Straight Six Films begins production on

"The Life and Music of Charlie Poole"

Straight Six Films has begun production on a documentary film about Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers. Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers were one of the most innovative string bands of the 1920s. Textile mill hand Charlie Poole and his band created a unique musical fusion, melding traditional mountain fiddle tunes, classical banjo picking, Tin Pan Alley material, and ragtime syncopation. Together they recorded over 70 sides, sold over 500,000 records and helped lay the groundwork for what would become bluegrass music.

Producer and Director George Goehl has been researching the story and raising money for over a year.  The film is being produced with the kind support of the the North Carolina Humanities Council, the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, and the West Virginia Humanities Council. 

In October a film crew that included Goehl, Heath Byers, and Brad Baute went to Southern Virginia and the North Carolina Piedmont to begin production on the film.  The focus of the early shoots has been to capture interviews with some of the very few remaining folks who knew or met Charlie Poole.  In October we traveled up into the mountains of Virginia to find old-timers who had great stories of their encounters with Poole.  We also found that Poole stories are being handed down to new generations through the oral tradition.

In November, Goehl and Will Wall went to Madison, WI to film an interview with country music historian Bill C. Malone.  Malone authored Country Music U.S.A., the first scholary history of country music.  His most recent book, Don't Get Above Your Raisin' explores the relationship between country music and the southern working class.

A crew will return to North Carolina and Virginia in mid-December to film interviews with Poole biographer Kinney Rorrer and musician Mike Seeger, among others.  Kinney Rorrer is the great nephew of Posey Rorer and Charlie Poole.  He has been researching the music and lives of Poole and the Ramblers for over 40 years.  His book, North Carolina Rambler: The Life and Songs of Charlie Poole is available through County Sales.

Stay tuned for more updates.