Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers at the NPT Offices

Several months ago, I was in a restaurant/bar here in Nashville, and in the mens room, in one of those Graffiti Advertising displays, was a curious ad. It had a photo of a burning house and the text, “Johnny Cash is Dead and His House Burned Down.” It was completely perplexing, and when I walked out, I immediately told my companions what a weird thing I just saw. I even rolled it around in my head on the way home, alternating between laughter, confusion and indignation. Which is exactly what Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers, and the folks at Curb Records, wanted me to do.

Everything made sense yesterday, Wednesday, July 8, when Larry, Rudy and Steve came by the NPT offices to play us some tunes from their new album, Pilgrimage, including the new single, “Johnny Cash is Dead and His House Burned Down.” For Larry and his brothers, the album is a return, after a 16-year absence, to the Nashville recording and songwriting scene. Its title is a nod to Gatlin’s first album, The Pilgrim, which debuted in 1974.

NPT staff gathered in the reception area for the afternoon performance, where we not only got several songs from the guys, but stories by Larry about his long and close relationship with Johnny Cash.

When they were finishing up, there was even a moment of Gatlin/NPT/Carter family synergy. There’s a poster in our lobby from our film, The Carter Family: An American Original. While admiring the poster, Larry and Rudy realized that Mother Maybelle’s guitar in the historic photo was the same guitar John Carter Cash took out for the guys to play when recording the new record. Rudy even had a picture of the guitar on his cell phone.

It was a great afternoon and we’re thankful to the guys for coming by. Pilgrimage hits stores on September 1.

Pictured are, left to right, Curb Records' Jeff Tuerff, Steve Gatlin, Larry Gatlin, NPT President and CEO Beth Curley and Rudy Gatlin.

Larry and Rudy Gatlin with the cell phone image of Mother Maybelle Carter's guitar, the same guitar in the poster for our film on the Carter Family.

NPT staff gather in the reception area.

NPT Launches PBS Kids Raising Readers Library Corner at Edmondson Pike Branch

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- July 7, 2009 -- NPT volunteer Graham Edson, foreground, works with a child at the PBS Kids Raising Readers Library corner. Nashville Public Television recently partnered with the Nashville Public Library to launch the PBS Kids Raising Readers Library Corner at the Edmondson Pike Branch.

By Lesley Parks
NPT Intern

On July 7, the Edmondson Pike Branch of the Nashville Public Library was filled with parents, teachers and 60 enthusiastic children from Paragon Mills Elementary School for the kickoff of the NPT PBS KIDS Raising Readers Library Corner.

The NPT PBS Kids Raising Readers Library Corner at the Edmondson Pike Branch includes books, computer games and DVD clips centered on favorite PBS Kids shows characters. The corner will be open and available to the public during Library hours.

Funded by a Ready to Learn grant from the United States Department of Education, PBS Kids Raising Readers is a national literacy campaign focused on building reading centers at home, school and in the community. Nashville Public Television is one of 20 stations nationwide chosen to take part in the “Literacy 360” campaign. This campaign aims to build relationships with the larger community to promote children’s literacy, using media to help kids learn and love to read.

Kids Get Story Time, Activity Time, Computer Time and a Library Tour

After some morning reading time under the tents on the Library’s playground, the kids — preschoolers through 5th graders — were split into age groups and brought inside to rotate through four stations: story time, a library tour, computer games and an activity related to the PBS Kids show Word World.

A Paragon Mills teacher led story time, an interactive and lively occasion centered on popular children’s books such as Martha and Skits and I Saw an Ant in a Parking Lot. The library tour, led by Edmonson Pike Children’s Librarian Tori Ross, emphasized the new PBS KIDS Raising Readers Library Corner and the benefits of owning a library card. During computer time, kids were free to explore the PBSKids.org website. During game time, based on Word World, children were asked to identify whether or not words drawn out of a bag contained the word “ant.” If they were correct, participants would take a step forward. The first one to reach the opposite end of the room won the game.

