Awake, My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp
11/27/08 Thanksgiving- Here's the new video from Help Me to Sing: Songs of the Sacred Harp.
"David's Lamentation" by The Good Players
As previously available only at Paste Magazine's website. We found a corn-maze, so we made a video.
11/26/08 Awake My Soul is mentioned in this interesting article in the Portland Pheonix:
"Loud at Heart: A centuries-old singing tradition inspires twentysomething hipsters to praise the Lord..." Click here to read more.
11/21/08 Radio Interview with Matt Hinton:
Yesterday, Matt Hinton, director and producer of Awake My Soul was interviewed on Word of Mouth a radio show out of New Hampshire. Listen to the whole interview here. Or go straight to the mp3 here.
11/19/08 Watch the music video for "David's Lamentation" by The Good Players, exclusively at Paste Magazine's website.
"David's Lamentation" is the 3rd track on Help Me to Sing, the 2nd disc of the Awake My Soul soundtrack. This track was included in the sampler that came in every issue of the November edition of Paste Magazine. The Good Players are led by Stephen Nichols of Chattanooga, TN and are at work on a new record. Look for this video to appear on Youtube in the near future...
11/11/08 Awake, My Soul & Help Me to Sing mentioned in Stomp & Stammer here.
Also, there is a new review at BlogCritics here.
11/07/08 Spin Magazine gives Awake, My Soul & Help Me to Sing 4 Stars! Read review here.
11/03/08 Christianity Today's review of Awake My Soul says:
"Turn it up. Awake My Soul will make you want to sing." You can also read a longer version of Jeffrey Overstreet's review here, where he writes "Church music may not be the big-screen’s most scintillating subject. But stick with me. Awake My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp inspired me so much that I watched it again the very next day with my surround-sound system turned up to '11.' The DVD is on my list of 'Things to Give the Family for Christmas.'"
11/01/08 The November issue of Paste Magazine features a 4 page article on Sacred Harp and Awake My Soul! Check it out here. And here.
10/29/08 KQED in Northern California posted this review of Awake, My Soul & Help Me to Sing, saying:
"These are no ordinary church choirs. The music is rebellious in its disregard for musical convention, punk in its inclusivity, and powerful in a way that only music performed with true passion can be, regardless of what may have inspired it... The whole thing is wonderfully, strangely real.... [the songs on Disc 1] are relentless in their intensity and forcefulness..."
10/27/08 No Depression says "When you see [Awake, My Soul], you will remember it."
10/21/08: Pitchfork Gives Awake My Soul (Soundtrack) & Help Me to Sing an 8.8!!!
They call it "revelatory and exultant, dense with harmonic ideas and often overwhelming even on CD". Not bad, really. Click here to read the review.
10/20/08: Tim Eriksen Video.
On the same say we had our CD release party, we paid Paste Magazine a visit, and Tim Eriksen performed the songs that he and his band, Cordelia's Dad contributed to Help Me to Sing. Here's Tim playing "The Traveler" at The offices of Paste.
10/14/08: NEW CD NOW FOR SALE!!
After a limited release in September, the new CD is now widely available as of today, Oct 14. Awake My Soul (the Original Soundtrack) & Help Me to Sing are available as a 2 CD set. Help Me to Sing is a collection of various artists performing Sacred Harp songs. Featuring Jim Lauderdale, Richard Buckner, Woven Hand, Danielson, Rayna Gellert (Uncle Earl), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), John Wesley Harding, Sam Amidon, Doc Watson, and many more. It is available by clicking here. and for digital download at iTunes and Amazon.
Already, the New York Times likes it: Click here to read.
And so does the Austin Chronicle: Click here to read.
Also, look for the 4 page spread in the November Paste Magazine- on Newstands now.
9/22/08 CD Release Party!
We had a fantastic CD release party in Atlanta at Criminal Records followed by a concert at The EARL. Here's Paste Magazine's coverage. In it, Josh Jackson writes: "No one has done more to help revive Sacred Harp singing among a younger generation than two of the men at the Earl in East Atlanta this past Monday night -- filmmaker Matt Hinton and musician Tim Eriksen. Hinton's film Awake, My Soul traces the history of America's oldest original musical tradition and the way it's thriving in pockets of the South. The original soundtrack features traditional renditions of old Sacred Harp (also called Shape-Note) tunes. But the Earl showcase was a release party for the second album associated with the film, this one featuring a variety of artists (Richard Buckner, Doc Watson, Woven Hand, The Innocence Mission, Elvis Perkins, Rick Moody, etc.) interpretting some of the genre's most well-known songs. After a screening of the film, Sacred Harp singers formed their square and belted out the powerful, haunting and otherworldly melodies in a setting that didn't much look like the old wooden churches they were used to. It was my first time at a singing, and I had a great time struggling to following along. Most in the crowd stood back, either soaking in the beauty or trying to figure out what it was all about.
