New 3-part series on BBC4 (UK TV) tonight in the Arena strand: Part 1 - The Big Bang American Epic - "Exploring roots music in the US, beginning with the birth of country vlues in the 1920s. As record sales rose in the early days of radio, companies began to seek out rural artists. The programme features early recordings by Appalachian country music pioneers the Carter Family and Will Shade and the Memphis Jug Band, whose music prefigured modern rap and R&B. Narrated by Robert Redford. Research by two British film-makers, Bernard MacMahon and Allison McGourty.
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