Download the Country Music flyer.
GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Pioneer PBS will host a special screening, discussion and dance party to celebrate the release of Ken Burns’ new documentary Country Music in downtown Fergus Falls at A Center for the Arts on 124 Lincoln Ave. on Thursday, August 29 from 5 to 9 p.m.. The schedule of events is as follows:
5:00 pm: Country music songwriting workshop with Ashley Hanson
6:30 pm: Live Band on Lincoln: Bill Kirchen (who played with Emmylou Harris) and Redd Volkaert (of Merle Haggard’s band)
7:00 pm: Line dancing lessons with Ashley Hanson
7:30 pm: Country Music screening and discussion of the sweeping documentary which will air nationwide for eight nights starting September 15 on PBS.
Pioneer PBS is teaming up with Bush Foundation Fellow Ashley Hanson of the Department of Public Transformation, A Center for the Arts and the Lake Region Arts Council to sponsor this event. For more information visit www pioneer.org or call 1-800-726-3178.
Country Music is an eight-part,16-hour documentary series that explores the history of a uniquely American art form. From its deep and tangled roots in ballads, hymns, minstrel music and the blues performed in small settings to its worldwide popularity, the series explores how country music evolved over the course of the 20th century and emerged to become America’s music.
Country Music focuses on the biographies of the fascinating characters such as the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Charley Pride, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Garth Brooks and many more.
Pioneer PBS is also producing a companion documentary that will feature Minnesota’s connection to the history and evolution of country music. Host Diana Pierce will trace how Minnesota-based musicians like Walter Benton from Dovray, Ardis Wells from Alexandria, the Big Bend Barn Dance Gang and WE Fest all contributed to the development and spread of country music in the North Star State.
Funding for Country Music was provided by Bank of America, the Annenberg Foundation, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Belmont University, Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Rosalind P. Walter and by members of ‘The Better Angels Society,’ including: The Blavatnik Family Foundation, the Schwartz/Reisman Foundation, the Pfeil Foundation, Diane and Hal Brierley, John and Catherine Debs, the Fullerton Family Charitable Fund, the Perry and Donna Golkin Family Foundation, Jay Alix and Una Jackman, Mercedes T. Bass, Fred and Donna Seigel, Gilchrist and Amy Berg, James R. Berdell Foundation, David Bonderman, Deborah P. and Jonathan T. Dawson, Senator Bill and Tracy Frist, Susan and David Kreisman, Rocco and Debby Landesman, Lillian Lovelace, John and Leslie McQuown, Mindy’s Hope Foundation, the Segal Family Foundation, Michelle Smith. Major funding was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS.
About Pioneer PBS
Established in 1966, Pioneer PBS is an award-winning, viewer-supported television station dedicated to sharing local stories of the region with the world. For more information visit: www.pioneer.org.
