Folkstreams

Closing Time

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST

The New York real estate market forces the oldest store in Little Italy to shut down. The film is a portrait of a family, of the neighborhood that used to be and of the way the city changes in a blink of an eye. Behind the surface, the old store contain small treasures belonging to a part of Italy that does not exist anymore, not even in Italy.

Mouth Music

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST

Boot-camp count-off chants, jump-rope rhymes, and carny barks are featured in this fast-moving sampler of �proto-music� from the imaginations and versatile mouths of southern folk musicians.

Red Alexander

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST

This video documents the passions of 80 year old "Red" Alexander: building ships (both model and real), wood working, and story telling. Red was encouraged by the sale of one of his first model ships to one of his school teachers. In 1934 he joined the Shipwrights, Joiners, and Boat Builders Union - local 1149, in the San Francisco Bay Area. After 46 years of building real ships Red retired in 1980 as dockmaster at the Pacific Drydock in Alameda, Ca. Today his kitchen is a studio where he makes detailed models of all types of ships and boats.

Lige

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST

Henry Elijah "Lige" Langston was born in 1908 in the Great Basin outback on a homestead. He worked his entire life as a wrangler and rawhide braider in the region known as the Sagebrush Corner of northeastern California and northwestern Nevada.

Dreadful Memories

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST

Born in the coalfields of eastern Kentucky, Gunning suffered a life of bitter poverty which became the fuel for dozens of moving songs about working people, the mines, and the great coal strikes of the twenties and thirties. Gunning's a cappella roots music is intercut throughout the interviews and archival footage.

The Urban Gospel Ministry of Robert and Lily Butler

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST

Ms. Butler and her son, the Reverend Rober Butler, play at folk festivals and churches throughout New York City

Dance for a Chicken

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST

This award-winning film brims over with stunning images of carnival play and a rich soundtrack of hot Cajun music. Cajun filmmaker Pat Mire gives us an inside look at the colorful, rural Cajun Mardi Gras.

Texas Style

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST

"Texas Style" is an intimate look at rural Texas culture and the traditional fiddle music played on its back roads. With spirited rhythms and guitar accompaniment, Texas fiddling is a crowd pleaser that has influenced western swing and folk music across the country. This film centers on three generations of Westmoreland family fiddlers. From the elder H.D. Westmoreland to his grandson Wes III, already a state champion, we see the evolution of Texas fiddling.

Battle of the Guitars

Wed, 30 May 2007 00:00:00 EST

This is one of three short films in the Living Texas Blues series. Battle of the Guitars shows the influence of Aaron "T-Bone" Walker through the performance of Pete Mayes and Joe Hughes at the Doll House Club in Houston.

Cigarette Blues

Wed, 30 May 2007 00:00:00 EST

This is one of three short films in the Living Texas Blues series. Cigarette Blues features Sonny Rhodes and the Texas Twisters performing at Eli's Mile High Club in Oakland, California.