Filmmaker/musician Dyann Arthur presents documentary film "Americana Women: Roots Musicians/Women's Tales and Tunes April 18 during Delta Symposium XVIII
On Wednesday, April 18, noted filmmaker and musician Dyann Arthur, president of MusicBox Project, Mill Creek, Washington, will present a special screening of her documentary film "Americana Women: Roots Musicians/Women's Tales and Tunes,” at 3:30 p.m. in the Mockingbird Room of the Carl R. Reng Student Union, 101 N. Caraway Road, Jonesboro. This presentation is part of this year’s Delta Symposium XVIII: Roots and Generations. All Delta Symposium events are free, and the public is invited.
Arthur’s film provides portraits and performances of musicians who are currently contributing to contemporary roots music. Women musicians from Arkansas and the Delta are prominently included in this acclaimed documentary, and Arthur will discuss her work in the region. She will screen her film again and present some of her research into women's roots music on Saturday, April 21, at 10 a.m. in the Round Room of the Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library, 315 W. Oak, Jonesboro. Both events are free, and the public is invited.
The mission of MusicBox Project, a non-profit organization located in Washington State, is to document and preserve music history while advancing avenues of education, performance, and creation.
Initial project research included interviews with eighty women and audiovisual recordings of more than a thousand songs in 2010 during eight months of field recording work across North America. The MusicBox Project Collection, having been honored as a key acquisition in 2010, is housed at the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
Dyann Arthur will present and discusses a half-hour video, an engaging short version of the greater work in progress, a full-length documentary film and streaming educational content aimed at increasing the visibility of women musicians who are preserving traditional forms of American music.
This film captures cultural dynamics through the eyes and ears of women ages eighteen to ninety-three who are taking part in traditional music today. Woven throughout the artists’ oral histories are rich samples of their live performances from informal acoustic jams to rollicking large-scale festivals.
Viewers experience glimpses into close-knit communities across the country through the music of those communities and come away with a contemporary snapshot of Americana music from Appalachian to zydeco.
Throughout the fieldwork and ongoing research, MusicBox Project maintains a critically acclaimed Youtube Channel as an interdisciplinary aspect of the project.
As time permits, Arthur will showcase Delta area artists’ videos from the Youtube Channel for discussion.
On Saturday, April 21, at 10 a.m., filmmaker Dyann Arthur will provide a second screening of her film "Americana Women: Roots Musicians/Women's Tales and Tunes" at the Round Room of the Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library, 315 West Oak Avenue, Jonesboro. This event is free and open to the public and will provide an opportunity for people to meet this acclaimed documentarian.
Visit MusicBox Project online, or see MusicBox Project’s critically acclaimed Youtube Channel.
For information on Dyann Arthur’s 3:30 p.m. presentation on Wednesday, April 18, in ASU’s Carl R. Reng Student Union’s Mockingbird Room, contact Dr. Gregory Hansen, co-chair, symposium committee, at (870) 972-3043. For information about Dyann Arthur’s 10 a.m. presentation Saturday, April 21, in the Round Room of the Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library, contact Brandi Hodges (bhodges@libraryinjonesboro.org), virtual library manager, Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library, (870) 935-5133, ext. 1140.
