Review: ‘Hillbilly Jam’ explores Ozarks music traditions

Directed by: Rick Minnich

Starring: Big Smith, The Waymakers, The Pine Ridge Singers, The Baldknobbers

Showing: Aug. 23–Sept. 5 at The Moxie Cinema, 408 W. Walnut St. (www.moxiecinema.com)

Since forming in 1996, the band Big Smith has become favorite sons of Springfield and the Ozarks. They’ve also gained a strong regional following and have made forays far and wide across America.

How is it then, that a group of neo-Hillbillies who grew up in the Ozarks became the focus of a documentary film funded by Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung – the Central German Media Fund and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and produced through the German film company Hoferichter & Jacobs GmbH?

Simple twists of fate.

Film background

Documentary filmmaker Rick Minnich was working on his movie, “Heaven on Earth” – an unflinching, European-influenced look at the phenomenon of Branson – when someone gave him a copy of Big Smith’s debut CD.

“I listened to it once, and didn’t think much about it. But when I gave it another shot about a year later, I knew immediately that there was more to the story than meets the eyes and ears. I had to meet these guys, and once I did, I was hooked,” Minnich told online magazine Phase 9 Entertainment.

He was intrigued by the band’s purity and Hillbilly traditions juxtaposed with Branson’s commercialism.

After writing a short treatment for his vision of the film, Minnich was able to get funding and made a short visit to Springfield. While here in November 2003, he met with the members of Big Smith and various and sundry relatives, shot some digital videotape and prepared to raise money for the film. Originally budgeted at 200,000 Euros, Minnich managed to get 80,000. He did some careful planning and tightened his shooting schedule to four weeks.

Minnich and cinematographer Axel Schneppat knew they wanted to shoot the project on film, which is more expensive than videotape. This took careful planning. Minnich ended up shooting only 80 hours of footage, a small fraction of what is usually shot for documentaries of the length and depth of “Homemade Hillbilly Jam.”

Ozarks culture

The result is a sumptuous look at the surroundings and traditions that many of us who grew up here tend to take for granted. While the overt focus of the film is Big Smith, Minnich goes deeper, discovering the spiritual/cosmic glue that holds together the band, as well as an untold number of “hillbilly clans.”

Clan is an apropos description of the extended families in the Ozarks hills. Many are descended from Scottish and Irish ancestors and even Hillbilly music – identified as originally American – has roots in European folk music.

The members of Big Smith are cousins. There are two sets of brothers, Mark and Jody Bilyeu and Mike and Jay Williamson as well as cousin Rik Thomas. The family is large and goes back generations. In the film, Mark Bilyeu cites Ike Cupp as the first of the clan to settle in the Ozarks.

While Big Smith fans are probably anticipating the live performances – and they look and sound great – the family get-togethers provide a sense of the love that bonds them and the history they share, as well as some of the documentary’s most heartfelt musical moments.

In an early scene, the boys in the band arrive at a holiday dinner in the hills. The scene will be immediately recognizable to everyone with family in these parts. After dinner, there is picking and singing in the living room. Outside, Mark and Jody sing a risqué a cappella ditty handed down from an aunt. Another musical highlight comes from Hosea Bilyeu and family, who do a beautifully stirring a cappella version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a high school basketball game. Hosea, a reverend, also talks about the importance of keeping alive the old time traditions – especially the music – and passing them on.

On a side trip to Branson, Minnich interviews Bill Mabe, co-founder of The Baldknobbers. Mabe tells tales of the show’s origin – if fewer than 16 people showed, they refunded money and shut down for the night.

When movies have been made locally, a certain “straight-to-video” ethos often pre-dominates the films, but the production values of “Homemade Hillbilly Jam” are state of the art for documentaries. Sound usually suffers in less-than-carefully made films, but here, the audio is pristine.

“Homemade Hillbilly Jam” seemed just a bit too long. The good news is that there is a 55-minute version, presumably cut for prospective TV airing.

It’s a fine film and one that will teach audiences about traditions and music that might seem esoteric to those not from the Ozarks.

“Homemade Hillbilly Jam” made its Springfield debut Saturday, Aug. 12, at Founders’ Park preceded by a Big Smith concert. Its run at The Moxie Cinema, 408 W. Walnut St., begins Wednesday, Aug. 23 and ends Sept. 5. Big Smith will perform and answer questions following the Aug. 29 show.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.[[In-content Ad]]