Old-Time Conversations by Craig R. Evans (review)

Craig Evans has completed 11 volumes of a DVD series on North American traditional music. For almost a decade, he has documented a wide range of artists in the contemporary old-time music community. Evans has a strong background in the music. He is a banjo player himself, and initial work on this project was completed through the Minnesota State Arts Board’s Artist Initiative grant program. Segments of the series are titled “Conversations with Old-Time Performers,” “Conversations with North American Banjo Builders,” and “Old-Time Conversations.” The volumes in the full series typically consist of three disks of half-hour interviews and video footage of performances, tours of workspaces, and other supplemental materials. Smithsonian Folkways also supported the project, and Evans credits this institution with assistance in coordinating this ambitious undertaking.

The project includes interviews with a wide range of performers, crafters, and scholars. Some of the conversational partners include David Holt, Brad Leftwich, Art Rosenbaum, George Gruhn, Kaia Kater, Sparky Rucker, Don Vappie, Dom Flemons, and Phil Jamison. Folk-lorists and ethnomusicologists will especially appreciate the fine segments with Erynn Marshall, Ronald Cohen, Bill Malone, Jeff Place, Neil Rosenberg, Steven Lewis, and others scholars, many of whom are also performers. Understandably, Evans is most interested in the banjo, but he does include a wide sample of conversations on a variety of instruments and musical traditions. His thorough preparation for each session is obvious. He asks relevant questions and interacts with ease with all of his contributors. The strength of the series lies in the content of the stories, descriptions, and recollections, and in the excellent performances. Musical performances by Brad Leftwich, Art Rosenbaum, Kaia Kater, Don Vappie, and Dom Flemons are especially strong, and their selections of tunes could serve as effective resources for introducing the variety of genres and styles in old-time music to new audiences.

The project’s videography is ambitious. Along with handling the major preliminary research, Evans works the camera, catches the sound, completes the interviewing, and edits the videos. Although having a team-of-one streamlined the project, video projects such as this one typically would require an often costly technical crew. Some obvious technical problems detract from the production quality, and some segments might be useful for other documentary work, but a significant number of video segments do not meet the high standards of broadcast quality production. In early segments, for example, Evans makes the mistake of shooting into the harsh light of an undraped window. While it would be visually interesting to have a background scene in the frame, the result is too much contrast. There are also problems with some jerky zooms that are distracting, and Evans tends to place his subject in the middle of the frame, thereby creating some static compositions and a generally flat mise-en-scène. Trying to handle all of the camera-work and recording creates other technical problems, as there are uneven audio segments and color shifts. The editing does include interesting visual resources that provide a break from the heavy use of “talking heads” videography. Evans’ editing could have been enhanced by working with a good crew. A crew would also have helped him avoid some jump cuts in his editing, and professional videographers could have offered better techniques for rolling in and out of the interview material. These types of technical problems may detract from screening segments on more professional networks or in film festivals. The interviews do provide useful audio resources. His field recordings could easily be used in radio documentaries, and they will serve as important instructional resources. Furthermore, Evans seems to have learned more about videography during the project, as the production qualities improve in the later shows.

The content transcends technical problems. Evans clearly appreciates and understands the music, and he displays a wonderful curiosity about facets of the music that are new to him. He combines this inquisitiveness with a natural ability to establish rapport with...