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ETV Presents "Juke Joints and Honky Tonk Legends: A Southern Musical Celebration"
South Carolina's Gritty Subculture Featured in "Carolina Stories" Documentary Thursday, June 7 at 9 p.m.
For Immediate Release
March 26, 2007
Columbia, SC...Their Gaillard Auditoriums are large, non-descript rooms with wooden tables, metal chairs, and a bar. Their Bi-Lo Center ushers and doormen are friends and family who double as roadies. Yet, for the love of the music, the performers and fans leave their 9 to 5 jobs to venture down the back roads of small southern communities to remote watering holes for down home blues, country and western, and bluegrass entertainment.
On Thursday, June 7 at 9 p.m., ETV’s Carolina Stories presents “Juke Joints and Honky Tonk Legends: A Southern Musical Celebration.” A 60-minute excursion into a larger-than-life culture with roots that trace back to traditional African and folk music, this documentary explores the nonconformist genre and the people who seek to preserve it.
From the famed Chitlin' Circuit to Tobacco Roads to the bluegrass Kerosene Circuit, viewers will tap into the stories of local artists such as blues master Drink Small, Bill Wells, owner of Bill's Pickin' Parlor in West Columbia, and honky tonk's resident pied piper Hick'ry Hawkins. Conversations with nationally known artists, including Spartanburg native Aaron Tippen and R & B icon Millie Jackson, punctuate the no-holds-barred jaunt through music history.
"Traveling throughout South Carolina and meeting the musicians and fans that keep this genre alive was exhilarating," said Ricky Taylor, the show's producer. "Showcasing the history and the artists who have made such significant contributions to the musical landscape is what this project was all about. I'm glad we're able to share these experiences with our viewers."
Throughout the broadcast, ETV cameras provide an up close and personal glimpse back in time from several popular South Carolina nightspots including:
- Historic Skyline Club in West Columbia
- Blues/soul nightclub, Mac’s On Main in Columbia
- The Bowery at Myrtle Beach, the Palmetto State's oldest honky tonk, where the award-winning country band Alabama got its start.
Carolina Stories is a weekly series created by ETV producers that spotlights the people, events and interests of South Carolinians. The series, which airs Thursdays at 9 p.m., has garnered two CINE Golden Eagle Awards and a Telly Award.
South Carolina ETV is the state's public educational broadcasting network with 11 television and eight radio transmitters, and a multi-media educational system in more than 2,500 schools, colleges, businesses and government agencies. Using television, radio and the web, SCETV's mission is to enrich lives by educating children, informing and connecting citizens, celebrating our culture and environment and instilling the joy of learning.
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For more information, contact Rob Schaller at (803) 737-6556 or rschaller@scetv.org.
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