King of Bluegrass: The Life & Times of Jimmy Martin Premiers April 29

An enthusiastic crowd of bluegrass luminaries, fans and indie film buffs packed the 325-seat theater at the 34th Annual Nashville Film Festival in Nashville, Tenn. April 29, to see the world-wide premier of King of Bluegrass: The Life & Times of Jimmy Martin. In fact, when 100 people were turned away at the door for the screening, a second night was added to the schedule. Beginning with a welcome from film producer, George Goehl and an introduction from Tom T. Hall, the crowd—like at any other place Martin appears—belonged to Jimmy Martin. Earl and Louise Scruggs, Tom T. and Miss Dixie Hall, members of the Del McCoury Band, J.D. Crowe, Paul Williams, Josh Graves, Mac Wiseman, Marty Stuart, Jim Lauderdale, Curly Seckler, members of Ronnie Reno & the Reno Tradition, James King, Lance LeRoy, Larry & Dreama Stephenson and Chris & Sally Jones, among others, turned out in solid support of Bluegrass Hall of Honor member, Martin—who attended the event with Fan Club president Mary Ann Garrison and his band, The Sunny Mountain Boys.

Edited down from 70 hours of film shot over a period of three years, Goehl, a community organizer originally from around Bean Blossom, Indiana but now living in Chicago, was inspired to produce his first documentary film after seeing an onstage reunion with Martin, J.D. Crowe, Doyle Lawson and Tom T. Hall on stage at the Bean Blossom bluegrass festival in 1999. “Jimmy was on fire,” Goehl recalls. “Though there were other stars in their own right on stage, he completely was controlling everything that was happening, and was manipulating every move. It seemed like the crowd was content for him to talk for 15 minutes between songs; you just didn’t know what was going to happen.... I was completely mesmerized. I ran up to the front—it was a rainy night and my knees were muddy—and I felt like a six year old kid who had a new toy. I’d seen other (bluegrass artists) so many times, but this was so different. And I actually went back to the campfire that night and said, ‘I’m going to make a film about this guy.’”

The film depicts Jimmy at home feeding slices of pumpkin to his goat, Vernon Derrick; on the bus with his band; on stage at several festivals; in his home town of Sneedville, Tenn.; on a coon hunt; and at a rabbit and squirrel barbecue picnic at Bean Blossom, hosted by Jimmy and Tom T. Hall. Interviews are included with J.D. Crowe, Bill Emerson, Paul Williams, Lance LeRoy, Marty Stuart, James King, Ralph Stanley, Tom T. Hall and several others.

Goehl says his purpose with the documentary was “to interweave Jimmy’s historical story with recently shot footage that captures the essence of him. I didn’t want to do a film about a dead guy–with lots of head shots of people talking about him,” he notes bluntly. “What makes Jimmy so great, is not going to come out in just stories. I wanted to give people a sense of his essence.... This guy is such an amazing personality, such an unbelievable entertainer. It’s so refreshing to hear somebody say exactly what’s on his mind, even if it does upset people, that we wanted to capture it. Though it felt like a big risk to make the film, I always thought not making it was going to be a bigger risk because maybe a lot of these neat moments wouldn’t have been captured.”

At the 1999 IBMA World of Bluegrass Trade Show in Owensboro, Ky., keynote speaker Bob Oermann noted that “what bluegrass music needs is more Jimmy Martins,” in reference to the colorfully dressed, powerful vocalist and guitarist’s innate talent of entertaining and connecting with a crowd.

In the film, Marty Stuart explains it like this: “Somewhere along the way, moonshine and dynamite collided. The result is a three-chord scholar and musical genius named Jimmy Martin. He’s part preacher, part prophet, and a card-carrying madman who is completely filled the musical holy ghost. Time spent with the King of Bluegrass is not for the lilly livered or faint of heart.”

Industry-wide, Goehl hopes the film will make a few converts for bluegrass music. “Jimmy is such an interesting personality and such a great entertainer, that we thought, ‘Wow, if we could get him out there, this might make people think—wow, this is interesting! I’m not only going to buy some Jimmy Martin records, but I think I’m going to dig into this a little deeper.’ We think that’s happening through the film festivals, because there were definitely people in the Maryland screening and the second day in Nashville that I don’t think were bluegrass fans, who were telling me that the whole thing was intriguing. We’ll see what happens with that.”

Goehl, who is currently wrapping up a six-year stint with the National Training Information Center, plans to focus on marketing the film in DVD and video format, and is thinking about filming another documentary. For info on their availability, along with a schedule of future film festival screening, check out www.kingofbluegrass.com.



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