By Andrew W. Griffin

Red Dirt Report, editor

Posted: July 14, 2010

reddirtreporter@gmail.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- As a huge music fan, most of my time is spent listening to and writing about music. On occasion, I do get a chance to watch DVD’s focusing on particular singers and bands.

This time I have focused on films involving the easygoing acoustic-popsters Sister Hazel and the now-defunct band Beanland. I also focused on the Academy Award-winning music-oriented film Crazy Heart.

1. Sister Hazel: A Life in the Day (Sixthman/Croakin’ Poets) 2004

Since the mid-1990’s, particularly since 1996 when they had a huge hit with “All For You,” the band Sister Hazel has been cranking out accessible, upbeat folk-pop songs with a jamband, hippie vibe.

Fan-friendly to a fault, in 2003, in the wake of the release of their album Chasing Daylight, the quintet – singers Ken Block and Andrew Copeland, guitarist Ryan Newell, bassist Jett Beres and drummer Mark Trojanowski – allows the cameras to get an inside look in “A Life in the Day” of the Gainesville, Fla.-based band.

From their “Rock Boat” Carnival cruise trip down to Cozumel to their visits to truck stops while on the road or signing autographs for rabid fans until all hours of the night, Sister Hazel comes off as an incredibly appealing group of Southern rock band guys who had a fluke hit and have continued releasing new material to this day.

Block, the balding, bespectacled frontman is a funny guy who shows us, along with longtime jock-y pal Copeland, their old college haunts.

Trojanowski, a jazz drummer who turned to rock, is the dry, straightlaced perfectionist who occasionally breaks out in a grin. Beres is clearly the wild man, in his cowboy hat and Newell is kind of a spaced-out cat who is quite talented with an electric guitar.

There is the camaraderie, the songwriting process, the history, the roadies and friends, the inside jokes and the fandom. Sister Hazel has it all and this was all done seven years ago. No telling how much more these guys would have to share if there was an updated documentary on the guys.

Together, these five guys go out and perform some great, uplifting acoustic folk-pop and rock that the whole family (including you Hazelnuts out there) can enjoy.

I recommend Sister Hazel: A Life in the Day for fans of great music and the people behind that music.Check out my Norman Transcript review of their new album, Release.

For more information go to www.sisterhazel.com.

Grade – B+

2. Beanland: Rising From the Riverbed (Cloudscape Productions) 2005

As a college student in Arkansas, one of my favorite bands to catch in Fayetteville was the Oxford, Miss.-based jam band Beanland.

Of course it helped that I knew Chris Michaels, a talented bass player (now with Little Rock’s Boondogs) who rounded out a later(and ultimately final) line-up of the group. They were fun shows and showed a band that was on the cutting edge of America’s burgeoning jam band scene. Their final album, Eye to Eye, is one of my favorites from that period.

Amazingly, two documentary filmmakers, Scotty Glahn and Kutcher Miller, felt that the relatively obscure Mississippi riverbed-groove band was worthy enough to document on film. This was done in the middle of the past decade and despite its flaws, omissions and general sloppiness, it is presented lovingling. Clearly, Miller and Glahn liked Beanland and their music. The film is chock full of interviews with band members, archival footage from early shows to their 2004 reunion show and insightful commentary from folks like Memphis producer Jim Dickinson and members of bands ranging from Allgood to the North Mississippi Allstars to Blue Mountain.

Formed by George McConnell and Bill McCrory in this Ole Miss town in 1987, Beanland – joined by drummer Rob  Laird and bassist Ron Lewis - quickly found a niche in the college town that tended to prefer cover bands over bands offering original music. With many drunken frat parties under their belt, Beanland grew in popularity, cementing their role as one of the best groove, jam bands in the Southeast.

Some of the most interesting interviews were with New York piano player JoJo Hermann who was discovered playing New Orleans-styled boogie-woogie piano and became a member of Beanland before leaving to become a full member of Widespread Panic (something McConnell went on to do as well following the death of guitarist Michael Houser in 2002).

The film needed voice to bring us along this quirky journey through north Mississippi. Scenes were sometimes unexplained and members – namely my pal Chris Michaels – were ignored or not even mentioned. This is unfair, considering they were part of the Beanland story as well. I was glad to see Barry "Po" Hannah, who filled in for McCrory when he left, got some face time. He was a cool guy.

As for McConnell, he gets some of the most face time in Riverbed and strangely, you come away not knowing all that much more about Beanland than before you watch the thing. Weird. Regardless, McConnell is a phenomenal player and propelled Beanland into the musical stratosphere, joined by the likes of Aquarium Rescue Unit and Jupiter Coyote, among others, and  pioneered by the Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers Band, Phish, and Panic, of course.

This may seem petty to most viewers, many of whom have never heard Beanland before. Yeah, this is a nostalgic trip for an old fan like me, but it really reminds you that this band was at the forefront of a musicial niche – jam band music – that today is as strong as its ever been.

Head on down to Mississippi for a spell and check out Beanland: Rising From the Riverbed.

For more information, go to www.risingfromtheriverbed.com.

Grade – B-

3. Crazy Heart (Fox Searchlight) 2009

Now out on DVD, I finally had a chance to watch Crazy Heart, starring Jeff Bridges as down-and-out country singer Bad Blake.

If you’re looking for a repeat performance of his brilliant role in 1998’s The Big Lebowski, you won’t find it here. While beautifully shot and adequately directed by actor/director Scott Cooper, it’s a somewhat forgettable film that received accolades far

Washed-up and driving around the American Southwest in a rusted-out Suburban-or-somethin’, Blake drinks too much and has lost touch with his son, a bevy of women left in his wake.

That’s until he meets a Santa Fe, N.M. music writer (Maggie Gyllenhaal) who wants to feature Blake in an article.

Reluctant at first, Blake agrees to do an interview and over the course of his time with Gyllenhaal’s reporter, falls for her and her young, fatherless son.

All the while, Blake is upset that a new generation of country singers are coming in, namely a Keith Urban-esque country-popper named Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell).I wish there had been more conflict between the two. Tommy actually comes across as a nice guy who did well while the public forgets has-beens like Blake.

There are some interesting scenes. One, where Blake rolls his vehicle after dozing off behind the wheel, shows him driving it again, looking nearly new. Hmmm.

The story, based on a hard-to-find novel by Thomas Cobb, is unoriginal. Bridges’ boozy performance is uninspired and would someone explain to me Gyllenhaal’s appeal as an actress? She is unconvincing. A young woman falling for a total washed-up loser who looks bad and probably smells bad as well? I don’t buy it. The best part was seeing up-and-coming Americana musician and singer Ryan Bingham (who I interviewed last summer for Country Standard Time) who has a few lines and performs with Bad Blake in a Pueblo, Colo. bowling alley. And in addition to Bingham’s appearance, Robert Duvall makes an appearance, as does Southern character actor Rick Dial, who is a boogie-woogie piano player.

Sadly, I found myself waiting for this made-for-TV reject to end. And yet it gets all this Oscar attention? Why?

Grade - C -

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