Trails of Rosin Dust / Episode 3: Yellow Roads & Trails of Tears

Trails of Rosin Dust / Episode 3: Yellow Roads & Trails of Tears

Tucked within the hills of the Ozarks, Appalachian and French frontier fiddle traditions merged with Native rhythms and African syncopation, our third film features fiddlers who carry forward a jazzed-up strain of old-time tunes that helped shape the roots of country and ragtime.

Before radio. Before records. There was the fiddle. In our first two films, the fiddle was joined first by the banjo and then the mandolin, introducing the core instrumental voices that define early American string band traditions. Here in the Ozarks, the ensemble expands with the addition of the jazzy upright bass, whose rhythmic drive and melodic flexibility bring a new dimension to the evolving sound. Our third film in the Trails of Rosin Dust series, Yellow Roads & Trails of Tears, travels through the region once known as the Louisiana Territory, later mapped as Indian Territory, where musical traditions moved along rust belts, yellow brick roads, Underground Railroads, and the forced paths of the Trail of Tears. As French settler traditions converged with the syncopated rhythms and tonalities of Native and African American musicians, a new sound emerged that would help shape early country, ragtime, and jazz.

Today, that legacy lives on through Cherokee fiddlers Bubba, Monte, and Regina, alongside Osage fiddlers Tanner and Preston, whose music carries forward these intertwined traditions whether in jam gatherings in retired 19th century general stores, historic ballrooms, Native American grounds, and contests in neon-lit theaters.

As our Ozark fiddlers head to the 70-year old National Fiddle Championship, their jazzy flair meets head-on with other regional styles, battling tune by tune to claim its place in American fiddle history.

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Co-Director | Heather Bennett

Co-Director | Sadie Cibula

Cinematographer | David Rush

Camera and Lighting | Hunter Lawson Cibula

Editor | Nancy Richardson

Colorist | Andrew Lichtstein