FILM

Director Statement

Like almost every other person on earth, I have found it curious that so much talent is often overlooked whilst so much mediocrity is celebrated. We all have heroes from whom fame eludes.

In the mid-nineties I found myself playing mandolin in a bluegrass band with an incredible 5-string banjo player named Lesley Robinson. Les was raised in the Indigenous community of Kipawa, Quebec. The son of an Irish/Algonquin father and an Algonquin mother, his fingers were like lightning as they rolled across the strings, the notes perforating the air like machine gun fire. But he was ever humble about his talent. It was just something he did, like fishing or eating. He told me that everyone back home on the reservation was like him, and that fantastic musicians abounded. I was fascinated. How could this be? Why isn’t Kipawa famous? Yet to the people of that small community in Quebec, fame was never the point.

And like the musicians of Kipawa, our band was never going to “make it big”. But the music made all the people around us smile.

I have long been a fan of Old Man Luedecke and his music. And I’m not the only one. His lyrics and banjo prowess have made fans around the globe. Beyond his numerous and well deserved accolades, he has honed his talent and career without compromise or forsaking integrity – a true artist in every sense of the word.

And that’s the point.

Together, these two kindred banjo playing spirits open our eyes and ears to what music really means, and from where it comes.

It is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and end of what music is for a community, nothing less, nothing more. It is that ethos that compelled us to bring these stories to screen.

It is with this resolve that we, together with you, discover North Preston, Nova Scotia.

Enjoy.