Four of the artists on the new soundtrack performed after the singing -- Jeni and Billy, The Good Players, Eriksen, and Jim Lauderdale. Eriksen, who helped organize the singings heard in the film Cold Mountain, gave the night's stand-out performance. Fresh off an Eastern European trip, playing and teaching in Poland and The Czech Republic, the multi-instrumentalist was best at adapting the raw power of Sacred Harp to his own arrangements. Lauderdale finished the night with his well-crafted Americana whose roots draw deeply from the same well from which Sacred Harp singers have drawn." Click here to see the accompanying pics.
8/29/08: Awake, My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp is streaming for this week only at www.Pitchfork.tv
"Sacred Harp is a haunting form of a capella hymn singing that has deep roots in the South. These songs are sung unaccompanied by any musical instrument, save the instrument given by God: The human voice. That is the sacred harp." So says narrator Jim Lauderdale in this amazing documentary, directed by Erica and Matt Hinton, which explores a little-known American musical tradition that stretches back two centuries. For more on this film and this music, be sure to check out Williams Bowers' most recent Puritan Blister, as well as Amanda Petrusich's review of I Belong to This Band: 85 Years of Sacred Harp Recordings.
7/18/08: New 2-CD Set! Look for it in late September!
Awake My Soul: The Original Soundtrack and Help Me To Sing: Songs of the Sacred Harp
Disc 1: The Original Soundtrack of Awake, My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp, the critically acclaimed documentary as seen on PBS stations and featured on NPR, in TIME magazine, Pitchfork, The Chicago Tribune, Atlanta Journal, The Oregonian, etc. The soundtrack includes traditional Sacred Harp singing, as recorded in rural Georgia and Alabama.
Disc Two: Help Me to Sing: Songs of the Sacred Harp performed by various artists. This is the first ever collection of popular music adaptations of Sacred Harp songs. "Help Me to Sing" includes 19 never before heard tracks which were specifically comissioned for this CD by the co-director of Awake, My Soul, Matt Hinton.
Disc One: Awake, My Soul: Traditional Sacred Harp Singing from Georgia & Alabama
1. China
2. Russia
3. Stratfield
4. Jordan
5. Marlborough
6. Bear Creek
7. Abbeville
8. Corinth
9. Lloyd
10. Eternal Day
11. New Britain
12. Delight
13. Panting For Heaven
14. New Jordan
15. Restoration
16. Prodigal Son
17. Schenectady
18. America
19. Antioch
20. Norwich
21. Consecration
22. Poland
23. Idumea
24. Cowper
Disc Two: Help Me To Sing: Various Artists performing Songs Inspired by the Film
1 "Blooming Youth" - Rayna Gellert (Uncle Earl) & John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin)
2 "Weeping Pilgrim" - Elvis Perkins in Dearland
3 "David's Lamentation" - The Good Players
4 "Africa" - The Innocence Mission
5 "The Christian's Hope" - Jim Lauderdale with Jeni & Billy
6 "Help Me To Sing" - Mac Powell (Third Day)
7 "Columbus" - John Wesley Harding
8 "The Traveler" - Cordelia's Dad
9 "Abbeville" - Liz Janes
10 "China" - All Things Bright & Beautiful
11 "Essay" - Tenement Halls
12 "Windham" - Richard Buckner
13 "Sermon on the Mount" - Danielson
14 "And Am I Born to Die?" - Doc Watson & Gaither Carlton
15 "Kedron" - Sam Amidon
16 "Consecration" - Woven Hand
17 "The Grieved Soul" - Rick Moody and Nina Katchadourian
18 "Vernon / Wrestling Jacob" - Tim Eriksen (Cold Mountain Soundtrack)
19 "Christian's Farewell" - DM Stith
20 "Bound For Canaan" - Murry Hammond (Old 97's)
Start listening!
http://www.myspace.com/helpmetosing
For press inquiries, please contact Force Field PR.
