‘Backroads Producers’ have created ‘Soul Of The Delta’ a music and cultural documentary based in the Mississippi Delta with appearances by Morgan Freeman and B.B. King. The Delta is noted as the cradle of ‘Blues’ music, but many forms of music were heavily influenced by the early delta music sung in the rural black churches. This style of worship is still used in some of the areas it began, in the same wooden floored churches, accompanied by only a piano, and sometimes nothing more than the clapping of hands and the patting of feet.
The purpose of our project is to document and preserve African American religious music in its original beauty. The music has been sung for generations and comes directly from within the churches of the Mississippi Delta. The documentary explores, celebrates, and preserves for future generations, the history of the musical culture of Southern African Americans.
‘Soul Of The Delta’ explores the phenomena surrounding the consummate regard held for the church in this underprivileged region of the United States. Because the Mississippi Delta has historically been viewed as one of the most impoverished regions in the U.S., we explain the true reasons why the churches of the Delta region, and the music within them, still remain the primary social and spiritual centers of many.
We hope “Soul Of The Delta” brings to the rest of the United States, an appreciation for and an understanding of the beautiful gospel music that originated in “field hollers”.