OFFICIAL SELECTION 2009

"TOOT BLUES" TO SCREEN AT BACKLOT FILM FESTIVAL

  
 
 
 


Nineteen years ago as a penniless musicology student Tim Duffy was stunned when he stumbled onto North Carolina's drink house blues scene, a gritty hot-bed of traditional blues that had been written off by experts years before.

He was equally shocked by the talent of the musicians and the difficult circumstances many of these artists were facing just to survive. Mostly elderly, living on minimal social benefits, the tip jar at a drink house was often the difference between paying the rent.

Duffy befriended and recorded many of these artists and as one discovery led to another he soon realized he was digging into a precious storehouse of American musical tradition.

From the raw blues power of Guitar Gabriel to Captain Luke's soulful smooth baritone, John Dee Holeman's legendary Piedmont style to Bishop Dready Manning's unique rock-a-billy gospel, Duffy realized that for these artists to realize their potential he had to improve their standard of living. With the help of audio legend Mark Levinson he and his wife, Denise, founded the Music Maker Relief Foundation, now in it's fifteenth year, to record and release these artists' works, put them back on the road and funnel the proceeds directly to the musicians.

With rare footage, interviews, and numerous live performances, the film documents these unique musicians, brought together through the Music Maker community and their shared and vital musical heritage. The joy the artists bring to recording and touring is infectious, providing a rare window into a classic American musical form at its most grass-roots level.

Toot Blues digs deep into your heart, opening your eyes and ears to seminal musical traditions that have long been overlooked by the mainstream.



Chris Johnstone is a director, film editor and writer. "Toot Blues" is his second feature film, after 1993's well-regarded micro-indie "Buffalo Jump". He finds directing a feature every 15 years to be a "good pace", because "I'm working as fast as I can." Prior to "Toot Blues" he directed and edited the "Drink House to Church House" DVD and CD collection for Music Maker. In his spare time he is an on-line editor for television in Los Angeles.

Anna Ferrarie is a camera assistant living in Los Angeles. She has worked on films and television shows such as "Nip/Tuck", "Big Love", "Definitely, Maybe", "Flight Plan", "House", and "Grey's Anatomy". "Toot Blues" is her first film as cinematographer. A New Jersey native, she and husband Chris Johnstone maintain an actual shanty on Virginia's Eastern Shore.
 
 
 
 
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