Daniel Gill
FORCE FIELD PR
1022 Milwaukee Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90042
daniel@forcefieldpr.com
323-344-1602
818-331-0830 (c)
1/10/08: Here's director Matt Hinton's interview that aired on Bob Edward's Weekend on December 8.
The complete interview (40 minutes) is also available through Bob Edward's website http://www.bobedwardsradio.com/blog/.
"Awake, My Soul" is featured in the January 28 2008 TIME Magazine.
Across the Nation Airing
We’re happy to announce that “Awake, My Soul” will be airing across the country on PBS stations starting in late November. If you want to see it, please contact your local PBS station and request that they air it. http://www.pbs.org/stationfinder. Make it known to the programming department that it is available through APT. The following are the air dates we know about so far:
Please continue to check this listing of airdates. It
is updated frequently.
November 2007
Montana PBS
11/22 (Thanksgiving) at 10am
Georgia Public Broadcasting
Thursday 11/29 @ 10pm
December 2007
WBCC Orlando
12/9 7pm
WFUM Flint-Saginaw-Bay City
12/10 10pm
KYNE Omaha, KHNE Lincoln & Hastings-Kearny, KXNE Sioux
City, KRNE Rapid City, KTNE Cheyenne, WY-Scottsbluff,
NE, KPNE North Platte
12/13 10PM
WSRE Mobile-Pensacola (Ft. Walton Beach)
Saturday 12/15/07 5PM CT
KOZK Springfield, MO/ KOZJ Joplin-Pittsburg, MO
(Ozarks region of southwest Missouri, southeast
Kansas, northwest Arkansas and northeast Oklahoma.)
Saturday 12/15/07 9:30 PM CT
Alabama Public TV
Sunday, 12/16 @ 3:00 PM
KSMQ Rochester-Mason City-Austin (MN/IA)
Sunday 12/16/07 9PM CT
WNMU Marquette MI
Sunday 12/16/07 4PM ET
TPT/17 - Minneapolis, MN
12/18 @ 7pm
KVIE66 Sacramento
12/20 8pm & 12/21 1am (same night)
WNPT Nashville, TN
Thursday 12/20/07 11PM CT
WTCI Chattanooga, TN
Thursday 12/20/07 10PM ET
WEIU Champaign & Springfield-Decatur IL
12/21/07 8:00 PM CT
12/22/07 1:00 AM CT
KNME, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Sunday, 12/23 at 2:00pm.
KENW Amarillo TX/ Eastern New Mexico
12/23/07 11:00 PM MT
WYIN Chicago, IL
12/23/07 10:00 PM CT
12/25/07 7:00 PM CT
WTVI Charlotte, NC
12/25/07 10:00 PM ET
12/26/07 3:00 AM
12/27/07 9:00 PM
WETP - Knoxville, TN
Thurs. 12/27 at 9pm and then on Sunday 12/30 at 7pm
KTXT Lubbock TX
12/27/07 9:00 PM CT
Alabama Public Television (APT)
12/27/07 10:00 PM CT
KNCT Waco-Temple-Bryan
12/27/07 9PM CT
KEDT Corpus Christi
12/27/07 8PM CT
KVPT Fresno-Visalia
12/27/07 10PM PT
WXGA Jacksonville, FL
12/29 10pm
WTVI Charlotte
12/29/07 4:30PM ET
WGVU - Grand Rapids, Michigan
Sunday, 12/30 at 2:00 p.m.
