High Lonesome: The Story Of Bluegrass Music

As its subtitle suggests, Rachel Liebling's impressive debut documentary HIGH LONESOME tells "the story of bluegrass music." Happily, this young filmmaker--an admitted newcomer to the world of bluegrass--creates a delightful and fascinating chronicle of six decades of this under-appreciated genre of American music.

Liebling's compilation of found footage and original material begins slowly and impressionistically. Strains of mountain music, with its characteristically plaintive, "high lonesome" sound, bridge together recent and archival shots of Appalachian countryside. Shifting between different narrators, time frames, and cinematic styles, the film initially...