I was an eighth-grader in 1990 when Ken Burns documentary “The Civil War” premiered on PBS, but I knew even then that it was a special film. It was really long and incredibly detailed. It was covering a part of American history that really interested me and it was so engaging. Nearly two decades after it first aired, it is still considered a great film. “The Civil War” won many awards when it was released and it has been remastered and released in high definition and 4K.
The same man behind that landmark film has made a film on another one of my favorite topics, country music. Titled “Country Music,” Ken Burns’ latest film runs 16 hours and is expected to premiere on PBS on Sept. 15. It will have eight episodes in the series.
I was able to watch an excerpt from the film at the CMA Close Up Stage on the last day of CMA Music Fest. It was no surprise that it has the some level of research as “The Civil War” did. While he had to rely on historians for “The Civil War,” many of the people who were influential in country music were available to be interviewed for the documentary.
I feel like I am more knowledgeable than most about country music. I found the documentary to be very interesting and there were several things mentioned that I didn’t know. I thought the excerpt was much more personal than other Ken Burns’ film I have watched. That is probably because of my love for country music and I am fans of many of the people who were interviewed.
I only saw a very small portion of the entire film. I am excited to have the opportunity to see the entire film in September and I have a feeling it will be something I will want to add to my DVD library.