Following the rotation, participants went back outside to enjoy ice cream provided by local radio station Jack FM, books from PBS and literacy kits from Volunteer USA.

“I liked when the teachers read to us in the park,” said Vene, a fifth grader who attended the event with her mom, 8-year-old sister, and one-year-old brother. “We’re all having fun reading books.”

More Photos Below

(NPT News) Meet Your Kurdish and Somali Neighbors at Scarritt Bennett Center

From the official NPT News Department:

Scarritt Bennett Center and NPT Invite You to Meet the Cultures of Somalia and Kurdistan That Call Nashville Home

Event at Scarritt-Bennett to Use Award-Winning NPT Documentaries to Educate and Enhance Dialogue in the Community

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – July 1, 2009 – Scarritt-Bennett Center and Nashville Public Television invite the community to view excerpts from the original NPT Next Door Neighbors documentaries “Somali” and “Little Kurdistan, USA” – and get an even better understanding of the people from those cultures when they offer their thoughts and answer questions in a follow-up panel discussion – on Tuesday, July 14, 2009, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at Scarritt-Bennett Center (Fondren Building). The event is free, but RSVP’s are suggested 615.340.7557 or programs@scarrittbennett.org. Scarritt-Bennett Center is located at 1008 19th Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee 37212.

About the Documentaries

“Little Kurdistan, USA” looks at Nashville’s Kurdish population, the largest in North America. Kurds first arrived in Nashville in 1976 and have since established a vibrant community recognized by Kurds nationally for its strong cultural and traditional heritage. As refugees, Kurds have overcome significant barriers to survive, and flourish in Nashville. But, refugees inevitably become outsiders; estranged from their homeland, and strangers in their new home.

“Somali” profiles the over 5,000 Somali refugees that now call Nashville their home. They left a war-torn country and many still have family trying to survive in Somalia and in refugee camps in other countries. For most, life in Nashville is about work, sending money back home and trying to balance Somali traditions and cultures while adjusting to life in the US. The documentary explores what life is like for a community in transition.

Nashville Public Television’s NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS series, produced, written and directed by Will Pedigo, looks at Nashville’s status as a new destination city for refugees and immigrants, and explores the rich diversity of people now calling Nashville home. The series and its associated outreach was recently awarded the 2009 My Source Community Impact Award for Engagement, created by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to give well-deserved recognition to stations for their commitment and responsiveness to their communities, providing innovative services – on-air, online, and in-person – that have measureable results. Series installment “Little Kurdistan, USA” won the 2008 Mid South Regional Emmy Award for best Historical or Cultural Program Special.

The series is made possible through a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s My Source initiative and The HCA Foundation on behalf of HCA and the TriStar Family of Hospitals, and is supported in-part by the Nissan Foundation. A partnership with the Vanderbilt University Center for Nashville Studies provides valuable research and community outreach.

About Nashville Public Television
Nashville Public Television is available free and over the air to nearly 2.2 million people throughout the Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky viewing area, and is watched by more than 600,000 households every week. NPT provides, through the power of traditional television and interactive telecommunications, high quality educational, cultural and civic experiences that address issues and concerns of the people of the Nashville region, and which thereby help improve the lives of those we serve.

About Scarritt- Bennett Center
Scarritt-Bennett Center is an independent non-profit conference, retreat, and education center devoted to addressing issues of social justice by offering programs and events that promote dialogue and cultural understanding. Included in these is the Celebration of Cultures – an annual multi-cultural festival. For more information on this and other programs, please visit www.scarrrittbennett.org

NPT Music Monthly July 2009

Shawn Colvin

July marks the end of the first round of episodes of the locally-produced music show Legends & Lyrics, and the lineup of songwriters and local connections couldn’t be better. With legendary classic songwriters such as Jimmy Webb, Ed Bruce and Jessi Colter, and contemporary classic songwriters such as John Hiatt, Shawn Colvin and Phil Vassar on the show, our airways will be an embarrassment of musical riches this month. But that’s not even the half of it.

