Hill Stomp Hollar . Austin Chronicle . 03-29-99

Hill Stomp Hollar

DIRECTED BY: Bradley Beesley

REVIEWED: 03-29-99

The subjects of Hill Stomp Hollar are Mississippi bluesman R.L. Burnside and the record label for which he records, Fat Possum Records. The resonances in the film extend beyond the simple twang of the guitar strings as the gritty struggle for survival of Burnside and the other Mississippi Hill Country bluesmen profiled in this film, Cedell Davis and T-Model Ford, is given equal footing with the financial and creative difficulties experienced by the tiny upstart label Fat Possum. The label, with support from heavy-hitters Epitaph Records, has released a number of these blues albums to a largely appreciative -- and young -- audience. But then in shades of what occurred in the aftermath of folkster Bob Dylan strumming his first electric notes back in the mid-Sixties, support among fans and critics faltered when the label teamed up Burnside with the modern punk rock sounds of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. It's a classic blues story full of ups and downs, triumphs and trials, poetry and pittances, melody and dissonance. Hill Stomp Hollar captures the unexpected grace notes that accompany the day-to-day realities.

--Marjorie Baumgarten

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