KLCS - Los Angeles, CA
12/30 @ 10pm
TALNET Albuquerque
12/30/07 9PM MT
KVPT Fresno-Visalia
12/30/07 1PM PT
WTCI Chattanooga
12/30/07 2PM ET
KEDT Corpus Christi
12/30/07 11PM CT
KTXT Lubbock
12/31/07 2AM CT
January 2008
WKMJ Louisville
1/1/08 9AM ET
KET2 Lexington
1/1/08 9AM ET
KBDI Denver
1/4/08 7PM MT
1/6/08 12AM MT
WPTO Cincinnati, OH
1/6/08 7:00 PM ET
1/8/08 1:00 AM
WGBH Ch44 Boston, MA
Sun, 1/13/08, 3:30pm
KBDI Denver
1/15/08 9PM MT
1/16/08 12:30AM MT
1/18/08 7PM MT
KCOS El Paso, TX
1/20/08 5PM MT
WFSU Tallahassee, FL
1/20/08 2:30PM ET
WFSG Panama City, FL
1/20/08 2:30PM CT
WJCT Jacksonville, Florida
1/20 12:00 PM
1/30 6:00 PM
WMAV Memphis, TN
1/24/08 8:00PM CT
Mississippi Public Broadcasting
1/24/08 8pm CT
1/26/08 1:00AM CT
KTNW Pullman, Washington
Friday 1/25/08 10 PM
Sunday 1/27/08 5 PM
KBDI Denver
1/29/08 10:00 PM
1/30/08 1:30 AM
February 2008
Alaska
2/2/08 6:00 PM
2/3/08 12:00 AM
KUEN Utah
Sun, 2/3/08 8 pm
Wed, 2/6/08 11 pm
KEET Eureka, CA
2/10/08 9:30 AM
KCETDC Los Angeles
2/15/08 7:00 PM
KWSU Spokane
2/17/08 2:02 AM
2/20/08 9:00 PM
March 2008
WKAR Lansing, MI
3/22/08 11:00 PM ET
WLAE New Orleans, LA
3/22/08 9:00 PM CT
KETC St Louis, MO 3/23/08 3:00 PM
CT
WCVW Richmond, VA 3/23/08 6:00 PM
ET
WUSF Tampa, FL 3/23/08
1:00 PM ET
WLAE New Orleans, LA
3/24/08 1:00 AM CT
WKMJ KENTUCKY 3/26/08
10:00 PM ET
WKMU Paducah, KY
3/26/08 12:00 AM ET
UNCTV North Carolina?3/27/08 10PM
KETC St Louis, MO 3/28/08 3:00
AM CT
WCVN KENTUCKY 3/29/08 2:00 AM ET
April 2008
WMHT Albany/ Troy NY
4/3/08 10pm
KAET Phoenix
4/17/08 12:00 AM
GPB Georgia
4/20/08 6:00 PM
4/21/08 12:00 AM
WCLP Chattanooga
4/20/08 6:00 PM
4/21/08 12:00 AM
WXGA Jacksonville
4/20/08 6:00 PM
4/21/08 12:00 AM
WFYI Indianapolis
4/20/08 1:30 PM
4/22/08 12:00 AM
WGTVHD/ GPB Georgia
4/23/08 1:00 AM
WUNC North Carolina
4/27/08 1:00 AM
4/27/08 5:00 AM
4/27/08 12:00 PM
4/27/08 7:00 PM
4/27/08 10:00 PM
4/27/08 11:00 PM
4/28/08 2:00 AM
4/28/08 5:00 AM
5/2/08 1:00 PM
5/2/08 9:00 PM
5/3/08 12:00 AM
WPTD Dayton, OH
5/2/08 10:00 PM
5/4/08 2:00 AM
WKYU Bowling Green, KY
5/4/08 9:00 PM
WMVS Milwaukee, WI
5/5/08 10:00 PM
KDIN Des Moines, IA
5/10/08 5:30 PM
KBIN Omaha/ Council Bluffs, IA
5/10/08 5:30 PM
KIIN Cedar Rapids-Waterloo-Iowa City & Dubuque
5/10/08 5:30 PM
04.21 - Tallahassee, FL screening of "Awake, My Soul"- Saturday April 21 7pm All Saints Cinema. For more, http://www.tallahasseefilms.com/.
04.27 - "Awake, My Soul" will be screened at Merlefest, the country's premiere Americana music festival on Friday, April 27 2007 at 5pm in Mayes Pit. We are honored to have 50+ of the finest Sacred Harp singers in the country join us for a demonstration singing following the screening. Many of these singers are featured in "Awake, My Soul" and on the soundtrack to the film "Cold Mountain"! For more, http://www.merlefest.org/
12.10 - New Sacred Harp CD available, "I Belong to This Band".
9.15 - "Awake, My Soul" will be screened at the Sidewalk Film Festival.
8.18 -Southern Living has an article on Sacred Harp and have posted the first 7 minutes of "Awake, My Soul." Click here to read and watch!
8.17 - The store is open! We have the movie and movie poster for sale and soon we will have other merchandise.
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