Along with the featured songwriters in-the-round, each episode includes a “Legend” and “Rising Star” segment. On Saturday, July 4, the “Legend” segment will profile “Cowboy” Jack Clement, he of Sun Records and Jerry Lee Lewis fame. Clement has worked with Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Charlie Rich and Elvis Presley; penned “Ballad of a Teenage Queen;” produced Charley Pride; and made movies (see Shakespeare Was a Big George Jones Fan: Cowboy Jack Clement’s Home Movies). Garth Brooks is profiled on July 11. On Saturday, July 18, Nashville’s own Will Hoge, one of the hardest working rock and roll singer-songwriters in town, is the show’s “Rising Star.” There are many in Nashville, and around the country, who’d argue with the “Rising” part of that, and we’d agree, but any time we can get Will Hoge on the air, we’ll take it, whatever they want to call him. The show was taped before his serious scooter accident last year, and we’re glad he’s doing well and is back to playing.

In 2004, Jason Crigler’s life was taking off. He was one of New York’s hottest young guitarists, his new CD was due for release and his wife, Monica, was pregnant with their first child. Then, at a gig in Manhattan, Jason suffered a near-fatal brain hemorrhage. His doctors doubted he could ever emerge from his near-vegetative state. The astonishing journey that followed, documented by filmmaker and friend Eric Daniel Metzgar in P.O.V.: “Life. Support. Music.” (Tuesday, July 7), is a stirring family saga and a portrait of creative struggle in the face of overwhelming tragedy.

Tune in Friday, July 24, when Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush make there debut on the gorgeously-shot Soundstage. Ben Harper is Live From the Artists Den … at Bonnaroo 08! Jackson Browne’s on Soundstage and Dolly’s Live in London. It’s another great month of music programming in NPT.

Happy Fourth of July!

Read the Rest of the NPT Music Monthly July 2009 on the wnpt.net news page. It’s the complete listing of all the music programming coming to NPT this month, including all the above mentioned artists, plus The Capitol Fourth, Jakob Dylan, Jackson Browne, OneRepublic, Lucinda Williams, Sharon Jones and plenty more. Subscribe for free at wnpt.net. Tell your friends!

Thank You For Helping NPT Reach Our Year End Goal

Thanks to everyone who pledged their support to NPT. Together, we raised $410,000 and exceeded our year-end goal. Thanks for showing us once again that NPT is television worth watching and supporting.

Watch the video below for a special message from Beth Curley, NPT President and CEO:

No NPT Audio Edition Podcast This Week

Due to some scheduling conflicts and trying to get some end-of-the-fiscal-year stuff wrapped up, there is no NPT This Week Audio Podcast this week. We’ll be back next week. Thanks!

Danny Petraitis and Levon Helm: Ramble at the Ryman

Danny Petraitis (1957 – 2009)

Levon Helm: Ramble at the Ryman premieres tonight, Thursday, June 25, at 8:00 p.m. on NPT. It is also scheduled to be broadcast on PBS stations nationwide as part of the August membership drive. The show was co-produced by Danny Petraitis, a beloved member of Nashville’s music community, along with Americana Music Association executive director Jed Hilly and others. Petraitis died in Nashville on June 3, at the age of 52, after an extensive battle with brain cancer. On the eve of the broadcast premiere of the Levon special, Hilly sent a note to friends and associates that I felt — excerpted here with Hilly’s approval — should be shared with the Nashville community.

Dear Friends

I imagine that most of you are well aware of the fact that Danny (Petraitis) played an instrumental role in the filming of this performance last fall and I thought I would take a moment to share some thoughts with you. Oh, I couldn’t possibly capture all of Danny’s friends email addresses, so please feel free to make them aware of this too.

