken Spoke.

film website:

http://www.brokenspokefilm.com/

 

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Posted by David Ferguson