Ken Burns

After working for six years on making this 16-hour documentary through Country Music, Ken Burns is ready to release his next documentary on the fall of 2019.

The director (Ken Burns, left) and one of the writers and co-producers (Dayton Duncan, right) Photo from YouTube via screengrab.

Ken Burns is a giant in the documentary side of the film industry. He has been a success in his previous documentary such as “Baseball,” Prohibition,” and several wars. His next documentary is about Country Music and it is only his second on the musical genre after 2001’s “Jazz.”

The self-proclaimed “child of rock n’ roll,” Ken Burns explored the world of Country Music because of Charlie Parker, who advises him to “listen to the stories.” He said in an interview,

“Country music is just the perfect subject. Because as (songwriter) Harlan Howard said, ‘It’s three chords and the truth.’ It does not have the sophistication and elegance of jazz, but what it has is essential human emotions and stories told, basically, that everybody experiences. When someone says, ‘I’m not a fan of country music,’ we just say, ‘OK, just watch.’ “

The Documentary

The legends of country music and the songs they wrote and recorded are in the heart of Country Music. In the documentary, more than a hundred interviews were done, from prominent country musicians, songwriters to icons of country music. In that list includes Reba McEntire, Vince Gill, Dwight Yoakam, Kris Kristofferson, and Wynonna Judd.

Ken Burns also said that Marty Stuart and Johnny Cash have a particularly heavy presence in the film because of the exclusive clips shared by the USA Today Network.

Rosanne Cash also shared the reason why her father wrote I Walk The Line.

On the other hand, Marty Stuart shared the experience on how special it is for an artist to make it on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. He said,

“It was almost like a badge of honor that you had to bring your culture with you to the table… Willie Nelson brought his poetry from Texas, Patsy Cline brought her heartache from Virginia. I mean, it was the most wonderful parade of sons and daughters of America, that brought their hearts and their souls and their experiences, and it gave us a great era in country music.”

The History of Country Music

The evolution of Country Music started from the “Hillbilly Music.” That was how the country music was perceived from its first recordings, and broadcast and also from its listeners across the country. Then, that Hillbilly Music took countless directions producing different Sub-genres like Bluegrass, Western Swing, and Rockabilly.

Dayton Duncan, who worked side by side by Ken Burns, answered the question “What is Country Music?” He answered:

“Defining (country music) has been something that’s been debated and argued about from the get-go, and we embrace that. Part of our motivation is trying to answer that question, ‘What is country music?’ I suppose if we have an answer — and I think we’re more interested in pursuing that question than in necessarily answering — it isn’t a music. It is many different musics.”