DIVERSIONS|music
RON BLAYLOCK
by Lacey McLaughlin
Rocking Crossroads
T
AMILE WILSON
Coma Boy “Coma Boy” by Jackson musician TTOCCS REKARP (pronounced tox rekarp), aka Daniel Guaqueta, is an upbeat and funky song using electronic cumbia, a Latin American rhythm. The video, produced by Amile Wilson and directed by Clay Hardwick, follows a hairdresser, a sciencelaboratory worker, a landscaper, an office worker and a pizza maker—all with familiar faces— through their daily routines at work. Coma Boy The employees are all on the clock at their jobs. As the office
Mental Needles An animated love story between a dinosaur and a man might seem a bit abstract, but that is Mental Needles exactly what Jackson illustrator Justin Schultz had in mind when he created the music video for Spacewolf’s “Mental Needles.” The song is about finding a person who makes life so interesting and full of adventures that it’s as if they have stimulated your brain with needles. Schultz, owner of illustration company The Flying Chair, spent 40 hours drawing the animation on his Wacom tablet and piecing the story together in Flash. The animation that follows the rock song is a fun and fast-paced ride in which a large, green dinosaur and his friend go from sightseeing in Paris to throwing TVs off balconies.
Red Clay
“I wanted people to watch it again,” the 28-year-old Brandon native says. “I wanted it to be a full story from front to back, and I crammed that whole idea into 2.5 minutes.” “Mental Needles” is Schultz’s first video but, hopefully, not his last. Red Clay Filmed in Edwards, Miss., “Cold Red Clay” takes a serious tone with its dark southern gothic storytelling. Jackson photographer Ron Blaylock shot the video for songwriter and musician Tommy Bryan Ledford who is releasing his solo album, “Butcher Bird,” this spring. The video, which won Best Music Video at the Oxford Film festival last month, tells the haunting story of a man who may or may not have killed his pregnant wife. Shot in black and white in an old cabin in the woods, the strong images evoke nostalgia and bring Ledford’s folkbluegrass song to life. Blaylock says that he wanted to tell a story in line with Ledford’s upcoming murder-ballad album while creating a loose plot line. “We didn’t want to write it out too clearly, but leave it up for interpretation,” Blaylock says. “We wanted something a little creepy.” The Crossroads Regional Music Video Showcase is at 7:15 p.m. Friday, April 1 on Screen A.
COURTESY SKIPP COON
Natalie’s Notes
worker stamps papers on his desk over and over again, and the pizza maker places yet another pepperoni on his pizza, they begin to lose it. The office worker’s plain tie changes to cartoon characters while the hairdresser, played by SMoak Salon owner Suzanne Moak, begins to cut hair with garden shears. By the end of the video, the workers are splashing in a pool, while women decorated with body paint linger around the pool’s edges. The video is incredibly colorful and embodies a youthful rebellion that makes you want to get up from your desk chair and dance.
JUSTIN SHULTZ
he competition at this year’s Crossroads’ Regional Music Video Showcase will be fierce. Throughout the past year, local filmmakers and musicians have spent hours filming, editing and producing videos aiming to outdo other Crossroads’ opponents and even their own work from last year. Crossroads gives local and regional artists an outlet to showcase to their work, and the showcase is usually one of the most packed events at the festival. Last year, Jackson filmmaker Robby Piantanida won Best Music Video for “After the Fall,” by Taylor Hildebrand. This is the first year a panel of judges will select the best music video and the viewers’ choice award. Audience members selected the winners in previous years. While there are too many entries to mention them all, here is a sneak peak of some of the local videos you can expect to see this year:
The South and SXSW
by Natalie Long
A
March 30 - April 5, 2011
COURTESY SARAH MCNALLY
nna Kline is one busy girl. The Jackson singer, song- nation and fortitude, she met with another festival booking writer, writer and Crossroads Film Festival member agent who loved her idea about a Mississippi showcase and also serves as special projects officer for the Missis- was ready to take the necessary steps to get this showcase off sippi Development Authority. Between singing with the ground. her band and enjoying life as a newlywed, Kline coordinated With the help of the Mississippi Division of Tourism, the Mississippi music showcase at this year’s South by South- Kline got the ball rolling and finally the showcase, themed west Festival in Austin, Texas, featuring homegrown musi- “Find your True South,” was intact. cians Bobby Rush, Cary Hudson, Shannon McNally, Skipp While in Austin, she passed out Mississippi Blues Trail Coon, Charlie Mars and the Homemade maps and harmonicas to concert goers. Kline Jamz Blues Band. said many attendees had tales of our state, or Kline, a Hernando native, got the idea were Mississippi natives who had been transfrom the Memphis Music Foundation that planted to other parts of the world. Many in showcased bands such as the North MisAustin who had Mississippi roots looked at sissippi Allstars, whose band members are the showcase as a “musical homecoming.” all from the Magnolia State. Kline decided Oklahoma’s Taddy Porter, the band that it was time we had a singer-songwriter playing just before the Mississippi Showcase, spotlight on our state for a change. She even commented on stage that they love our wanted Mississippi’s musicians to play a state and claimed that they were from Stilllarge venue with maximum exposure and Country-music vocalist Sarah water, Miss. went to work immediately to put together McNally performed at SXSW The Mississippi Showcase was a hit, March 20. a showcase for the next SXSW. bringing a fairly large crowd to the Hilton Since she began the project in May Garden Inn of Austin. To everyone’s enjoy2010, Kline had many statewide bands ment, blues legend Pinetop Perkins make and artists submit albums to her for consideration, and a special appearance at the showcase. He passed away two she pitched many of them to the SXSW folks. They only days later. picked one Mississippi artist out of the dozens Kline tried to Kline happily reports that while her week in Austin promote. It almost deflated her efforts. But with determi- was pretty busy, the music brought to SXSW by some of
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A local rapper with a lot to say about the world around him, Skipp Coon also represented Mississippi.
Mississippi’s finest musicians was a treat for the festival goers and promoters. Because of Kline’s hard work, promoters plan to continue the “Find Your True South” showcase at future festivals. If you’re interested in being considered for next year’s South by Southwest Festival in Austin, email Kline at anna@ gritsandsoul.com.