VIA PRESS RELEASE | Sidemen: Long Road to Glory provides an intimate look into the incredible lives of three of the last Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf sidemen, piano player Pinetop Perkins, drummer Willie ‘Big Eyes’ Smith, and guitarist Hubert Sumlin.
Premiering last year at SXSW, the film is complete. However, due to the cost of securing the music licensing for a full release, Sidemen may never reach a wider audience. In the final days of the Kickstarter campaign, filmmaker Scott Rosenbaum says “Their amazing story needs to be told. This is for them.” The average music fan might not recognize their names, but these legendary bluesmen, who performed and recorded into their 80s and 90s, played a significant role in shaping modern popular music. The film features some of the last interviews conducted with all three men as well as their final live performances together.
These memorable live performances, vividly capture these blues legends with the blues and rock stars they have inspired including, Robby Krieger of The Doors, Elvin Bishop (recent rock ‘n’ Roll Hall inductee with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band), and Tim Reynolds of The Dave Matthews Band. Personal insights from artists such as, Bonnie Raitt, Gregg Allman, Derek Trucks, Shemekia Copeland, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Joe Perry, Joe Bonamassa, and Johnny Winter offer heartfelt accounts of how these three legendary sidemen helped shape their careers as well as rock ‘n’ roll.
Named the Official 2017 Film of the Blues Foundation and winning numerous awards on the festival circuit, Sidemen takes us on the road with Pinetop, Willie, and Hubert, three of our last direct links to the origins of the blues, as they share the incredible stories about each of their personal histories. From their upbringings on Delta plantations of the Jim Crow south to lives spent on the road in the shadow of two of the biggest figures in music history, their stories are not only a part of music history, but American history as well. As we ride along, we can’t help but fall in love with these three endearing men as we experience all the trials and triumphs of these remarkable lives.
Through their Grammy awards and nominations, these sidemen have been widely acknowledged for the role they played in the history of the blues and in shaping the modern music that has since been born. Rosenbaum says “the National Museum of African American History in DC, the NAACP Forum, and the Grammy Museum in Mississippi have all expressed interest in showcasing the film.”
In order to secure release, Sidemen needs to reach their $225,000 goal by this week’s deadline on Wednesday, March 1st. You can help by sharing the story of these amazing bluesmen or contributing to their Kickstarter campaign.
