Now, thanks to the efforts of Friday Blues Fix Friends Roger Stolle (Cat Head Delta Blues and Folk Art) and Jeff Konkel (Broke and Hungry Records), you can add another fun series to the list.....just check out their press release below from a couple of weeks ago.....
Award-Winning Film and Music
Producers Set to Launch First Blues Music Reality Show This Fall
(CLARKSDALE, MS) – The creators of the
award-winning documentaries “M For Mississippi” and “We Juke Up in Here” return
in 2013 with “Moonshine & Mojo Hands,” a new weekly web-TV series dedicated
to the rude, rowdy – and often ridiculous – world of Mississippi blues. The
show follows hosts Roger Stolle and Jeff Konkel as they travel the Delta’s back
roads in search of juke joints, house parties, barbecue, moonshine and – of
course – the men and women who keep this uniquely American music alive in the
land of its birth.
The
first season of the show will consist of 10
episodes streaming for free online this fall. Each 12-minute episode will take
viewers on a wild ride through the Mississippi Delta and Hill Country to meet
the region's most fascinating characters in truly unforgettable settings.
“There’s truly no place else on Earth quite like Mississippi,”
Konkel said. “We can’t wait to introduce viewers to all of the great music,
food, culture and characters that the state has to offer.”
The show’s producers are currently raising funds through
Kickstarter at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/794647006/moonshine-and-mojo-hands-the-mississippi-blues-ser.
Marketing sponsorship opportunities also are available for interested
individuals and organizations by e-mailing Roger Stolle at roger@cathead.biz or Jeff Konkel at jeff@brokeandhungryrecords.com.
“We’ve been really overwhelmed by the excitement and interest that
the project has already generated,” Stolle said. “With the support of sponsors
and fans, we’re confident we can create a show that will help the world
understand what makes Mississippi such a weird and wonderful place.”
“Moonshine & Mojo Hands” is a joint production of Cat Head
Delta Blues & Folk Art and Broke & Hungry Records in partnership with
Tangent Mind, LLC and Lou Bopp.
###
Friday Blues Fix sat down with Konkel and Stolle earlier this week and asked a few questions about the upcoming series. Here's what they had to say.....
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| Roger Stolle, Super Chikan, Jeff Konkel (Photo by Lou Bopp) |
Friday Blues Fix: What was the inspiration for Moonshine and Mojo Hands? Was it something that came out during the making of the two documentaries?
Jeff: Believe it or not, the biggest
inspiration for the new show was Jerry Seinfeld! Last summer Roger got hooked
on Seinfeld’s new web show, Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee. He turned me onto
the show, and we both fell in love with the concept and Seinfeld’s DIY
approach. We began to discuss how we could use a similar approach to explore
all of the great music, food, culture and characters of Mississippi.
Roger: Now, if we
could just get some cool, vintage cars like Seinfeld has, we’d be all set!
Actually, we also sound inspiration in reality TV shows like American Pickers
and No Reservations since both are a similar travelogue narrative.
FBF: Will it be similar to the format of M for Mississippi and We Juke
Up In Here?
JK: I think anyone who has seen our earlier films will recognize
our fingerprints all over Moonshine & Mojo Hands. Roger and I will once
again be the “hosts,” and we will continue to travel off the beaten path to
bring compelling stories featuring great music, quirky characters and plenty of
humor. But there will be some differences. We’re approaching this project with
more of a “television mindset.” The pacing will be faster and our production
values will be a little higher, thanks to a larger production crew. But don’t
worry: We’ll leave the “Jersey Shore” and “Honey Boo Boo”-type storytelling to
someone else. Our reality show will put the emphasis on reality.
FBF: How much material do you have to work
with? Are there still a lot of
Mississippi blues musicians out there waiting to be discovered?
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| Artheniece "Gasman" Jones (Photo by Lou Bopp) |
JK: Plenty! In fact, we’ve already come up with too many stories
to cover in our first season. This format allows us to tell some stories that
simply didn’t fit into the narrower themes of our films. In addition,
“Moonshine & Mojo Hands” isn’t just about Mississippi’s blues musicians,
but also about the larger culture that helped foster that music. We’ll be
visiting a lot of folks who make the Delta and surrounding areas so
captivating: folk artists, juke owners, soul food cooks, farmers, card sharks …
really anyone who contributes to the overall story of Mississippi.
RS: To some, “the blues” is just another genre
of music. To us — and other deep blues fans — it is so much more than that. It
is a culturally-connected art form, so the venues, personalities, food, chaos
and history behind the music are every bit as important and interesting as the
tunes themselves. We’ve got some amazing blues experiences scheduled for our
viewers in Season One!
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| (Photo by Lou Bopp) |
FBF: So far, your fundraiser has been a success. What other needs do you have to get the ball
rolling on this series?
JK: In truth, we still need to raise quite a bit more money. Our
Kickstarter goal represented just a fraction of the overall money we need to
make the show. Whatever we aren’t able to raise through our crowd-funding
campaign will have to come from marketing sponsors. We hope that blues fans
will continue to support our effort at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/794647006/moonshine-and-mojo-hands-the-mississippi-blues-ser.
RS: Jeff’s exactly right. It is crazy how
expensive it is to do these types of projects correctly and on-schedule. The
travel costs (from gas to hotels to meals). The talent costs (from musicians to
juke owners to general characters). The production costs (from designers to
cameramen to editors). Everything adds up very quickly. Our Kickstarter
campaign is just about getting the project done. The more we raise, the better
the episodes and, frankly, the better chance that we’ll see a Season Two!
Thanks for the info, guys. We can't wait to see it. For anyone interested in contributing to the cause, please go to the Kickstarter site. They are offering some nice prizes in exchange for certain contribution levels, so if you've got a few coins to spare, you will be certainly be rewarded in the coming months.
Before we go for the weekend, a reminder for all you local blues fans in Mississippi, particularly the east central region, Friday Blues Fix friend Lenard Ingram is hard at work, putting the final touches on Philadelphia, MS's own blues club, the 424 Blues Cafe'. The official opening is just down the road a piece, but Ingram is opening it up this weekend to welcome Jarekus Singleton and his band for a Saturday night, April 20th show, beginning at 8:30 pm. Admission is only $10 and if you're familiar with Mr. Singleton, a former All State high school basketball star who recently made quite an impression at the 2013 IBC in Memphis, you know that it will be a great show (see below, courtesy of another FBF friend, Ms. Peggy Brown). The 424 Blues Cafe' is located on 424 Beacon Street in Philadelphia, MS. Just look for the blue and red sign and listen for the blues.
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