As the credits will roll at the end of the PBS show tomorrow evening, I have the honor of being listed as co-producer along with Danny Petraitis on the program. I am so grateful for Mr. Helm and for Martin Fischer, who put their trust in us to make this project come to fruition. It was Danny who called me after the first Ramble in 2007 and said, “We have to bring Levon back to Nashville. And Film it!”

Rolling Stone called Levon’s Ramble the ‘Jam of the Year’. Many of you were lucky enough to have been at the Ryman that night. Many of you heard about it. Suffice to say the performance justified the passion to film it.

Without Danny, this would never have happened.

I viewed the rough cut the other night. There is at least one image that struck me in the broadcast. I think its during the song “Shape (I’m In),” there’s Danny, stage left, standing next to Sheryl Crow. It’s very hard to describe the feelings that rushed over me when I saw that image. I am sure that for this group of readers, you will have your own emotional response if and when you watch this.

Oh, and I expect Danny expects you to WATCH it!

There were so many people involved in this production – too numerous to list. We had arguments and battles. At least one conference call per week for the better part of the last 12 months. We didn’t always agree on things. But we all agreed on one thing: that this show will forever be credited:

In loving memory of our dear friend
DANNY PETRAITIS
1957 – 2009

In kindness and love, enjoy the show. Thanks DP. We got it done!

Jed
Jed Hilly
Executive Director
Americana Music Association

To share your own thoughts about Danny, or learn more about him, please visit the Caring Bridge page dedicated to him.

Pulitzer Prize Winning Poet W.S. Merwin on Bill Moyers Journal

Bill Moyers Journal, Friday nights at 8:00 p.m. Central on NPT, can always being counted on for outstanding reporting and genuine perspective on some of the most important issues affecting the world today. Recent episodes have included profiles of Leymah Gbowee, a woman who led her fellow countrywomen to fight for and win peace in war-torn Liberia, and Abigail Disney, who produced the documentary of their struggle and triumph in the award-winning film PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL; interviews with Robert Reich on health care reform and the economy and Richard Brookhiser and Harvey Kaye on Thomas Paine; and excerpts from the powerful documentary film TORTURING DEMOCRACY.

This week’s topic, though it may not appear so on the surface, is no less contemporary. On the heels of winning this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, W.S. Merwin joins Moyers for a wide-ranging talk about language, his writing process, the natural world, and the insights gleaned from a much-lauded career that’s spanned more than 50 years and 21 volumes of poetry. Merwin’s Pulitzer for his most recent collection, The Shadow of Sirius, marks twice that he has won the award.

Bill Moyers Journal with W.S. Merwin airs Friday, June 26 at 8:00 p.m.

In the meantime, here’s a great clip of Merwin from the Academy of American Poets “The Poet’s View” series.

For more on poetry, be sure to visit PBS’s excellent Poetry Everywhere site.

(Exclusive) Elmo and Big Bird Talk About A Capitol Fourth

This year’s A CAPITOL FOURTH celebration, airing July 4 at 7:00 p.m. Central on NPT and PBS stations nationwide, has a special treat for the entire family: Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch and more of the SESAME STREET gang will be on hand to celebrate America’s 233rd birthday.

In an exclusive interview, Christian from Capital Concerts caught up with Elmo and Big Bird to talk about their upcoming performance in A CAPITOL FOURTH and their thoughts on being in the nation’s capital for Independence Day. Big Bird waxes poetic about democracy and governing; Elmo accuses him of being “deep.” It’s fantastic.

Listen to the interview online now.

NPT This Week (((Audio Edition))) Podcast June 21-June 27, 2009

In the latest episode of the podcast, Justin Harvey and Joe Pagetta discuss P.O.V.’s “New Muslim Cool,” Levon Helm: Ramble at the Ryman, Masterpiece Mystery! “Poirot,” Muhammad Ali: Made in Miami, why we repeat certain pledge programming, and more for the week of June 21-June 27. Music by Josh Ritter.

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